The Tourists Home Opener

I made it to the Asheville Tourists home opener and the first Thirsty Thursday of the season. Mother Nature had her own Thirsty Thursday in mind. It had been threatening rain most of the day and the forecasts varied as far as if and when it would rain and it rained sporadically throughout the game but nothing serious up until the top of the fifth inning. The Tourists were behind at that point 4-0 and only had one hit, a long single off the right field wall in the bottom of the fourth inning by Catcher Tom Murphy, when the skies opened up and the rain poured down. The tarp crew did their job and quickly covered the infield. It is usually a well coordinated effort and I have to wonder how much time they spend practicing this. The rain showed no sign of letting up so my party and I decided it was time to go. The crowd was pretty good in spite of the forecast and outside of the monsoon, I am glad baseball is back for another season in the sun.

Tourists Power Surge Against West Virginia

The Asheville Tourists broke out the bats against the West Virginia Power last night in a 15-6 win. The Tourists hit four homeruns, two by second baseman Matt Wessinger and one each by Rosell Herrera and Francisco Sosa, and had 18 hits. Asheville Tourists starter T.J. Oakes couldn't get out of the fourth inning (3 1/3 IP, 5 runs, 3 earned, 1 K and 4 walks) but the Tourists bullpen picked him up with 5 2/3 innings of 1 run relief pitching. Reliever Ryan Arrowood got the win with 3 2/3 innings of 1 run relief, striking out 5, and Jesse Meaux and Brook Hart pitched one scoreless inning a piece.

The Season Opener

The Asheville Tourists won their season opener on the road against the West Virginia Power last night 3-0 behind the pitching of First Round Supplemental draft pick out of Radford, Eddie Butler. He is the #6 Prospect in the Colorado Rockies organization according to Baseball America. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing only one hit, struckout 7 and walked only 1. He consistently stayed in the high 90's and one pitch even hit the 100 MPH mark. Relievers Roberto Padilla (1 2/3 IP), Rayan Gonzalez (1 IP), and closer Raul Fernandez, who struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth for his first save, finished off the shutout. The Tourists were led at the plate by Catcher Tom Murphy (the #14 prospect) and Third Baseman Jason Stoltz with two hits a piece. The Tourists did strike out 12 times but it was not the best of weather conditions. Designated Hitter Kyle Von Tungeln and Rightfielder Julian Yan (the #20 prospect) drove in a run a piece. #2 Colorado Rockies prospect David Dahl, had a rough Asheville Tourists debut going 0-4 with 3 strikeouts but every hitter is going to have games like that. I am excited about the numbers he is going to put up at McCormick Field.