DANVILLE, Va. — The Johnson City Doughboys defeated the USA Collegiate National Team Stars, 4-3, in an exhibition bout Sunday afternoon.

After going down early, the Doughboys never wavered and climbed back to leave Danville with a huge boost of confidence this summer. Jax Bishop got the nod to start and pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one walk.

However, in the third, the Stars struck first. Georgia Bulldog Kolby Branch drilled a leadoff solo bomb to left center and then Ryker Waite singled and scored on a groundout, giving USA a 2-0 lead.

The Stars extended their lead in the fifth. Branch drew a walk, Waite got hit by a pitch and Derick Pitts also walked to load the bases. Hogan Denny, a late addition to the Team USA Stars, drove one in with an RBI sacrifice fly.

Then Johnson City finally had a spark in the bottom of half of the frame. Jackson Geiger lined a triple to right for their fourth hit of the day, and Anthony Temesvary drove him in with an RBI groundout.

Then the offense continued to heat up in the sixth inning. Walter Urbon logged his second hit of the day on a triple, then Gunner Skelton drove him in with an RBI double. After Braxton Van Cleave walked, Nate Eisfelder stepped up to the plate with the tying run at second. Ice then drilled a line drive double to left field 104 mph off the bat, knotting it up at three runs apiece and giving the Doughboys all the momentum.

The bullpen duo of JR Fordham and Julian Hachem, who both pitched Friday, did an amazing job of limiting the dangerous USA offense. Both pitchers notched 1-2-3 innings with two strikeouts each.

This brought Johnson City up in the seventh, the final inning of play during the exhibition game. Temesvary logged his first hit of the summer to the infield, and after that Kenyon Hughes Jr. and Walter Urbon grounded into fielder’s choices to force two outs.

Gunner Skelton then swung at strike three, but a critical error behind the dish for Team USA let him reach first base, putting runners at the corners. Gabe Tanous, who walked off the Burlington rubber match, stepped up in another clutch situation.

Tanous flared a single to right, scoring the winning run and giving his side a huge come-from-behind victory.

Notables:

● Tanous now has two walk-off knocks in the span of a week.

● Urbon and Holden Pantier both had multi-hit games with two each, with Urbon coming in as the winning run in the seventh.

● Doughboy pitchers had four 1-2-3 innings and recorded eight strikeouts against some of the top collegiate talent in the nation.

Up Next:

The Doughboys will enjoy a league-wide off day on Monday before taking on the Flyboys for a three-game set. Game 1 is at TVA Credit Union Ballpark on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

You can get tickets at https://www.appyleague.com/johnson-city/tickets and keep up with the Doughboys on our Instagram, @jc_doughboys