PULASKI, Va. — Kingsport was run-ruled for the first time this season, unable to avoid the onslaught of the Pulaski River Turtles, as the Axmen fell 17-7 in eight innings.
Before the score became lopsided, it was actually the Axmen that started with the lead. A two-RBI single from Cash Williams put Kingsport up early. Brock Silvers then hit a sacrifice fly to bring across the final run of the first inning.
A throwing error scored the first run for Pulaski, but after the first inning came to a close it looked like Kingsport’s game to lose.
However, in the second inning, the River Turtles found rhythm, scoring three against Axmen right hander Jett Wright, as they took a 4-3 lead.
Kingsport knotted things back up at four after another Silver’s sac fly, but the contest was far from over.
The beginning of the end for the Axmen came in the fourth inning. Ryland Duson stepped into the batter’s box with the bases loaded and delivered a bases-clearing double that gave Pulaski a lead that was never threatened by the Axmen again.
Pulaski kept attacking as it took a 14-5 lead after scoring four in the seventh inning. Trey Jozwiakowski sparked some life in the Axmen with a 465-foot, two-run homer that cut the lead to seven.
Kingsport was unable to get one more inning to try and mount a comeback as Hayden Blair scored two from a single off the right field wall, reaching the run-rule limit in the eighth inning.
The losing streak for the Axmen is now at four games, their longest losing streak since the beginning of the season. Luckily for Kingsport, Johnson City was unable to win against Bluefield, meaning that first place in the west still belongs to Kingsport.
