Wilson, N.C. – The Greenville Yard Gnomes couldn’t hold on to an early lead Tuesday night, falling 7-4 to the Wilson Tobs at Fleming Stadium. Wilson’s Chase Waddell delivered a dominant performance, going deep twice and adding five RBIs to fuel the Tobs’ comeback.
Greenville (3-11) jumped out to a 3-0 lead through the first two innings. Jacob Green made an immediate impact in his debut, launching a solo home run in the first to open the scoring. In the second, Jesse Ponce crossed home on an error by the Tobs first baseman, and Michael Kalinich followed shortly after, scoring on a groundout by Green.
Wilson (8-6) responded in the fourth, tying the game with one swing. Waddell crushed a three-run homer over the left field wall, bringing in Jack Kail and Thad Ector to even the score at 3-3.
Waddell struck again in the sixth, this time with a two-run blast that once again brought home Ector. Kasten Harvey followed with an RBI single that plated Carter Murphy, giving the Tobs a 6-3 advantage.
In the seventh, Wilson tacked on one more when Jerry Barnes roped a double into the gap, scoring Waddell and extending the lead to 7-3.
Greenville tried to rally late. David Lillis scored in the eighth off a Jesse Ponce groundout to cut the deficit to 7-4. In the ninth, the Yard Gnomes brought the tying run to the plate, but the Tobs shut the door with a strikeout and two flyouts to end the game.
Ryan Harrahill earned the win for Wilson, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits while striking out three. Brian Garmon recieved the loss for Greenville after giving up three earned runs on two hits in just one inning of work.
Up Next: The Yard Gnomes continue their road trip with a Wednesday night matchup in Wilmington against the Sharks. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.