KINGSPORT, Tenn. - The Elizabethton River Riders traveled to Kingsport Saturday night to take on the West Division-leading Axmen, and came out on top thanks to a four-run rally in the ninth inning and take the win by a score of 11-9.
Elizabethton roared ahead early. With a runner on and nobody out in the first inning, Avery Owusu-Asiedu drilled a two-run home run to left-center field to make it 2-0. Later in the inning, Alex McCoy stepped up with two on base and hit a three-run shot to right-center field and the River Riders took a 5-0 lead before Kingsport even had the chance to hit.
Kingsport got one run back in each of the first two innings, but Elizabethton struck back in the third inning with an RBI single by McCoy, who would score on a wild pitch later in the inning, making it 7-2.
Collin Rothermel got the start for the River Riders, and pitched solidly against the Appalachian League’s best offense, going four innings while allowing two runs and striking out three batters.
Besides a lone Axmen run in the fifth, the game was pretty unchanged through the middle innings as it rolled into the bottom of the eighth inning with the River Riders leading 7-3.
However, Kingsport hit back. They hit back-to-back RBI singles, making it 7-5. Following a pitching change, Nate Anderson doubled in one run, and after an intentional walk, Jake Perry singled in two more to put Kingsport in front after eight innings, making it 9-8 going into the final inning.
Elizabethton was cool and collected, however. Brennan Orf led off the ninth with a pinch-hit walk, and pinch-runner Austin Roccaforte made it to third base on a Brendan Jones single with nobody out. Owusu-Asiedu then continued his big four-hit night with an RBI single to right field to tie it, and then Elizabethton took the lead on a sacrifice fly by Zach Freeman to score Owusu-Asiedu. McCoy then delivered a gigantic two-run single to push the game to an 11-8 lead for Elizabethton. On the night, McCoy knocked in a career-high six runs.
In the ninth, with two outs Kingsport managed an RBI single to bring the game within two, but reliever Ryan Widmeier struck out Anderson swinging to end the game.
Elizabethton moved to 13-15 on the season with the win while Kingsport fell to 20-8. The teams wrap up the series in Kingsport tomorrow at 7 p.m., you can listen to the game live at https://www.appyleague.com/elizabethton/audio.
