JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — The Johnson City Doughboys walked off the Elizabethton River Riders in Saturday night's thriller.
The Doughboys started the game full steam ahead. Dane Morrow was the first run of the game after Jackson Jones reached on an infield error. Trey Majette followed it up with a sharp ground ball into right field that saw Brandon Chang and Jones both score.
The Doughboys kept up the pace in the bottom of the second, Nate Conner grounded out to the shortstop, Jack Torbett, but Logan Fyffe was able to find home from third base. Chang showed off his power as the next batter, sending a 358-foot homer over the right field wall to score him and Morrow. Johnson City led, 6-0.
The River Riders cut the lead in half in the top of the third, as Jackson Berry scored Jack Ratcliffe on a grounder that snuck through into left field. Jordan Crosland followed it up with a single of his own, bringing Luke Donaghey home. To top it off, Tua Wolfgramm walked with the bases loaded, which saw Torbett score from third.
Johnson City got two of those runs back in the home half of the inning, as Majette knocked his second hit of the night into the left-center field gap, scoring Paris Pridgen. A throwing error on a single by Landon Smelser allowed Majette to cross home and put Johnson City on top, 8-3.
The River Riders slowly chipped their way back into the game. In the fifth, Lenox Lively crushed his first home run of the season into right field, scoring runs from Xavier Bradley and Wolfgramm. In the next inning, Crosland singled into center field and allowed Berry to fly from first to home to cash in another run.
Elizabethton took the lead in the top of the seventh with a towering home run from Cadyn Karl. The 414-foot moonshot scored Lively and put the River Riders ahead, 9-8.
The comeback was the goal for Johnson City; they tied the game in the bottom of the eighth off an RBI groundout from Fyffe that gave Majette a chance to cross home. Lleyton Daily shut down the River Riders' offense in the top of the ninth, striking out two and getting one flyout, all with a runner on second, to open a window for Johnson City.
In the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, the Doughboys needed just one run to end the ballgame. Chang worked a walk, and Pridgen reached first on a force out at third. Majette was intentionally walked with two outs to load the bases and bring up Smelser. On a 1-1 count, Smelser roped a hit into center field and scored Chang to give the Doughboys their second walk-off victory of the season, 10-9.
Johnson City will be back at it on Sunday for a seven-inning game against Elizabethton, with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. at TVA Credit Union Ballpark.
