Savannah, GA – The deciding game of the South Atlantic League Southern Divisional Championship Series came down to the wire on Tuesday at Historic Grayson Stadium. Asheville SS Luis Jean’s two-run home run in the eighth decided the game and the series in favor of the Tourists, 2-1.
The Tourists (2-1) broke open the shutout game in the eighth inning after 3B Josh Fuentes led off the inning with a single. Gnats’ starter RHP Casey Delgado set down 14 straight Tourists before Fuentes’ single. Two batters later, Jean launched his first home run of the season over the wall in right to give Asheville the 2-0 lead. Delgado takes the tough luck loss after throwing 8.0 innings allowing just two runs on four hits with six strikeouts.
The Sand Gnats (1-2) batters were active in the first off MLB Rehabber Tyler Chatwood. The Gnats loaded the bases with two outs off Chatwood to chase him from the game after just five batters. LHP Sam Howard started off the second and tossed 6.0 shutout innings for the Tourists.
Trailing 2-0 in the ninth, catcher Tomas Nido represented what could have been the final out for the Gnats. Nido, 3B JC Rodriguez, and 1B Michael Katz strung three consecutive singles together to push a run across in the ninth.
There was 1,371 in attendance for the last game for the Gnats at Historic Grayson Stadium. Around 130,000 people attended a game at Historic Grayson Stadium in the final season of Savannah Sand Gnats Baseball.