A Second Half Team

The Asheville Tourists have played phenomenal baseball in the second half of the season. As of this post, they have posted a .703 winning percentage (45-19) and have easily outdistanced second place Savannah building a seven game lead with only three games to go. The Tourists have their fair share of offensive stars. Ryan McMahon has been consistently hitting .280 on the season with 17 homeruns and 100 RBI's, Correlle Prime (a great last name for any athlete) has 21 homeruns and 99 RBI's (I wonder if the Tourists have ever had two players that have had 100 RBI's in a season?), and Raimel Tapia has batted .329 with 9 homeruns, 72 RBI's and leads the team with 33 stolen bases. The Tourists pitchers haven't blown batters away with fastballs but have pitched fairly consistently all season long. Johendi Jiminian is 13-5 with a 4.15 ERA and Antonio Senzatela is 14-2 with a 3.20 ERA. The bullpen has pretty much been bullpen by committee with Trent Daniel leading the team in saves with 14 and Dylan Stamey has 11. The Tourists look ready to make another championship r un.

On The Road Again

The Asheville Tourists spotted Greenville a 2-0 lead last night before scoring all five of their runs in the top of the sixth inning to win 5-2. Asheville loaded the bases in the top of the sixth on a Zach Osborne single, a David Dahl walk, and two errors by Drive Shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin. Raimel Tapia followed with a bases clearing double and Ryan McMahon drove him home with his 12th homerun. The Tourists only had 5 hits in the game but made them count. Starting Pitcher Alex Blalog went 5 1/3 innings, gave up 10 hits but only two runs. He improved his record to 6-3. Reliever Trent Daniel came on next and he pitched 2 2/3 scoreless inning and Matt Carasiti pitched a scoreless 9th inning for his 2nd Save on the season.

A Score Worthy Of A Video Game

Asheville had a great offensive performance last night against Greensboro pounding out 17 hits, 9 for extra bases, and scoring 12 runs but unfortunately, Greensboro had a better offensive game. Greensboro had 19 hits, 8 of those for extra bases and scored 15 runs as what could probably best be described as a Wrigley Field kind of game right here in Asheville. The Tourists battled back from a 6-2 deficit early on and a 10-5 deficit in the later innings to tie the score at 11 heading into the 9th inning. Asheville, however, ran out of gas as Greensboro scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th and Asheville could only plate 1 in the bottom of the ninth as they finally ran out of comebacks. David Dahl and Max White both had 4 hits (3 of Dahl's hits were doubles) and White drove in two runs while Jordan Patterson and Correlle Prime both had a homerun and 3 RBI's nut it still wasn't quite enough. Asheville starter Johendi Jiminian only lasted 3 innings and gave up 6 runs, 5 earned, before giving away to a bullpen that didn't fare much better. Trent Daniel took the loss (1-2) giving up Greensboro's final 5 runs in 1 2/3 innings.

Back On Track

The Asheville Tourists got back on a winning track last night with a 5-4 victory over the Greenville Drive, evening the series at one a piece. The Tourists quickly jumped on top with a four run bottom of the First inning, the big blow being a two run single by Max White. Ryan McMahon and backup Catcher Wilfredo Rodriguez had the other RBI's in the inning. Raimel Tapia drove in the Tourists final run with a forceout in the bottom of the Fourth inning that drove in David Dahl who had singled earlier in the inning. Asheville starter Zach Jemiola went six strong innings only giving up one run before giving way to reliever Jeffri Hernandez in the top of the Seventh inning. He pitched one inning, Trent Daniel pitched the Eighth inning, giving up a three run homerun, and Troy Neiman pitched the Ninth inning for his 5th Save. Neiman added a little bit of excitement to the Ninth inning when he walked the leadoff batter but he was erased by the next batter who hit into a double play, then the next batter singled, before he got the final out on a groundout to the pitcher.

Lights Out Pitching

The Asheville Tourists pitching in the second half of the season has been lights out. Three games played against the Augusta Greenjackets and only two earned runs allowed. The Tourists used five pitchers last night to shutout the Greenjackets for the second time in three games, 4-0. Alex Blalog started and went five innings, allowed three hits, struck out five and walked two; Jeffri Hernandez pitched one inning, two hits and a walk; Matt Carasiti went 1 1/3 with two walks, Dylan Stamey went 1 1/3 alowing a hit, a walk, and struck out two, and Trent Daniel came on to get the final out of the game with two men on for his 7th save on the season. The Asheville Tourists stole four bases on the game, two by Raimel Tapia, and both of his steals led to runs scored. The Tourists opened up the top of the first inning by manufacturing a run. Tapia was hit by a pitch, stole second, and Ryan McMahon singled him in. The second inning saw Second Baseman Alec Mehrten doubled and scored on a Emerson Jiminez triple. The Tourists put two insurance runs up in the eighth inning as David Dahl singled, was wild pitched to third, Tapia singled him in, a walk, Tapia steals third, an error by Augusta's third baseman, and Tapia scored the second run of the inning. The Tourists have done an excellent job of putting pressure on the other teams defense by showing a willingness to run with several of their players as six Tourists players have double digits in steals led by Max White's 15 against only one caught stealing. None of these players are going to lead the league in steals but knowing when to run is an important factor and having six players on the team that can run, keeps constant pressure on the defense provided they can get on base.

Off To A Great Start

The Asheville Tourists improved to 2-0 in the second half last night with a 4-3 win over the Augusta Greenjackets. The Tourists only managed 6 hits in the game and Third Baseman Ryan McMahon was the hitting star going 2 for 4 with two doubles and a Run Batted In. Four Asheville Tourists pitchers combined to scatter nine hits. Antonio Senzatela got the start and he went 4 1/3 innings and allowed two runs, Andrew Brown came in and pitched 2 2/3 innings in middle relief and gave up one unearned run and got credit for the win (3-0), and Matt Carasiti and Trent Daniel came on to pitch a scoreless inning a piece. Trent Daniel got his 6th save on the season. Tourists batters struggled a little bit at the plate, striking out thirteen times. Catcher Jose Brecino is quickly developing a reputation in the South Atlantic League for his willingness to throw to any base at any time to try to keep the opposing teams runners honest. He picked a Greenjackets runner off Third Base last night. Pitcher Andrew Brown also helped his own cause by picking a runner off second base.