The Rome Braves lost to the Asheville Tourists tonight, which eliminated them from the playoffs. The Lynchburg Hillcats got a sterling performance from starter Michael Lee and timely hitting from Andrelton Simmons and Braeden Schlehuber in their win over Winston-Salem in the first game of the Carolina League Championship Series.

Lynchburg Hillcats 3, Winston-Salem Dash 1

• Andrelton Simmons SS 2-5, HR, RBI
• Nick Ahmed DH 1-3, BB, SB
• Adam Milligan RF 1-3, BB
• Edward Salcedo 3B 2-4, 2 2B
• Braeden Schlehuber C 1-4, RBI
• Michael Lee 6.1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 9 K, W
• Juan Jaime 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 K, SV

Michael Lee dominated out of the gate for the Hillcats, striking out 9 over 6.1 shutout innings, picking up the in in the first game of the best of 5 Championship Series. Juan Jaime struck out 2 in a scoreless 9th for the save. Rehabbing Major Leaguer Andrelton Simmons, who homered in yesterday's Game 3 win over Wilmington, homered again today, belting it out in the first inning to give the Hillcats a lead they would never let go. The Hillcats scored another run in the 4th when Edward Salcedo, who led off the inning with a double, came home on a Braeden Schlehuber single and in the 7th when Simmons scored on a sacrifice fly by Tommy La Stella.

Ryan Weber will start Game 2 Sunday afternoon in Winston-Salem, facing Justin Collop. Andrelton Simmons will make his final rehab appearance before joining Atlanta on Monday.

Rome Braves 3, Asheville Tourists 4

• Ross Heffley 2B 1-5, RBI
• Robby Hefflinger LF 2-5, HR, RBI
• Cory Brownsten C 2-2, 2B, BB, SAC
• Elmer Reyes SS 2-3, 2B, RBI
• AJ Holland 4 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 K
• Nathan Hyatt 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 3 K

Ross Heffley drove in Cory Brownsten with a 9th inning single to cut Asheville's lead to just 1 run, then William Beckwith walked to load the bases, but Robby Hefflinger, who homered in the 2nd inning, struck out to end the game, giving Asheville the 4-3 win and the 2-1 series win, eliminating Rome from the playoffs. Rome's other run came in the 7th when Kyle Kubitza, who led off the inning with a double, came home on an Elmer Reyes single. Starter AJ Holland gave up 2 earned runs in just 4 innings of work and reliever Ian Thomas allowed 2 more earned runs in 2 innings of work.