BURLINGTON, N.C. - The Johnson City Doughboys fell to the Burlington Sock Puppets on the Fourth of July in an 11-6 final.
Johnson City took control of the game early as starting pitcher Brian Smith sat down his first six batters faced in the first two innings. The bats followed Smith's arm in the third, as Willie Hurt scored the first run of the ballgame on a wild pitch. Landon Smelser followed right behind him as Nate Conner worked a walk with the bases loaded.
Brandon Chang doubles the runs with a two-RBI line drive that hugged the first baseline into the outfield, scoring Conner and Paris Pridgen. Ryan Jones capped it off with an RBI groundout to third base, seeing Trey Majette cross home and make it 5-0 early on.
Smith continued his dominant start through the next three innings, giving up just a single hit with no runs earned. Smith pitched a full five innings in his longest outing of the year.
The Sock Puppets started their comeback and completed it within the sixth inning, after Preston Yaucher walked with the bases loaded and Wade Shelly was hit by a pitch right afterwards, Burlington scored two runs off no hits.
Burlington continued to score after a balk saw another run cross home in Orlando Fernandez. Before Caiden Combs singled into center field with the bases loaded, a throwing error by the Doughboys allowed the bases to clear on the three-run shot by Combs. By the time the dust settled, the Sock Puppets had a 6-5 lead going into the seventh.
Johnson City was able to tie the game back up in the very next inning. Majette walked before stealing second base on the next pitch, allowing Chang to knock in his third RBI of the game on a sharp line drive to right field, scoring Majette from second.
Burlington's bats stayed hot in the home half of the seventh, and another balk saw Airel Antigua score from third. Wade Shelly followed it up with a two-RBI single into center field, and another throwing error allowed DJ Merriweather and Zack Jackson to both find home plate.
Burlington got the final nails in the coffin during the eighth inning as Fernandez unleashed a ball into deep center field, rolling to the wall and finding Sammy Laux score and Antigua for a second time.
The Doughboys couldn't complete a comeback as a 6-4-3 double play by the Burlington infield ended the game with an 11-6 final score.
Johnson City will remain in Burlington throughout the weekend, with first pitch for Saturday's game scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
