HUNTINGTON, W. Va. – Though it found ways to climb back after falling behind early, Tri-State could not pull off the comeback in a 7-4 loss to the Pulaski River Turtles Thursday evening.
Pulaski set the tone early in the contest, as a first-inning RBI single and a two-run double in the following inning gave the visitors a 3-0 lead. In a change from his usual bullpen role, Kenyon Collins surrendered three runs on four hits while striking out four in his second start of the season.
With the sun still partially shining on Jack Cook Field, Logan Poteet led off the bottom of the second with some early fireworks as he sent his second homer of the year beyond the left-center field wall. The leadoff home run made it a 3-1 deficit for Tri-State. However, the bats could not keep momentum in the remainder of the second or the third.
Nonetheless, Poteet’s home run was the first hit in a 3-for-4 evening at the dish and his first of two RBIs. Manager Tommy Gregg spoke more about his explosive performance.
“He’s a good hitter,” said Gregg. “He’s confident, he doesn’t chase much out of the zone, (and) when he makes contact it’s usually on the barrel, and good things happen when you do that.”
After a scoreless top of the third, Pulaski picked up where it left off in a three-run fourth. As the first three batters of the inning got on base, a force out brought in a run before Pulaski’s Alec DeMartino followed up with a two-run triple, making it 6-1.
Tri-State answered in the fifth after a scoreless home half featuring a Poteet leadoff single. Following a leadoff walk issued to Isaac Turner, a steal and wild pitch set the table for an RBI groundout by Gavin Johnson in the next at-bat. From there, the Cats’ designated hitter continued his productive night by roping an RBI single to left field, cutting the Pulaski lead in half at 6-3.
The River Turtles tacked on one more run in the seventh. However, one name became a bright spot on the pitching staff in the following innings. Ryan Brown tossed two shutout innings in his Coal Cats debut, including a 1-2-3 top of the eighth. Allowing just one walk and one hit by pitch in two innings pitched, the Cats’ skipper left impressed with the righty from nearby Ashland, Kentucky.
“He pitched to contact, kept the ball down, he got ground balls, he was not afraid to throw it to contact,” Gregg said. “Let’s hope he can keep that up because it’ll be valuable in our bullpen. When you get a kid like that who goes two innings in his first outing and throw almost 20 pitches, that’s pretty cool.”
Though two singles and a Michael Rodriguez RBI double gave the Cats some life in the final inning, it came too late as it only took one more out for Pulaski to seal a series-opening 7-4 victory.
Now on a two-game skid, the Coal Cats fall to 10-16 on the year and remain fifth in the East division. Meanwhile, Pulaski improves to 11-14 overall and remains in fourth place. The Cats conclude the series with a Friday night showdown at 7 p.m., seeking to get back in the win column and gain ground in the East division standings.
