The High Point-Thomasville HiToms embark on their first road trip of 2021, battling the Asheboro Copperheads at 7 p.m. Tonight is the beginning of the Deep River Series between Asheboro and High Point-Thomasville, in its return from a one year hiatus. The HiToms were victorious 9-7 in 2019. Tonight's game is the first of 15 games to be played for the trophy this year.

Asheboro enters with a 1-1 Coastal Plain League record through their first two contests. On Friday, a late comeback versus the Martinsville Mustangs was all for naught, wrapping a 7-6 loss on the season.

HP-Thomasville gained their first win of their exhibition schedule on Sunday, with an impressive wire-to-wire shutout of the Catawba Valley Stars. 8-0 was the final, behind a two-run CJ Johnson home run and six strikeouts from incoming Wake Forest right-hander Gabe Golob. In his first start since March 2020, Golob allowed just one hit and five baserunners, stunning Stars batters with a firm fastball and a sharp curve.

Tonight, the HiToms add six new players, fresh off of their college seasons. Former Ledford outfielder and returning HiTom Luke Spiva is back with his Catawba teammates Tyrese Hearst and Maddux Holshouser. The bullpen adds former App State reliever Ben Peterson, Western Carolina's Gavin Mortenson, and USC-Upstate's Will Lancaster, a Lexington native.

Hearst gets the start for the HiToms tonight. The Thomasville native was a rotation piece for the skilled Catawba Indians roster in 2021. In 11 appearances, Hearst walked just 6 batters en route to a strong 3.90 ERA. Last summer, Hearst brought a 2.00 ERA to the table for the HiToms, helping the team to their sixth division championship.

First pitch for tonight's game is at 7:05 p.m and can be seen on flobaseball.tv. The HiToms return home for another exhibition tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. versus the Carolina Disco Turkeys.