Greeneville, Tenn. – Good pitching, timely hitting and near mistake-free baseball powered the Elizabethton River Riders past the Greeneville Flyboys, 6-3, on Tuesday night.
Elizabethton sent Jacob Hollister to the mound and the right-hander from Presbyterian College rewarded them with five innings of two-run baseball, scattering seven hits while striking out three and recording the win.
Greeneville got on the board first in the third inning with an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. However, this was the last time the Flyboys were on top. In the fourth inning, with two on and one out Reagan Guthrie mashed an RBI single to left field that scored Brennan Orf to tie the game. Peyton Basler then broke the tie one batter later with an RBI single to right field to plate Conner Price, which was followed by another base-hit to score Guthrie by Brendan Jones to give the River Riders a 3-1 lead through three-and-a-half innings.
After Greeneville got one back in the fourth, Brody Green drilled an RBI double to the gap to plate Orf for the second time in the fifth inning, expanding the Elizabethton lead back up to two runs.
In the sixth, a wild pitch with Avery Owusu-Asiedu on third base prompted a play at the plate, but Owusu-Asiedu slid just under the tag to make the game 5-2.
In the sixth inning, Greeneville brought in back within two with a solo home run, but with a runner on second, reliever Cody Bowker struck out Jordan Hamberg swinging to strand the runner.
In the eighth inning, Issac Williams provided some cushion with an RBI single to right field with two outs to plate Jones and he was also the ninth hitter of the night to garner a hit for Elizabethton, as everyone in the lineup recorded a hit in a complete offensive performance.
Zac Thornton came on in the eighth inning in just his second Elizabethton performance and was absolutely nails. He allowed just one hit and one hit batter in two innings of work while striking out two batters and picking up a two-inning save, his first of the season.
With the win, Elizabethton moved to just a game within .500 at 16-17 and sole possession of second place in the Appalachian League West Division, while Greeneville dropped to 16-19. Elizabethton returns home on Wednesday for a five-game homestand, starting with two games against the division-leading Kingsport Axmen. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. and you can watch the game live at https://appalachianleague.univtec.com/home.
