KINGSPORT, Tenn. – In a game that featured 31 combined runs, 29 combined hits and seven combined errors, the Greeneville Flyboys used a six-run ninth inning to take a 17-14 victory over the Kingsport Axmen on Thursday night.
The scoring started early for the Axmen, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after a groundout by Kyle Booker (Tennessee) scored Ian Riley (Cloud County CC).
Greeneville (9-11) answered in the top of the second as a Canyon Brown (NC A&T) single scored Jack O’Reilly (Villanova) to tie the game. The Flyboys took their first lead of the night after a Will Taylor (Clemson) single scored Brown and then a throwing error scored Saborn Campbell (Stanford) to push the lead to 3-1.
Kingsport (16-4) immediately answered in the bottom of the second with five runs of their own. The inning started with a sac fly by Myles White (UAB) scoring Jake Perry (Minnesota). An Aaron Casillas (Cal State Bakersfield) single scored Henry Hunter (UAB) to tie the game at three runs apiece. Booker came up for the Axmen again in the bottom of the second with a three-RBI double to push Kingsport’s lead to 6-3.
For the second straight game, Greeneville used a big fourth inning to retake the lead, beginning with Taylor drawing a bases loaded walk to score Myles Smith (UC Irvine). Dub Gleed (UC Irvine) hit a two-RBI single to bring home Brown and Campbell, tying the game at six. An RBI single by Brock Daniels (Missouri) scored Taylor to give the Flyboys a 7-6 lead. RBIs from David Bishop (TCU) and O’Reilly added two more runs onto the tally, swelling the lead to 9-6.
The Flyboys added another run in the top of the fifth after Campbell scored on a wild pitch by Walker Trusley (ETSU) to extend the lead to 10-6.
Kingsport found an answer in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a sac fly by Casillas scoring Corbin Shaw and lowering the deficit to 10-7.
Greeneville immediately answered in the top of the sixth as another RBI groundout by O’Reilly brought home Bishop, pushing the advantage back to an 11-7 lead.
The Axmen came out swinging in the bottom of the seventh, scoring six runs to retake the lead. A sac fly by White scored Perry before an RBI single by Casillas scored Shaw to make it an 11-9 game. Riley grounded out to short, but Hunter was able to score on the play and make it an 11-10 game. Back-to-back passed balls by Ian Daugherty (Oklahoma State) gave Kingsport the lead, a 12-11 advantage. An error by O’Reilly scored Booker to end the inning and the Axmen regained a 13-11 lead.
The Kingsport lead grew in the bottom of the eighth after Casillas once again singled, bringing home Hunter and giving the Axmen a 14-11 lead heading into the ninth inning.
After a Daugherty double and a Smith single, Shemar Dalton (NC A&T) poked a ball to the outfield to score Daugherty and cut the Axmen lead to 14-12. Dub Gleed chopped a ball over pitcher Croix Jenkins (NJIT) head, bringing home Smith to make it a one run game. Daniels drew a bases-loaded walk to score Dalton, tying the game. For the second straight night, Bishop brought home a run in the ninth inning, this time with a bases-clearing, three-RBI double giving the Flyboys a 17-14 advantage.
Caswell Smith (College of Charleston) forced a pair of flyouts and then struck out the final batter he saw to put an emphatic stamp on the comeback victory, ending the Axmen’s seven-game winning streak and extending the Flyboys win streak to three in a row.
Bishop lead Greeneville on offense, going 3-for-5 with four RBI and a run scored, while Gleed went 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Campbell went 0-for-3 at the plate but scored three runs after drawing a walk and reaching on a pair of Kingsport errors.
Casillas paced Kingsport, going 3-for-3 with four RBI and a run scored. Shaw went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs scored for the Axmen.
Carson Jacobs (Gateway CC) (1-1) earns the win, going 1 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, just one of those were earned, off three hits and walking two batters. Smith earns his first save of the year, striking out one batter in his inning of work. Ryan Schiefer (Grand Canyon) started the contest for the Flyboys, giving up six runs off four hits, walking three and striking out one in two innings. Tyler Blankenship (Yuba College) allowed one run, it was unearned, off three hits in three innings, walking two and striking out one. Graham Breite (St. Charles CC) allowed four runs off three hits, walking one and striking out another in 1 1/3 innings of work.
Jenkins (1-1) was handed the loss, giving up three runs off two hits, walking two and striking out one in 2/3 of an inning. Tommy Meyer (NIU) started the ballgame, giving up seven runs, four of them being earned, off five hits while walking four and striking out three in three innings of work. Trusley gave up four runs, two of those being earned, off six hits while striking out a batter in 3 1/3 innings out of the pen. Zachery Radigan (Colorado Northwestern CC) gave up three runs off three hits, walking one and striking out five in two innings.
Up next, the Flyboys and the Axmen will close the series Friday at Pioneer Park in Greeneville. Thomas Ian Nicholas aka Henry Rowengarter from the movie “Rookie of the Year” will be in attendance signing autographs beginning at 6 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets for the contest at flyboysbaseball.com.
