GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Greeneville Flyboys lost in front of a record crowd on the Fourth of July to the Elizabethton River Riders, 11-7, on Tuesday night.
The record 4,808 fans watched on from Pioneer Park which was an attendance standard for the Greeneville Flyboys (12-14). The crowd broke the record set at last year’s Fourth of July Game (4,612). Attendance records were shattered across the Appalachian League with at least Danville, Kingsport, Pulaski, Elizabethton and Greeneville all breaking records during games on July 3 and 4.
Greeneville got the fans fired up early when Aden Hill started the bottom of the first with a triple. Hill scored on a Jack Mosh groundout.
The River Riders (13-11) responded with six unanswered runs. Elizabethton got three in the third and three in the fourth. Only three of the six runs were earned as Greeneville committed three errors in the two innings.
The River Riders led 8-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Kai Leckszas came into the game for Elizabethton and gave up a leadoff home run to Tyler Cerny. Johnny Pilla delivered a two-run double with two outs to cut the deficit to three.
An RBI double for Cerny in the eighth inning and an RBI hit from Joel Dragoo made it a one-run game. Pablo Torres entered the game with two on and two outs in the eighth. He struck out pinch hitter Gavyn Boyle to end the inning.
The River Riders picked up three insurance runs off of Ryan Widmeier in the ninth to pad their lead. Torres allowed two base runners in the bottom of the ninth but struck out Hill and Cerny to end the game.
Ethan Phillips (0-2) started for Greeneville and took the loss. Phillips pitched four innings and allowed six runs (three earned) on five hits. Gabe Barrett (3-0) picked up the win for Elizabethton in relief. Pablo Torres got his first save of the season.
There will be a league wide off day tomorrow following eight straight days of baseball. The Flyboys will host the Burlington Sock Puppets (16-9) in a two-game series starting on Thursday night at 7 p.m. A link to watch the game can be found on the Flyboys website.
