JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — The Johnson City Doughboys beat the Pulaski River Turtles in the rubber match of the midweek series, 8-2, winning their second game in a row at home.
A consistent offense and an even better performance from a seven-man pitching staff gave the rowdy home crowd a complete team performance.
But it was the River Turtles who struck first to start. Noah Toole drew a walk, then a pair of hits from Sebastian Norman and Aubrey Kearns put Pulaski in business. Luke Romine got drilled by a pitch to drive in a run for an RBI, putting the away team up, 1-0.
The Doughboys responded by putting up three scoring innings between the second and fourth frames to put them back in the driver’s seat. In the second, Eli Thurmond and Nate Eisfelder both drew free passes before Zach Porter made contact to drive in a run on a Pulaski error.
Jack Jones then stepped up and drilled an RBI double into the gap, and Walter Urbon notched his second hit of the game to make it 3-1. In the third, Holden Pantier led things off with a single, and Eisfelder reached base again, this time on an RBI triple that showed off his elite speed.
But the scoring party did not stop there. Anthony Temesvary drove in another run for Johnson City with a sac fly, and the fourth extended the lead even more. Three walks for the home team led things off, an RBI fielder’s choice from Thurmond brought one in, and then Eisfelder recorded another RBI on a single. This put the Doughboys up 8-2 and in full control.
The seven-man pitching staff did its thing on the mound, highlighted by Cade Julius going three innings and the bullpen logging three 1-2-3 innings on the scoreboard. Pulaski only found one hit in the last five innings of the contest.
Eli Miller, Lincoln Causero, Dylan Christensen and Hiram Lewis all went one inning, striking out three combined batters and keeping the River Turtles scoreless the rest of the contest.
Johnson City reliever Grant Cleavinger came in for the ninth and found himself in some trouble with two walks. But after a reset with his catcher, Zach Porter, he struck out the final batter and was greeted on the mound by his team.
Overall, it was a full team win and an impressive performance in front of the TVA Credit Union Ballpark faithful for another clutch win in a rubber match.
“TVA Credit Union Ballpark is a special place,” Eisfelder said post-game. “You don’t really get it anywhere else. It’s a local ballpark for me, so it’s pretty special to see it packed like this.”
Notables:
● Eisfelder bounced back after an 0-for-4 game in the first of the series, finishing game three with a 2-for-3 line with a triple, two RBI and two walks.
● Urbon had yet another multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
● The pitching staff combined for one earned run, five hits allowed, 10 strikeouts and four walks.
● Johnson City went 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position and displayed incredible defense with Kenyon Hughes Jr. making an impressive double play at second.
Up Next:
The Doughboys will head to Danville to take on the Otterbots in a two-game series, then play an exhibition game against the Team USA College National Team Stars. You can listen live to the Johnson City Doughboys and stream all three games on the official team website.
We hope to see you back at the ballpark on June 30, as a series starts against the Greeneville Flyboys. You can get your tickets at https://www.appyleague.com/johnson-city/tickets and join us for a Dollar Day!
Keep up with all the Doughboys action on our Instagram, @jc_doughboys, including our new series, rally a troop with the player of the game after every home win.
