Sunday final from First National Bank Field:
Asheville Tourists 10, Greensboro Grasshoppers 3
WP:R.J. Freure(2-5)
LP:J.C. Flowers(3-1)
Hoppers(35-25)/Tourists(26-33)
Tourists' line:10-13-0 Hoppers' line: 3- 4-0
Hoppers’ hitters:Matt Frazier 1-2/2 BB’s/HR…Frazier finishes the game batting a team-leading .330….LoLo Sanchez 1-4…
Greensboro Grasshoppers take the Six-Game Series from the Asheville Tourists, 4-2/Four-Games-To-Two….Will Matthiessen 1-2/2 BB’s/Run…Grant Koch 1-4/HR/2 RBI…Andres Alvarez 0-3/BB…Four Hoppers were held hitless on Sunday….Frazier with HR #15 of the season, and his RBI total climbed to 37…Home Run #5 for the Hoppers’ Grant Koch, and with his two RBI, he now has 22 Runs Batted In for 2021….
One of the more interesting stories of the day came in the Top of the Ninth Inning, and the Hoppers, looking to preserve and protect/save their bullpen, well the Greensboro Grasshoppers turned to one of their position players, and had him trot out the mound and take over the pitching duties for the ninth inning…
This might have been a shocker to some when they looked up and saw the Hoppers’ backup catcher, Dylan Shockley, getting set to throw for the Hoppers in the ninth…Last inning of the game, so let’s save our bullpen…At the time he entered the game, the Hoppers were down 10-1 to the Tourists, and things couldn’t get any worse, right???
In the past we have seen position players take over for their team late in the game, and their job has always been, just get it over with, without too much more damage….
But, there was something a little different about the situation this time…A shocker, with Dylan Shocker, the Hoppers’ catcher, now pitching for the Greensboro team??? Maybe not….Shockley had been in the Hoppers’ pen throwing back on Thursday night, when the Hoppers lost to the Tourists, 13-7…Shockley was the next man up for the mound that night, but he never got the call…..
So, Shockley shows up on the mound in the ninth inning for the Greensboro Grasshoppers on Sunday afternoon, and how did he do???
To the surprise or shock to some, Shockley worked the ninth inning, facing five Tourist batters, and he gave up No runs, on two hits, with No Walks, and Two strikeouts…Every pitch Shockley sent to the plate was for real, and Dylan Shockley was the real deal…
It was Shocking to some, but maybe it shouldn’t have been so…In Dylan Shockley’s last year in college, at the University of Rio Grande(NAIA), in Rio Grande, Ohio, Shockley’s pitching record was (5-0), and his ERA was, 2.21 and he worked/pitched in 15 games, and he recorded six saves…He worked 20 and 1/3 innings, and all of his pitching work was from the bullpen…Shockley walked five batters and he struck out 25…For his college career, his overall record was (7-1), and he worked/pitched in 21 games…He walked a total of 11 college batters and struck out 44…Shockley’s college ERA was 2.35….
This guy is the real deal, and not some guy who used to throw for his high school team….Shockley gets our Player of the Game award for Sunday July 11, versus the Asheville Tourists, at First National Bank Field…This kid/young man came into the game, ready to throw/pitch….
The Greensboro Grasshoppers trailed 10-0 after seven innings on Sunday, and the game was no longer in doubt, and there is no doubt, that it was fun watching Dylan Shockley run out there, and take over the game on Sunday…..Also sort of crazy to look up at the scoreboard at the end of the seventh inning and see:
Asheville Tourists 10-10-0 Greensboro Grasshoppers 0- 0-0
Attendance:2,581
Time of Game/TOG-3:14