The Asheboro ZooKeepers lost 14-7 to the Lexington County Blowfish on Friday night in front of a packed crowd of over 1,400 people at McCrary Park on Randolph County Farm Bureau Agriculture Night. The crowd was Asheboro’s largest of the season. 

After both teams went scoreless in the first inning, the Blowfish tallied six runs against Zooks starter Jacob Dienes. The Zooks quickly answered in the bottom of the frame thanks to a leadoff home run by Jared Beebe. 

Jaden Stockton relieved Dienes on the mound to start the third and posted a scoreless top half. In the bottom of the inning, Tyler McPeak launched his team-leading fourth home run of the season out of McCrary to bring the ZooKeepers back within 6-2. 

Lexington County rebuilt its lead in the fourth and fifth innings, hanging six more runs on the Zooks to make the score 12-2. Asheboro got one back in the bottom of the fifth and put three more runs on the board in the seventh via Beebe’s second home run of the night. It was Beebe’s third home run of the season as he became the first ZooKeeper to hit multiple home runs in a game this season.

Down 12-6 entering the eighth inning, the ZooKeepers’ pitching staff surrendered its fourth home run of the night as the Blowfish went ahead 13-6. They added another in the ninth and although the Zooks mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth, they could not cut the deficit to less than seven runs. 

Asheboro’s three home runs were their most in a game this season. This was the second time this week the ZooKeepers fell to the Blowfish, as Lexington County defeated the Zooks 11-1 in seven innings on Monday. While the Zooks notched 11 hits on the night, they allowed 14 Blowfish hits and committed four errors. 

The ZooKeepers will go for their first win of the second half on Saturday when they host the first half West Division champion Forest City Owls at McCrary Park. Gates will open at 6 p.m. with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. 

Written by Jacob Kisamore