BLUEFIELD, Va. — After trailing by three runs most of the game, a big five-run eighth inning boosted the Ridge Runners to victory over the Kingsport Axmen, 5-3, on Friday night.
Heading into the bottom of the eighth, Kingsport led 3-0 after dominant performances on the mound from Jameson Napper, Blaine Larkin and Landon Waugh.
However, when the Ridge Runners scored their first run on an RBI single from Adyn Schell, the momentum seemed to shift.
Aiden Zerr got the second out by striking out Trey Meyers, and all he needed to do was find a way to get the No. 9 hitter Ryan Morel out as well.
However, with two on, Morel smoked one into the left field corner of Bowen Field. Both runners scored, tying the game.
The pendulum had now swung in favor of Bluefield, and they were not done as Nate Hawton-Henley stepped into the batter’s box.
On the first pitch of the at-bat, Hawton-Henley drove one out to left center, leaving the yard for his first long ball of the season. The two-run homer gave Bluefield the 5-3 advantage.
After the eighth, the wind was taken out from behind the Axmen’s sails and Trey Reinburg wasted no time in finishing the contest for Bluefield.
Kingsport still remains last in the West Division and Bluefield moved into a first-place tie in the East with Pulaski.
