Elizabethton, Tenn. – In a game of wild twists and turns, the Elizabethton River Riders weathered the storm and downed the Kingsport Axmen, 17-14, on Thursday night on the banks of the Wautaga River.
It was a game in which Elizabethton led by five runs, then Kingsport by five runs and then ultimately Elizabethton again by five runs in a lead they would never relinquish.
The River Riders got the scoring started in a big way early. Issac Williams put the Blue and Yellow on the board in the first inning with a fielder’s choice to bring in Avery Owusu-Asiedu. Then, in the second inning, Owusu-Asiedu lined a shot to the left-center field gap with the bases loaded and emptied the bases with all three runners coming in to score. Harrison Rodgers tacked on another run with an RBI single to make it 5-0 Elizabethton through two innings.
Kingsport did get a run back in the third on a Sam Petersen RBI single to bring the deficit within four. Brady Gilmore got his first start of the year for the River Riders, and proved quite good as he allowed just one hit and one run through four innings, striking out four.
The Axmen bats woke up against the Elizabethton bullpen in the fifth inning, as they put up a six-spot that included a three-run double by Kendall Diggs to take the lead, and finished the fifth inning up 7-5. They then brought in a runner to score on a double-play, but back-to-back home runs by Petersen and Jake Perry increased their lead even further to 10-5 after 5 1/2 innings.
In the bottom of the sixth though, things got even weirder. It started with 10 straight balls off the plate by an Axmen reliever, which ended up helping the River Riders to a gift with the bases loaded and none out. Peyton Basler then rolled a ground ball to first and Kingsport only got the out at first to bring in Brennan Orf. Then, following a walk, Owusu-Asiedu ran a full count and then took ball four on a borderline pitch off the plate to bring in another run. Harrison Rodgers and Williams then produced back-to-back RBI singles to bring the deficit within a run. Brody Green was then hit by a pitch to tie the game at 10. Following Green, Orf would walk in a run and give Elizabethton back the lead. The big blast though, was a Connor Price grand slam to right-center field that blew the doors off the Axmen pitching staff and officially gave the River Riders a double-digit run total in the inning and a 15-10 lead.
Kingsport would strike back with three in the seventh inning to draw the deficit within two, but Williams drove in a run in the bottom of the inning with a SAC fly as well as Basler with one of his own in the eighth to put the lead at 17-13 heading into the ninth inning.
Kingsport was able to get runners of second and third base to begin the inning on a controversial ground rule double or home run call, but with nobody out Gunner Gouldsmith tried to make it home on a ball that scooted away from catcher Price, but he was on it quickly and flipped to pitcher Zach Thornton who applied the tag of Gouldsmith to get the out. After an error brought in a run, Thornton was able to close the door with a couple of ground balls to end it.
With the win, Elizabethton moved within a game of .500 at 17-18, while Kingsport dropped to 25-10 on the season. Elizabethton continues the home slate tomorrow as they take on the Johnson City Doughboys for a three-game set at Northeast Community Credit Union Ballpark, with first pitch being scheduled for 7 p.m.
