Menu

Tyler McPeak

ZooKeepers Dallas Callahan swing 2023

ZooKeepers find different values in season

, , , , , , ,

Dallas Callahan has been with Asheboro’s Coastal Plain League team even before this year. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – Tyler McPeak and Dallas Callahan have given the Asheboro ZooKeepers a veteran presence in different ways during the Coastal Plain League baseball season.

McPeak is looking to polish his swing and plate approach in advance of a final season at Lenoir-Rhyne, where he has been a record-setting slugger.

“I’ve always been a guy that feels there’s something else to be desired,” McPeak said. “Chasing perfection in an imperfect game.”

Callahan opted for a final go-around in a collegiate summer league even though he’s done playing at UNC Greensboro.

“I wanted to stay ready in case somebody wants to give me a shot,” said Callahan, 23.

Callahan, the son of first-year ZooKeepers general manager Melissa Godwin, started 53 games this year for UNCG (25-34), batting .195 in 55 games overall. He hit seven home runs.

Callahan, a catcher, played for Asheboro in the summer of 2021, when the team’s nickname was Copperheads.  Last year, hip surgery kept him out of a summer circuit.

More recently, he had two-hit outings four times in a six-game stretch for the ZooKeepers.

“I’m here for the game,” Callahan said. “I’m not ready to give it up.”

Tyler McPeak has made big contributions at the plate for the Asheboro ZooKeepers. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

McPeak has been out of the lineup for two weeks with ailments after being the team’s biggest offensive threat. Yet even with the missed time, the first baseman entered the last week of the regular season second on the team in home runs (4) and runs batted in (23) behind Jared Beebe. McPeak’s nine doubles top the team and he holds a .314 batting average.

McPeak, a North Lincoln product, will be entering his sixth season in a college baseball program. He was on the Campbell team prior to transferring to Lenoir-Rhyne, where his 18 home runs this year set a single-season school record.

“It would be nice to break that record again,” he said.

Until then, time in a summer league was a good option again.

“I’m just trying to have fun,” McPeak said. “I know this is probably my last year of summer ball.”

Thompson honored

Daniel Thompson of the ZooKeepers was named the CPL Pitcher of the Week. Across two outings, the right-hander for UNC Greensboro struck out 12 batters in 8 2/3 innings and picked up one victory.

It also was a big week for Asheboro’s Daniel Hudson. He had the game-winning single against the Boone Bigfoots in a 13-12 comeback home victory and then homered twice the next night against the High Point-Thomasville HiToms at Finch Field. The 20-10 outcome against the HiToms gave the ZooKeepers a five-game winning streak, which was snapped the following night by the Wilson Tobs.

Note: The final regular-season home game of the season for the ZooKeepers is Tuesday night (Aug. 1) vs. the Forest City Owls.

ZooKeepers pitcher Win Scott June2023

ZooKeepers send three to CPL showcase

, , , ,

Win Scott delivers a pitch for the Asheboro ZooKeepers. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – The Asheboro ZooKeepers had three players selected for this week’s Coastal Plain League All-Star Game.

First baseman Tyler McPeak and pitchers Jacob Dienes and Win Scott were set to participate in two days of activities at Lexington, S.C. The Lexington County Blowfish were the host team for the All-Star events.

McPeak, a graduate student at Lenoir-Rhyne, has been one of the league’s top power hitters. Dienes and Scott are both rising juniors at North Carolina State.

The Asheboro trio will be on the West Division team.

The East Division team had Morehead City’s Trent Youngblood tagged as one if its starting outfielders. The player for Transylvania represented the ZooKeepers as an infielder in last year’s All-Star event. This year, he has been among the CPL leaders in doubles and runs scored.

The ZooKeepers are back in action later this week. They have home games Friday night (vs. High Point-Thomasville HiToms) and Saturday night (vs. Wilson Tobs).

Ups and downs

Something got into the ZooKeepers’ bats last week. They won a non-league game against the Wake Forest Fungo by 8-3 and then kept it going.

Asheboro had two CPL games end early in seven innings because of the mercy rule.

The first of those came last Wednesday night against the Forest City Owls, who were first-half West Division champions. The 14-3 romp included home runs by Alex Lodise and Todd Hudson. Owen Blackledge had three hits, including a two-run single.

The ZooKeepers smashed the host Boone Bigfoots 11-0 on Friday night, aided by a seven-run second inning. Ethan Snyder threw six shutout innings.

In between the routs, Asheboro won 10-8 against the host Martinsville Mustangs, propelled by a six-run eighth inning. That frame began with the ZooKeepers facing a 7-3 hole.

Yet there was trouble by the weekend in games at McCrary Park, where the team’s five-game winning streak (four in CPL play) ended.

The High Point-Thomasville HiToms topped the ZooKeepers 12-6 on Saturday night despite three hits and two runs batted in from Lodise.

On Sunday, Martinsville prevailed 13-11 despite Lodise tripling and homering on his way to four RBI.

Asheboro was unable to protect a 9-5 lead through six innings. McPeak, Jarrett Pokrovsky and Mayson Dear all drove in two runs.

Then the ZooKeepers went to the All-Star break coming off Monday night’s 12-2 loss at Martinsville.

ZooKeepers pitcher Ethan Snyder June2023

ZooKeepers find peaks in rough stretch

, , , ,

Ethan Snyder is the only pitcher with both a victory and a save for the Asheboro ZooKeepers. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

ASHEBORO – The Asheboro ZooKeepers didn’t win a game in the Coastal Plain League’s second half until their fourth game.

At least they did so in style.

The ZooKeepers defeated first-half West Division champion Forest City 7-6 in Saturday night’s game at McCrary Park.

Alex Lodise hit his first home run with the ZooKeepers. Teammates Jay Dillard and Owen Blackledge both had two hits.

Jacob Halford was the winning pitcher in relief. Spencer Floyd notched a save by recording six outs.

“He’s just aggressive out of the (bullpen),” Asheboro coach Korey Dunbar said of Floyd. “He trusts his stuff. We trust his stuff. He comes out and just attacks guys.”

Asheboro lost its first two matchups with Forest City this year.

Jared Beebe homered twice and Tyler McPeak also went deep in Asheboro’s 14-7 loss to the Lexington County Blowfish. The team announced a season-high crowd of 1,400 at McCrary Park for that game last Friday night.

The Holly Springs Salamanders defeated the ZooKeepers 2-1 on July 4 despite Dallas Callahan’s run-scoring double.

This weekend, the ZooKeepers will be home to face the High Point-Thomasville HiToms on Saturday night and the Martinsville Mustangs on Sunday night.

ZooKeepers Jay Dillard June 29 after double

ZooKeepers show signs of breaking through

, , , , , ,

Jay Dillard had a three-run double and then scored a run for the Asheboro ZooKeepers against Holly Springs on Thursday night. (Photo courtesy of ZooKeepers)

ASHEBORO – The Asheboro ZooKeepers didn’t make a push for the first-half title in the Coastal Plain League’s West Division.

But they did develop momentum and created some good vibes by the midway mark of the season.

Among the highlights was Thursday night’s 5-4, 10-inning victory against visiting Holly Springs Salamanders at McCrary Park.

“We strung a couple of nights like that together,” first-year ZooKeepers coach Korey Dunbar said. “We’re starting to finish games.”

The next night, the ZooKeepers ended the CPL’s first half with a 12-5 loss at Holly Springs. That left Asheboro with an 8-12 record, though that’s washed away with the second half of the split season beginning on the weekend.

“I think we’re starting to figure it out as a team,” first baseman Tyler McPeak said.

The ZooKeepers were in their home ballpark for games for only a week during the season’s first half because of renovations. That created a bunch of road assignments and select home games at UNC Greensboro. There were logistical challenges as the roster continued to evolve.

“It seems like this first half has flown by,” Dunbar said.

McPeak set a Lenoir-Rhyne single-season home run record with 18 this year in his first season since transferring from Campbell. He said the ZooKeepers are starting to develop the right mindset.

“Just getting out here and playing every day,” McPeak said. “You can’t dwell on every game. You move on.”

In the first half’s home finale, the ZooKeepers were one strike away from winning in the top of the ninth. An appeal on a check-swing by Nate Carriere was denied and he took advantage of the chance by singling to left field to drive in two runs.

The Salamanders had runners at first and third with no outs in the 10th but Jacob Halford escaped.

With a runner placed at second base based on the extra-inning rules, Todd Hudson, the first batter for Asheboro in the 10th, drilled a single to right-center field to drive in the winning run.

“It’s fun to do,” Hudson said of the walk-off hit. “You like it for the team.”

That marked the ZooKeepers’ second victory in a row following a doubleheader split with the High Point-Thomasville HiToms on Tuesday night.

Hudson, a rising sophomore for Liberty, said it might have been prior to high school when he had a previous walk-off hit. This might have been just what the ZooKeepers needed.

“We’ve been very close in a lot of games,” Hudson said. “Good to pull one out.”

Asheboro scored four second-inning runs on Jay Dillard’s three-run double and Cole Laskowski’s double.

ZooKeepers pitcher Jacob Dienes of North Carolina State rolled through five innings. Then he beaned Austin Hawke to begin the sixth and that was followed by Win Johns’ home run.

On Friday night, Andrew Grande, who played for Asheboro last year, homered for the Salamanders.