Newman stays red hot, Bullpen Powers ZooKeepers Past Salamanders, 5–1

McCrary Park – June 17, 2025

Kruise Newman stayed red-hot at the plate and the ZooKeepers bullpen delivered 5.1 scoreless innings as Asheboro rolled to a 5–1 win over the Holly Springs Salamanders on Tuesday night at McCrary Park. The ZooKeepers improved to 10–4 on the season with their second win in a row.

Newman Stays Locked In

Newman (Tennessee Wesleyan) continued his dominant stretch, going 3-for-3 with a home run, a double, two RBIs, a walk, and a stolen base. He opened the scoring in the first inning with a double and later came around on a Yariel Diaz (Barton College) RBI single.

In the fifth, Newman added a two-run shot—his fourth of the year—breaking a 1–1 tie and giving Asheboro the lead for good.

ZooKeepers Add Insurance, Pitching Slams Door

Seojun Oh (High Point) and Boaz Harper (UNC) each added solo home runs in the sixth and eighth innings, respectively, giving the ZooKeepers breathing room. Oh’s shot was his second of the year, while Harper’s blast was his first.

The ZooKeepers bullpen took it from there. After starter Peter Lemke (Denison) allowed one run over four innings, Shane Keup (Winthrop) tossed three shutout frames to earn the win. Reilly Byers (Walters State) and Gavin Marley (Lenoir-Rhyne) combined to close it out, with Marley recording the final four outs for the save.

Final: ZooKeepers 5, Salamanders 1

Asheboro’s defense was steady and error-free after an early miscue, and the pitching staff held Holly Springs to 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The ZooKeepers racked up 10 hits on their second double-digit hit performance in a row.

Next Game:
📍 Asheboro ZooKeepers at Boone Bigfoots
📅 Thursday, June 19 – 6:30 PM at McCrary Park
🎧 Listen live: https://zkbaseball.mixlr.com