JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The Doughboys overcame a six-run deficit but couldn’t finish the job as they fell 16-13 in the series opener against Danville on Tuesday.
The first inning was the only quiet inning of the game, with both teams failing to plate a run.
Danville would open up the scoring in the second with a pair of runs from a collection of singles. The Doughboys wouldn’t be able to answer immediately and would eventually find themselves down by six, finally opening up their scoring in the third.
Kyle Harbison would drive in a pair with a double, shortening the deficit to four. Danville would get those two runs right back in the fourth, with a few hard-hit balls driving in the runs.
Johnson City would start to gain ground in the fourth, sending all nine players to the plate. Five consecutive hits, including two doubles, would help bring home five runs for the Doughboys, making the deficit just one at 8-7.
The game would continue to go back and forth, with Danville getting three in the fifth to extend the lead back to four. Johnson City would get one of the four back in the bottom, as Donovan Hill would hit a double to deep center field to score a run.
The Doughboys would be able to hang their first zero since the first inning defensively in the sixth, setting up the offense to make a push for a tie.
Johnson City would send eight men to the plate, headlined by an Isaiah Frost two-run single to tie the game up at 11. The Doughboys would leave a runner on third in the inning, unable to take the lead.
The Otterbots would lead off the seventh with the third of four triples on the day. Danville’s leadoff hitter of the inning reached base in seven of nine innings. Danville would use that leadoff triple to propel them to three runs, giving them the lead back after Johnson City tied it up.
Danville wouldn’t be done there, as they’d put two more on in the eighth, giving them 16 runs on 20 hits. The Doughboy offense wouldn’t have much to close out the game. Kyle Harbison would make a bid for a comeback with a moonshot two-run homer in the ninth, but it wouldn’t be enough.
The game would finish up with the Doughboys falling 16-13 to Danville, the third time in the last week the Doughboys scored 10+ runs in a game.
The series will finish up tomorrow night at TVA Credit Union Ballpark before the longest road trip of the season for the Doughboys.
