In an offensive shootout, the Pulaski River Turtles took down the Burlington Sock Puppets, 14-7, on Thursday night.
Pulaski dominated early, but a strong answer from Burlington would put them within one run.
Despite that, Pulaski would finish the game off by scoring six unanswered runs to secure the win.
Burlington has had Pulaski’s number this season, so the River Turtles needed to make an impact early, and they did just that.
A three-run no-doubter from right fielder Christian Smith put Pulaski up, 3-0, after the first. Pulaski kept the momentum going by putting up another five runs in the second inning. The first run came off an RBI infield single from catcher Konner Kinkade, which brought in second baseman Carter Newman. The next three runs came off another homer, this time off the bat of first baseman Ryland Zaborowski. A wild pitch then brought in left fielder Alec DeMartino to make it 8-0 after two.
The game was then completely turned on its head after that, as the Sock Puppets took complete control of the game, as they proceeded to score seven straight runs. Burlington’s first runs came in the third, the first of which came off an RBI triple from catcher Ryan McCrystal to bring in third baseman Dante Girardi. An RBI single from shortstop JC Colon to bring in McCrystal made the game 8-2.
In the fourth, a passed ball brought in first baseman Carlos Peña to make it 8-3. To start off the fifth, a fielder’s choice brought in Girardi to make it 8-4. Colon then hit an RBI double to bring in McCrystal and make it 8-5. A two-run homer from left fielder from Ethan Lizama then put Burlington within one.
Despite Burlington’s strong answer, Pulaski turned it into second gear, scoring six unanswered runs.
In the sixth, a sac-fly from third baseman Ryan Moerman brought in Zaborowski to make it 9-7.
In the seventh, an error by Burlington brought in centerfielder Rodney Green Jr. to make it 10-7. DeMartino then followed that up with an RBI double to make it 12-7. Despite being up five heading into the eighth, Pulaski wasn’t done yet, as designated hitter TJ Fondtain hit a solo shot over the trees in right-centerfield to make it 13-7. The final run of the game came off an RBI double from Zaborowski to bring in Kinkade and make the final score 14-7.
The winning pitcher was Nick Perez, as he went 2 2/3 innings, and allowed no hits, walked three and struck out three. The losing pitcher was Trey Cooper, who went two innings, allowed four hits, eight earned runs, walked four and struck out one. The Player of the Game went to the first baseman Zaborowski, as he went 4-for-5, with five RBI, and had that three-run homer in the second.
Up next, Pulaski will look for the sweep against Burlington on Friday.
