A walk-off single off the bat of Todd Hudson propelled the Asheboro ZooKeepers to a 5-4 win over an eastern division rival in the Holly Springs Salamanders on Thursday night at McCrary Park.

The ZooKeepers struck first by putting up a four spot in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a bases clearing, three RBI double by infielder Jay Dillard, who eventually came in to score himself on an RBI double from Cole Laskowski later in the inning.

Behind the arm of Jacob Dienes, the ZooKeepers held the Salamanders scoreless through five innings of workhorse baseball. The Salamanders would eventually score two runs off a two-run home run from Win John, making the score 4-2 in the sixth.

Following six innings of eight-strikeout baseball, the Zooks went to their pen to start the seventh, calling in Garret Kangas and Hunter Hill, who threw a combined two innings with three strikeouts.

The Salamanders fought all the way back to level the game in the ninth inning when a two-run double from Nate Carriere with two outs and two strikes sent the game to the bottom of the ninth. Asheboro was unable to score any runners, which extended the game into extra innings.

Jacob Halford was looking for redemption in the 10th after allowing the tying runs in the ninth. Redemption is what he found, as he locked down the Salamanders, forcing them to strand runners on first and third.

Hudson stepped up to the plate in the bottom half of the inning and shot a single up the middle on the second pitch to score Jacob Budzik from second base, giving Asheboro its second straight win.

This was Asheboro’s second walk-off win of the season, as Alex Lodise provided a walk-off single in the seventh inning against the Florence Flamingos on June 16 at UNCG Baseball Stadium.

The ZooKeepers are back in action tomorrow at Ting Stadium in Holly Springs to face the Salamanders for the second time in as many days. The game will start at 7 p.m. and will be broadcasted on FloSports. 

Written by Austin Crume.