JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Johnson City Doughboys could not close out a seven-inning contest on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Kingsport Axmen 6-4 after an impressive comeback from the road team.

The Axmen took the lead early, putting up a run in the top of the first. Antonio Fawcett drew a walk, Dylan Passo singled to advance him, then Jacob Parr recorded a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.

But Doughboy starter Hunter Crain bounced back during the start, logging four innings of two-run baseball with five strikeouts. The only speed bump for the San Jacinto JC prospect was a solo homer for Kingsport’s two-way player Seth Farni in his 11th at-bat of the season.

However, the offense behind him went scoreless the first three frames before coming alive in the fourth. Noah Cox reached base for the second time on his first hit, and Walter Urbon drew a walk, bringing up the dangerous hitter Nate Eisfelder. Eisfelder pummeled the baseball 435 feet and 108 mph off the bat to bring in three runs.

The Doughboy relief pitching duo of Garrett Macowiak and Cy Stephens continued to keep the lead for the home team, both recording scoreless appearances, with Macowiak having three strikeouts to his name.

The Johnson City offense added one more run in the fifth when Kenyon Hughes Jr. logged an RBI single after a critical error by the Axmen defense. This brought the game into the final inning of play for the Sunday matchup, with the Doughboys up 4-2.

But the Kingsport offense, which put up 19 runs the night prior, finally came alive in the clutch spot. The Axmen delivered four singles and two walks in the inning, with the RBIs going to Passo again and Cash Williams.

A throwing error into home by the Johnson City defense brought one in on the Passo hit, and then an RBI sacrifice fly by Farni capped off the four-run inning. After the incredible offensive showcase from the visiting side, the score was 6-4 headed into the bottom of the inning.

The Doughboys offense came up against a team that has not lost on a Sunday so far this season, and Blake Herrell started the frame with a hard-hit leadoff double. But Brody Carr shut the door with two strikeouts after that and ended the game with a flyout to left field.

Johnson City stranded four total runners in the final two innings, with two in the bottom of the seventh, and could not respond to the Axmen’s valiant comeback.

The Doughboys now move back to .500 at 16-16, in solo third in the West, still 0.5 games in front of the Greeneville Flyboys. The Axmen continue to boast the best record in the league after going undefeated on the week with seven wins in six days.

Notables:

• Eisfelder turned in a multi-hit game with his third home run of the season and a single, driving in three of the four Johnson City runs.
• Hughes Jr., Cox, and Herrell recorded the only other hits, with two singles and a double combined for the trio.
• Macowiak and Stephens both had incredible second appearances of the season, holding the Axmen scoreless during the middle innings.

Up Next:

The team will enjoy a league-wide off day on Monday, July 13th, before hitting the road to take on the Bluefield Ridge Runners in a three-game series. You can listen to all three games between July 14th and July 16th at https://www.appyleague.com/johnson-city/audio to keep up with the action.

Be sure also to follow our Instagram, @jc_doughboys, to stay in the loop throughout the summer!