GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — The lights were bright at Eastman Credit Union Field as the Greeneville Flyboys finally returned home and rewarded their fans with an empathic 10-4 win over the Pulaski River Turtles on Thursday night.
Braxton Lewis made his second start of the season and turned in another strong outing. Lewis struck out seven over three scoreless innings, surpassing his Opening Day total of six while allowing just one hit.
Pulaski starter Dylan Henson worked 3 1/3 innings, allowing four runs while striking out four.
Greeneville opened the scoring in the bottom of the third. Carson Ray and Levi Pinder reached with singles before Nelson Grajales-Vazquez drew a walk to load the bases. Bryan Williams Jr. then brought home a run on a ground ball that resulted in a double play, and the Flyboys were able to scratch across another run for a 2-0 lead.
Pulaski responded in the top of the fourth after Greeneville reliever Owen Shinnada issued walks to the first two batters of the inning. Brady Elrod later brought home a run to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Flyboys answered immediately in the bottom half. Owen ten Oever walked and moved to second on a wild pitch before Olin Ward lined an RBI double into right field to extend the lead to 3-1.
After Henson exited, Greeneville broke the game open against reliever Hunter Howard. Carson Ray reached on an error before Levi Pinder singled to put runners in scoring position. Nelson Grajales-Vazquez followed with a two-run single, and another Pulaski error allowed the inning to continue. Bryan Williams Jr. added a walk, a wild pitch then scored another run, and Matthew Kerrigan capped the rally with a two-run single as Greeneville stretched the lead to 8-1.
Shinnada settled in to finish two innings of relief, allowing just two hits.
Greeneville added two more runs in the seventh against Matty Helms. Nolan Behm singled and advanced on a wild pitch before Olin Ward delivered an RBI single. Carson Ray followed with a base hit, and Levi Pinder drove in another run with an RBI single to push the score to 10-1.
Bradley Coulter and Hudson Johnson handled late relief work for Greeneville. Pulaski scratched across a run after a walk and doubles from John Michael Szefc and Tre Bryant set up an RBI from Ryland Duson.
The River Turtles added two more in the ninth against Evan Williams behind extra-base hits from Brady Moretz and Szefc, but Greeneville comfortably closed out a 10-4 victory in its home debut.
Up Next:
The Flyboys will face Pulaski again Friday night at 7 p.m. Then, Greeneville will travel to Pulaski for a two-game road series in Virginia, followed by an off day on Monday.
Tickets are available at flyboysbaseball.com or by calling 423-609-7400. For weather updates and team information, follow @gflyboys on Facebook, Instagram and X.
