KINGSPORT, Tenn. — The Kingsport Axmen came up short in a five-hit, four-run losing effort as they fell, 6-4, to the Burlington Sock Puppets on Opening Night on Thursday.
Lawson McLeod earned the win for the Sock Puppets with his scoreless inning of relief while the hold was given to Tate Jones for three innings of work. Jason Johnson then earned the save when he shut the door on the Axmen.
Ballad Health Field at Hunter Wright Stadium had a healthy crowd for the first game of the 2026 season, and it didn’t take long for the scoring to start, not for the hometown Axmen.
The third batter up on the night, Brandon Novy, scorched the first pitch he saw over the wall for a two-run homer to give the Sock Puppets an early 2-0 lead. It was also the first home run league wide.
Burlington’s starter Tyler Shafer kept Kingsport hitless through the first three innings before Devin Mitchell’s fourth-inning solo shot extended the lead to 3-0.
The Axmen were able to respond in the bottom half of the inning when Carter Geffre broke up the early no-hitter.
Right fielder Brock Silvers followed this single up with a base hit of his own, scoring Dylan Passo, and then Geffre was able to scramble home when Burlington catcher Vincent DeCarlo overthrew shortstop Orlando Fernandez while trying to get Silvers out.
With the score now 3-2, Kingsport had the momentum. However, the momentum came crashing down when pitcher Seth Farni overthrew his shortstop Easton Beach while trying to turn two. One run scored on the error, and another scored when centerfielder BJ Gibson was offline with his throw, which ended up in the Axmen dugout.
That second error scored Brent Smith to increase the Sock Puppets’ lead to 5-2.
Kingsport had one more answer when a two-out single from Gibson scored two runs, bringing the contest back within one.
However, Burlington added another insurance run on a bloop single from Bryce Clavon in the eighth and took the 6-4 score into the bottom of the ninth.
Johnson then came in and faced some adversity as he got himself into a situation with a runner on third and two outs as he faced pinch hitter Antonio Fawcett. Johnson trailed 2-0 in the count before battling back to catch Fawcett looking on strike three to end the game.
Game 2 is set for Friday night with the Axmen looking for some revenge after their home opener got spoiled thanks to the loss to lead off the campaign.
