The Asheboro ZooKeepers snapped their three-game losing streak on Thursday night on the road with a 12-6 victory over the High Point-Thomasville HiToms. It was Asheboro’s first game since the Coastal Plain League All-Star break. 

Trailing 2-1 entering the top of the fourth inning, Owen Blackledge gave the Zooks their first lead of the night with a two-RBI double. Later, Jared Beebe stretched that lead to 6-2 with a two-RBI double of his own. 

The HiToms tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the fifth with four runs of their own. The tie did not last for long, as Asheboro found two runs via a Beebe home run in the top of the sixth to retake the lead. It was Beebe’s fourth home run of the season, tying him with Tyler McPeak for the team lead. 

After two scoreless innings from both teams, the Zooks blew the game open in the top of the ninth with four runs, highlighted by a Jay Dillard home run that scored three. It was DIllard’s first home run of the season, as he became the ninth ZooKeeper to hit at least one home run. 

Jacob Halford cleaned up the win for the ZooKeepers on the mound with a scoreless ninth inning. Halford and Matt Kemp, who was making his Zooks debut, combined to toss three scoreless innings to close out the game. 

The ZooKeepers return home for a rematch against the HiToms today at 7 p.m. 

Written by Jacob Kisamore