ZooKeepers Pull Off A Thriller

The Asheboro ZooKeepers welcome in the Holly Springs Salamanders for the second time this season.

Each of the three meetings between the two teams has come down to the wire.

The previous meeting saw the ZooKeepers come from behind in Holly Springs thanks to a late triple from Hunter Atkins.

Ethan Davis would get the ball to face off against Rhyn Chambers

Tumultuous Start

Davis on the mound got off to a tough start.

Each of the first five batters for the Salamanders reached base including back to back home runs.

Through just three batters of the game the Salamanders had already taken a 3-0 lead/

Every recorded hit in the first inning was hit at least 99 MPH off the bat, rockets off the bat.

After scoring a quick three runs the Salamanders were still not done yet.

Salamanders first baseman Ben Jones hit a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Salamanders a 4-0 lead.

Being down 4-0 in the first inning it appeared that it would be a long night for the ZooKeepers.

Pitchers Duel

Chambers on the mound for the Salamanders was simply excellent all night long.

Hailing all the way from California and playing his college ball in Hawaii he has been impressive all season long.

The ZooKeepers were able to muster some hits off of Chambers but he excelled with runners on base all night long.

Throughout Chambers five innings of work he only gave up one run but stranded nearly double digit runners on.

The one run that Chambers gave up was on a fielders choice by Yari Diaz.

At that moment the ZooKeepers had bases loaded and nobody out but Chambers only allowed the one run.

As for Davis on the other side he calmed down and began to pitch well.

It appeared that the trouble he had in the first inning was behind him.

Davis went another three innings on the mound and did not concede a run keeping the ZooKeepers in the game.

One Swing Of The Bat

Going into the seventh inning things looked fairly bleak for the ZooKeepers.

They had just one run on four hits and seemingly could not get the all important base runner across the plate.

The seventh inning came along and seemingly something sparked in the minds of the ZooKeepers bats.

Holly Springs brought in Witt Branham and he struggled to do anything.

After just coming into the game Branham had already surrendered bases loaded and nobody out.

This time around the ZooKeepers did not miss the grand opportunity.

Right fielder Owen Blackledge came up to the plate and launched a grand slam to take the lead.

The dugout and stadium went into a euphoria as Blackledge came up clutch.

All of a sudden the ZooKeepers took a 6-5 lead heading into the eighth inning.

Shut Down

After the grand slam the bullpen for the ZooKeepers came in to shut down the game.

A combination of Spencer Floyd and Danny Thompson sealed the win for Asheboro.

After being down the whole game the ZooKeepers found a way to win and keep their playoff hopes alive.

Wrap Up

The ZooKeepers will play at home once again facing the Lexington County Blowfish, a huge game in the standings.

You do not want to miss this game.

Tickets can be bought online or at the McCrary Park box office.

Cannot make it? The game will be streamed live on Flo Baseball.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:00PM.