JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — The Johnson City Doughboys were swept at home Friday in a ninth-inning thriller against the Bluefield Ridge Runners, 7-4.
The Doughboys struck first in the game in the bottom of the opening inning. Brandon Chang reached first on an error by the Bluefield infield, scoring Logan Dunn and Nate Connor right behind him.
Bluefield tied the game in the fourth on one swing of the bat from Chris Daniels. Daniels knocked his third home run of the year down the right field line, where it just squeaked fair past the pole, tying the game 2-2.
Bluefield doubled its score in the sixth as Bryce Campbell scored Cole Decker on a sacrifice fly to right field, and Daniels followed it up with his second homer of the night, a crushing hit that sailed over the right field wall to make the score 4-2.
Johnson City wasn’t giving up easily. In the bottom of the sixth, Chang lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Connor to score for a second time. The Doughboys tied it up in the very next inning when Paris Pridgen reached on another infield error by Bluefield, seeing Willie Hurt cross home as the tying run, the score at 4-4.
Johnson City couldn’t hold off the Bluefield offense in the ninth. Nathan Nichols got his only hit of the night, scoring the go-ahead run in Daniels. A couple walks and batters hit by pitches allowed Ethan Guerra and Nichols both to score with the bases loaded.
The Doughboys wouldn’t respond in the bottom of the ninth and were swept by Bluefield in three games in two days.
Johnson City will have a new series over the weekend. Saturday’s first pitch against the Tri-State Coal Cats is set for 7 p.m. at TVA Credit Union Ballpark.
