JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — The Johnson City Doughboys took down the Elizabethton River Riders on Friday night, 7-3, demonstrating a total team win with dominant pitching and a potent offense.
Ryan Weller got the second start of his summer and started things off with a surge, going 1-2-3 with two strikeouts to his name. Johnson City responded to the showing with a three-run and three-hit inning, with Nate Eisfelder and Gabe Tanous both recording RBI doubles.
Brennon Seigler also added an RBI on the sacrifice fly, kicking off his impressive night in the batter’s box, making it 3-0. Elizabethton responded with one of its own on a sacrifice fly for Eli Evans after Hank Gomric walked and Luke Billings singled.
The Doughboys poured it on in the bottom half of the inning. Blake Herrell launched his second home run of the season in only three games, highlighting the inning with a two-run shot to make it 5-1.
Weller continued to roll during his start, giving up only one earned run throughout four innings, adding four strikeouts and only three hits allowed.
Jayce Rollins continued the train on the mound for Johnson City, holding Elizabethton scoreless for four innings and gaining the win. The Florida Southern righty also added four strikeouts of his own to keep the home side rolling.
After three scoreless innings for the Doughboys from the third through the fifth, the offense sparked back up in the sixth. Seigler doubled to start things off, Anthony Temesvary reached on an error and Kenyon Hughes Jr. started his multi-hit game with an RBI single.
This impressive inning stretched the score even further, now making it 7-2 Doughboys. While the River Riders stole one back in the ninth on another hit for Billings, Daniel Parris shut things down with a strikeout in the ninth.
Johnson City moved back to .500 with the victory, taking the 7-3 win over the Appalachian League-leading Elizabethton team coming into the series. The Doughboys also moved back up the standings, now standing at third ahead of the Greeneville Flyboys.
Notables:
● Hughes Jr. had another multi-hit game, finishing on a 2-for-4 line with an RBI and a run.
● Herrell launched another home run, continuing his incredible start to the summer with a two-run shot.
● Seven of the nine Doughboys in the lineup recorded a hit, with the three pitching arms combining for nine total strikeouts to only two earned runs.
● Johnson City delivered with extra-base hitting in timely moments, with three doubles and a home run adding to the score.
Up Next:
The Doughboys will travel down the road to Elizabethton to take on the River Riders for Game 2 on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., to end the split series. After that, a home battle against the now first-place Kingsport Axmen on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. looms.
Be sure to visit https://www.appyleague.com/johnson-city/audio to listen to the Saturday night game and get your tickets at https://www.appyleague.com/johnson-city/tickets for Sunday’s game.
Also, check out our Instagram, @jc_doughboys, to see a postgame interview with the player of the game in our new series, Rally A Troop and see all of the latest Doughboys content.
