Ashcraft, Home Runs Lead Lookouts Past Rocket City

Chattanooga Stays In Second Place With 11-0 Victory Over Trash Pandas

  • Wednesday, June 23, 2021
  • John Hunt
The Lookouts' Lorenzo Cedrola (7) beats out a throw to Rocket City first baseman David McKinnon in Chattanooga's 11-0 win over the Trash Pandas Wednesday night at AT&T Field. The teams play again Thursday night with first pitch at 7:15 p.m.
The Lookouts' Lorenzo Cedrola (7) beats out a throw to Rocket City first baseman David McKinnon in Chattanooga's 11-0 win over the Trash Pandas Wednesday night at AT&T Field. The teams play again Thursday night with first pitch at 7:15 p.m.
photo by Glen Austin

The Chattanooga Lookouts were looking for a lift from anyone on the team that could provide it and starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft came through with flying colors.

The Lookouts had lost two in a row and four of their last five, so a complete game from the 23-year-old righty who just got called up from Class A Dayton was just what the doctor ordered.

Not only was the slender righty good, but exceptionally outstanding. And on an evening when temperatures were in the mid 70s, humidity almost none and a full moon to boot, 2,651 baseball fans got more than their money's worth at AT&T Field.

He retired the first 18 batters he faced and finished with a two-hitter as the Lookouts used the long ball to spark an 11-0 shutout over the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

Ashcraft has now thrown 33 straight scoreless innings and has 63 strikeouts and 13 walks in 47.2 innings on the season.

With the win, Chattanooga stays a half-game behind the Birmingham Barons in the Double-A South standings with a 24-19 record.  The Barons scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to hold off Pensacola, 7-6.  The Trash Pandas are now in third at 23-20, a full game behind the Lookouts.

Ashcraft was perfect through six innings before giving up his first hit in the seventh.

Leadoff hitter Ray-Patrick Didder led off the seventh with a slow roller to third that he beat by a half-step.  He went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a fly to right by Mitch Nay, but he was stranded on third when David MacKinnon grounded to the pitcher for the third out.

Then in the ninth with one out, Torii Hunter Jr. got Rocket City’s second hit on a one-out bloop single just past the outstretched glove of leaping second baseman Brian Rey. 

Didder then flied to center for the second out, but Hunter was doubled up as he broke at the crack of the bat and was easily doubled up to end the game.

Meanwhile, the Lookouts scored seven of their 11 runs on home runs, including three in the fifth inning when they batted around and scored six runs to break open a close game where the lead was only 2-0.

Jose Barrero led off Chattanooga’s half of the first with a towering homer down the line in left for a 1-0 lead.  It was the sixth homer for the shortstop, tying him with Yoel Yanqui for the team lead.

Rey had an RBI-single in the fourth to drive in Mark Kolozsvary, who had gotten hit with one out.

Then in the fifth, the Lookouts batted around and took total command by scoring six more runs.

Lorenzo Cedrola reached on an infield single with two outs before Yanqui walked.  Kolozsvary then hit his first pitch down the line in left for his third homer, a three-run blast to make it 5-0.

Wilson Garcia then doubled and scored ahead of a two-run blast by Rey, whose shot cleared the wall in right-center just above the Blue Cross-Blue Shield advertisement to make it 7-0.  And not to be left out, designated hitter Chuckie Robinson hit an 0-2 pitch to almost the same spot as the difference was 8-0 before Rocket City got the final out.

Chattanooga added two more runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth for the final 11-run margin of victory.

Robinson had a bases-loaded walk for the first run in the seventh before Leo Rivas drove in the second with a single to left.

Then in the eighth, a grounder to second by Garcia drove in Yanqui, who had walked with one out, gone to second on a single by Kolozsvary and to third on a wild pitch.

Ashcraft finished with a two-hit shutout where he struck out eight and walked none.

Boomer Biegalski was the loser for Rocket City after allowing two runs on five hits in four innings.

Ryan Clark gave up those six runs in the fifth on five hits and two walks, but the damage had already been done.

Garcia had three hits for Chattanooga while Barrero, Cedrola, Kolozsvary and Rey all had two each.  Yanqui only had one hit, but he walked twice and scored three runs.

These same two teams play again on Thursday evening with the first pitch set for 7:15.

ROCKET CITY  000 000 000 – 0 2 2

CHATTANOOGA  100 160 21x – 11 14 0

Biegalski, Clark (5), Higgins (5), Lovegrove (7), Molnar (8) and Cruz; Ashcraft and Kolozsvary.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
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