By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A 4-RBI night for Watauga alum Tristan Salinas, including a 3-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, helped power the Boone Bigfoots to an 11-5 win over the Asheboro Zookeepers on July 13, at App State’s Smith Field.
In taking the win, the Bigfoots leveraged six strong innings by starting pitcher Jacob Lauderdale, who limited the Zookeepers to just two runs on four hits and throwing 53 strikes in his 95 pitches of work.
The Bigfoots’ designated hitter, Cameron Benson, put the finishing touches on the home team’s 6-run explosion in the bottom of the second inning with a 2-run home run, hammering the ball over the fence on a 2-0 count. Previous to Benson’s blast, an array of Bigfoot batters manufactured four, “small-ball” runs by beating out infield singles, patiently waiting for walks, taking advantage of passed balls allowed by Asheboro starting pitcher Noah Samol and catcher Alex LaCoste, and a 2-RBI single to right field by Boone catcher Kory Klingenbeck.
With the win, the Bigfoots are 6-6 in the second half of the Coastal Plain League season. They face league leader Martinsville (8-3) at Smith Stadium on Saturday, July 13, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
