Johnson City, Tenn. - The Johnson City Doughboys were on the wrong end of a late-inning comeback by the Bristol State Liners and lost, 2-1, on Wednesday night.
Johnson City got a lot of help early on from their starting pitcher, Blake Dean. After giving up a leadoff hit to the first batter he faced, Dean dialed in from there as he recorded 12 outs through his next 14 batters faced, giving up no runs.
The offense had Dean’s back in the second inning when Brandon Chang reached first on a fielder’s choice, and Trey Majette brought him home soon after with an RBI line drive to left. That single gave the Doughboys an early 1-0 lead.
Things went quiet on offense for both sides as relief pitcher Nolan Meadly held the lead on the mound for Johnson City, while Matthew Bienvenu did the same for the State Liners. The next hit of the game wouldn’t come until the sixth inning with a single by Cam Kaufman.
Bristol tied the game up in the bottom of the sixth. After a lead-off single by Prince DeBoskie, Patrick Gillen smashed a line drive down the left field line.
Bristol followed it right up in the bottom of the seventh after holding Johnson City on offense, Chris Patterson led off with a single and stole second shortly after. Patterson worked his way to third on an infield error before the designated hitter gave Bristol the lead with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Johnson City wasn’t able to respond in the later innings. With the tying run on second after back-to-back walks, Logan Dunn hit a sharp line drive that was caught by left fielder Joe DuSell to cut the Doughboys’ comeback short.
Up next, Johnson City will begin a fresh series against the Greenville Flyboys on Thursday for a two-game set at TCA Credit Union. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
