ZooKeepers wrapup: Strong ending sign of better times ahead?

ASHEBORO — The Asheboro ZooKeepers sure made things interesting down the stretch of this Coastal Plain League season. Some late-season magic in the final week featured a season-ending seven-game winning streak, but that wasn’t quite enough as Asheboro fell short of qualifying for the CPL playoffs by two games.

When that occurs, a coaching staff usually looks back, remembering the one-run losses or leads that were given up late that could have made up that deficit during the course of the second half of the season.

“I know these guys wanted to continue to play,” manager Kory Dunbar said. “They were like that all year long. We were one or two swings away, one or two pitches away from it not even being close. But that’s baseball. Sometimes it’s a tough pill to swallow. 

“You look back and there are a ton of positive things that came out of this year and all the improvements we made on the field we will carry with us for next year.”

The ZooKeepers, who finished 12-11 in the first half of the season, were 8-9 in the second half and seemingly out of the playoff race. Asheboro would have to have won the second half or have the best overall record in the West Division, besting every team but Forest City, which qualified by winning the first half. At 20-20 with seven games remaining, it didn’t seem possible.

But a wild 17-9 win over Forest City was followed by a 6-5 win over Holly Springs and an 8-3 win over Lexington County, which would go on to claim the second playoff berth from the West. A 4-0 win over Forest City, a 6-5 and 11-5 doubleheader sweep over Martinsville and a 10-2 win over Holly Springs ended the season and left the ZooKeepers just short.

“I don't know, I can’t pinpoint one thing,” Dunbar said of the streak. “We caught a couple of breaks and had some guys who didn't pitch or play a ton step up when they had to. All these guys pulled for each other. It was one or two games, maybe a little late. 

“Kudos for those guys who stuck it out. They stayed the whole summer and did things the right way and showed up with a consistent work ethic.”

The 27 wins were the most since the 2016 team finished 28-26, although that team played 54 games compared to 47 for this year’s team. This year’s .574 winning percentage was the highest since 2015’s team went 34-22 for a .607 winning percentage.

Asheboro had some impressive performances at the plate this summer. Catawba’s Dylan Driver joined the team late and hit .362 in 15 games. He had 21 hits and 16 RBIs in that span.

Middle Georgia State’s Yariel Diaz had four hits in the only two games he played and College of Charleston’s Alex Lacoste hit .421 in six games with seven RBIs.

Lenoir-Rhyne’s Zach Evans was having an all-star summer when he was drafted in the ninth round by the San Diego Padres. He finished with a .338 batting average (fifth best in the CPL) with five home runs in 31 games. 

L-R’s Owen Blackledge hit .314 in 34 games with six HRs (9th in the CPL) and Barton’s Sal Laimo hit. 304 in 33 games.

Randleman High School graduate and current UNCG player Hunter Atkins hit .294 in 40 games and led the team with 32 runs scored and 29 RBIs.

As a team, the ZooKeepers hit .272, tied for third in the CPL.

“That’s a credit to our guys coming in and putting in the work and a credit to our coaching staff who came in early every day and coached them up,” Dunbar said.

Dunbar’s assistants included former ZooKeepers player Tyler McPeak, Grant Crosby and Dominic Bricker.

Peter Mullen of Franklin & Marshall College won four games with a 3.08 ERA in 35 innings pitched and UNCG’s Danny Thompson had two wins, two saves and a 1.31 ERA in 20 1/3 innings pitched. 

Charleston Southern’s Ryan Nielson allowed just one hit and no earned runs in 8 1/3 innings on the mound, while L-R’s Spencer Floyd had two wins and a save.

Although the season just ended, it won’t be long before the front office staff begins work for the 2025 CPL season.