BURLINGTON, N.C. - After sweeping the East Division’s top team, Tri-State waited out a rain-soaked Saturday to face the Burlington Sock Puppets in a doubleheader. Tri-State began Sunday afternoon with a 7-3 loss before flipping the result in game two with a 7-3 victory, ending its road trip with a 3-1 record against the division’s top two teams.
Burlington’s three-run bottom of the first set the tone for Game 1. Sock Puppets center fielder Kenny Mallory Jr. broke open the scoring with his team’s third consecutive hit, a two-run single to right. With a 3-0 advantage entering the bottom of the second, Burlington doubled its lead to 6-0 after scoring three runs on two hits.
After being shutout for three innings, the Coal Cats gained ground in the fourth. A leadoff double by Logan Poteet put the Cats in scoring position before Chace Chaplin whacked his first home run of the season to make it a 6-2 Burlington lead.
Burlington tallied one more run on a fifth-inning wild pitch. Then Poteet hit his third home run of the year to make it a 7-3 game and finish his 2-for-2 day at the dish. The Cats’ catcher became the second visiting player to record a two-hit game during the opener, joining leadoff hitter Michael Rodriguez in the feat.
Despite equaling Burlington’s six hits, Tri-State allowed five walks to Burlington’s one, which proved to be a main difference in this one.
Game 2 was the exact opposite of the Coal Cats’ afternoon start. Not only did the team reverse its previous result with a 7-3 victory, but this time the Cats created more runs despite being outhit, 7-5, by the Sock Puppets.
Making his first start in five appearances, Ryan Brown tossed two scoreless innings while allowing three hits to begin the nightcap. However, the Sock Puppets broke through in the third inning, scoring two runs on two singles and a sacrifice fly.
Saturday’s rainout may have proved the saying ‘when it rains, it pours,’ but the same could be said regarding the Cats’ fifth inning comeback. Leading off the inning with a Trent Adelman base on balls, the team continued to walk its way on base. Gavin Johnson proceeded to walk in the Cats’ first run of the game. With the score tied following a wild pitch, Jorge Gonzalez-Febo hit a three-run shot to left center field that propelled the Cats to a 5-2 lead.
Though Burlington answered back with an RBI single in the bottom frame, the bottom half of the Tri-State lineup once again pulled through. Adelman led off with a single before CJ Richard brought him home with an RBI triple. For the Cats’ third consecutive hit, Jack Smith slapped a single to center field to give his team a 7-3 lead. With the single, all Coal Cats batters from sixth to ninth in the lineup reached base during the Game 2 win.
With the series and doubleheader split, Tri-State now trails fourth-place Bluefield by a half game, owning a record of 19-22. Meanwhile, Burlington sits at 23-18 overall having lost two of its past three games. Following the doubleheader, Tri-State’s two-day break could not come at a more opportune time.
After the mini break, the Cats returns to Jack Cook Field on Wednesday for their final home series of the season, a rematch against the Danville Otterbots. The series opener begins less than a week removed from the Cats’ road sweep of the Bots, with first pitch set for 7 p.m.
