HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The Tri-State Coal Cats split a two-game series with the Bristol State Liners to open their final homestand of the 2025 season.
Game 1 – Tuesday: State Liners 8, Coal Cats 2
Game 1 was a rough outing for the Coal Cats, who managed just one hit in an 8-2 loss. The tone was set early after starting pitcher Kenneth Jackson ran into trouble in the second inning. With two outs and a runner on, a fielding error by Tyler Smolinski opened the door for Bristol, and the State Liners made the most of it. Jackson never quite recovered, surrendering five runs -- only one of them earned -- across four innings of work. He issued four walks and struck out one.
Noah LaFine entered in relief and struggled to settle in, allowing two more runs on three hits and three walks. While the bullpen steadied from there, allowing just one run the rest of the way, the early deficit proved too much to overcome.
Bristol, a team that has battled inconsistency on the mound for much of the summer, flipped the script behind a dominant effort from Paulo Noris and Aidan Savona. The duo combined for six hitless innings and seven strikeouts, stifling a Tri-State lineup that couldn’t find its rhythm at the plate. The Coal Cats were held hitless through 6 2/3 innings before DeMir Heidelberg finally broke through with an RBI single off Miguel Galvez in the seventh. Tri-State scratched across one more run off a Bristol error, but the damage was already done.
The lone offensive spark came too late for the Coal Cats, who dropped the opener but looked to carry a sliver of momentum into Game 2. That momentum carried -- and then some.
Game 2 – Wednesday: Coal Cats 12, State Liners 2 (7 innings)
Tri-State bounced back with a 12-2 mercy-rule win in Game 2, out-hitting Bristol, 9-2, and capitalizing on five State Liner errors. After giving up the game’s first run in the top of the second, the Cats responded immediately with two in the bottom half and never trailed again. Starter Tucker DeLisle went four innings, allowing two runs on one hit with three strikeouts. Trey Lawrence and Nick Weatherford each made their summer debut out of the bullpen and combined for three scoreless innings.
Luke Kosko went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Bishop Quarles added a double, a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a stolen base.
Tri-State (15-24) now turns its attention to the final home series of the season — a challenging four-game set against the Burlington Sock Puppets (25-15). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Jack Cook Field.
What’s Next
With the split, Tri-State gains a bit of momentum heading into a packed road weekend. The Coal Cats travel to face the Greeneville Flyboys for a unique doubleheader Thursday, including a makeup of an earlier postponed game. The series wraps up Friday with a third and final contest.
From there, Tri-State heads straight to Bluefield for a two-game weekend rematch before returning to Jack Cook Field for the final homestand of the 2025 season.
For more information about the Tri-State Coal Cats, visit appyleague.com/tri-state or follow @TriStCoalCats on X and Instagram.
