KINGSPORT, Tenn. — It was a tightly contested game for seven innings, but then the Axmen put up seven runs in the eighth. The late-blooming offense led to a 10-6 victory over the River Riders on Thursday.
The Axmen and River Riders were deadlocked at a 2-2 tie for the majority of the game. It was a classic pitchers' duel through and through, with both starters making it four innings.
However, with two outs and a runner on second, Kam Durnin stepped into the box and delivered an RBI single, his 37th RBI of the season.
Jackson Downing closed down the River Riders' bats in the eighth, and the Axmen had a chance to add insurance, which they did.
Derrick Pitts led off the inning with a single. The Axmen continued to pile on, paying off the leadoff single with an RBI double from PJ Jones. Colin Larson scored a runner after taking a pitch into the back from Brody Roe, Mason Swinney hit a two-run single off the glove of the outstretched Jack Torbett and Tyler Myatt hit a sacrifice fly. That all set up a bases-clearing two-RBI triple from Derrick Pitts, the man who led off the inning.
Elizabethton didn’t go down without a fight, putting up four of their own in the ninth, but Micah Wells came in from the bullpen to sit down the last three batters of the day.
Kingsport clinched the season-long series with the River Riders, and they now look for the sweep after moving to 17-13.
