ZooKeepers Get Back On Track At Home
The Asheboro Zookeepers welcomed the the Florence Flamingos to town for the second time this season.
The last time the two met the Zookeepers won 10-6 thanks to a Davis Germann grand slam.
For the Zookeepers they were coming off a loss at home to the Martinsville Mustangs and a home winless streak of three games.
The Game
On the mound for the Zookeepers was their ace Dylan Dickert who would be making his first start at home of the season.
In each of his previous outings he went at least six innings and gave up no more than two runs.
Both teams were denied runs in the first inning despite some good chances.
Lot of bases runners early on signaled that it could be a high scoring game.
The second inning is where the fireworks began in this game as more runners equaled more opportunities.
The Flamingos got the party going thanks to an RBI double from third baseman Diego Urreta.
Shortly thereafter Caleb Oakley drove in Urreta with an RBI single of his own.
Blink and you may have missed the Flamingos jump out to an early 2-0 lead.
The Zookeepers would get there chance to respond in the bottom half of the second and they did not disappoint.
Flamingos pitcher Brian Yadlon had issues finding the strike zone in the inning causing him to walk the bases loaded with no outs.
Just moments later Yadlon walked his fifth straight batter of the inning giving the Zookeepers a free RBI walk.
Luckily for Yadlon, James Hankerson did ground out into a double play giving him two outs, but the run did score to tie the game at two.
After all of the second inning commotion the game calmed down, but only for a few minutes.
The third inning went by in a breeze for the Flamingos but the Zookeepers had other ideas.
Catcher Chase Heath launched his first home run of the campaign not only driving himself in but RJ Jimerson as well.
The fourth inning however did not go as quickly as others.
Right off the rip in the top of the fourth Flamingos designated hitter Ty Barrango launched a baseball over the left field wall for a home run.
It did not take long for the Flamingos to tack on another run in the inning to take a two run lead into the bottom of the fourth.
In the previous meeting the Flamingos led most of the game but the Zookeepers had one big inning to propel them to a win, the same thing happened last night.
After tacking on two runs in the third inning the Zookeepers kept the pedal to the medal driving in four more runs.
Sal Laimo had an RBI single, Heath had a two RBI single and Alex Kean had a sacrifice fly to break the game open.
After it was all said and done the Zookeepers had an 8-4 lead headed into the latter stages of the game.
Shut Down PitchingÂ
For the remainder of the game the bullpen for the Zookeepers shut the game down.
Caleb Cockerham and Danny Thompson combined for five innings of work and gave up just two hits.
In the eighth inning, Thompson struck out every batter he faced.
After some shaky outings from the bullpen recently they came to play tonight giving the Zookeepers a huge home victory.
Wrap Up
The final score read 8-4 Zookeepers thanks to a four RBI night from Heath.
The first home win for the Zookeepers since June 1st snapping a multi game losing streak at McCray park.
Sunday, the Zookeepers travel to Boone, NC once again to take on the Boone Bigfoots.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:30PM.
You can listen live on the ZK Baseball Radio Network, link below.
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