
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The Johnson City Doughboys couldn’t come up with a win in Thursday’s doubleheader against the Bluefield Ridge Runners, 20-10 and 8-4.
Levi Jones got things started early for Bluefield in the top of the first. He crushed his second homer of the year over the right field wall for a three-run homer, scoring Jorge Valdes and Colin Guerra. CJ Oxendine followed it up in the same inning with an RBI double into the right center field gap, cashing in a run from Chris Daniels. In the very next inning, Jones went yard for a second time with another three-run homer, scoring both Guerra and Valdes again and putting the Ridge Runners ahead 7-0.
Johnson City was finally able to get on the board in the bottom of the second, Brandon Chang singled on a line drive into center, allowing Jose Fernandez to cross home. Jackson Jones kept it rolling with an RBI single to the infield, and a throwing error by Guerra allowed Jones to reach second while Trey Majette scored from third. Landon Smelser added on with a groundout RBI that scored Chang from third and put the Doughboys back in the game, 7-3.
Levi Jones continued to hammer the ball at the plate. With the bases loaded, he hit the gap in right-center field with a deep flyball double, bringing home Guerra, Eric Masionet and Nathan Nichols to extend Bluefield’s lead. Ryan Niedzwiedz got involved in the action with a line drive up the middle to bring Jones home. Daniels topped it off by blasting a double into right field and trading places with Niedzwiedz, who moved to second on a passed ball, advancing Bluefield's lead, making the score 12-3.
At the bottom of the inning, Majette roped a double to the right field wall that scored Nate Conner, and Chang made it two in a row, taking Majette’s spot on second as he brought him home to score.
Bluefield continued their scoring in the fourth as a bases-loaded walk that Levi Jones drew allowed Nichols to score for a second time. Niedzwiedz added another run from Maisonet on an RBI sacrifice fly out to center. Nichols continued the hit parade in the fifth, lining a triple off the center field wall and scoring Oxendine from first. Valdes followed with another RBI on a line drive to left field, bringing Nichols home right away.
Down 16-5, Johnson City wasn’t going down without a fight. Logan Fyffe singled on a sharp ground ball into left field, bringing home Jackson Jones and Smelser, who had both been walked previously. Fernandez worked a walk with the bases loaded soon after to score Dane Morrow, and Chang kept the rally going with a groundout to second that scored Fyffe to bring Johnson City closer to the lead at 19-9.
Bluefield then scored four unassisted runs in the seventh as Ethan Guerra, Nichols and Valdes crossed home with bases-loaded walks. Levi Jones was then hit by a pitch with the bases still loaded as Maisonet came home for a third time in the game.
In the bottom of the seventh, Smelser was still attacking at the plate when he lined a triple to the right field corner, a throwing error by Bluefield went into the Doughboys' dugout, allowing Smelser to score as the final runs of the game with a 20-10 final.

Game 2
In the second game of the double-header, Bluefield started hot yet again with their first three batters reaching to load the bases with no outs. Ryan Niedzweidz scored the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Valdes. Levi Jones did the same thing with another sacrifice fly to center, this time scoring Cole Decker. The third run came on a passed ball to the backstop, where Collin Guerra made the break for home, sliding in safely.
Johnson City responded in the bottom of the second when Camden Kaufman hit his third double of the season into center field and brought home Conner, who had doubled just before Kaufman.
Bluefield scored three more in the top of the third, Niedweidz brought Collin Guerra across for a second time before scoring himself from third on a wild pitch. Maisonet kept things rolling with a sharp line drive to right field to see Derek Gonzalez score his lone run of the game after reaching on a walk.
The Doughboys answered with three runs of their own, starting with a Jose Fernandez double off the wall in left field, and Paris Pridgen crossed home on the play after his leadoff single. With Fernandez on third, Conner brought him in with a sacrifice fly to left field before Bluefield pitcher Brad Marks balked with runners on the corner. Kaufman scored on the balk to bring the score to 6-4.
Bluefield added insurance in the fourth as Collin Guerra mashed his third homer of the year, a solo shot over right field. Josh Hines added one more run as he lined a hit into centerfield and scored Niedzweidz before Hines was caught trying to reach second base.
Bluefield held Johnson City scoreless the rest of the game to claim their second win of the day, this time in five innings. The Doughboys will suit up again Friday for the third game of the series against the Ridge Runners. First pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.