Riders sweep past Pulaski
Published 2:49 pm Monday, June 19, 2023
- Photo Contributed by Boyd Sports
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STAR CORRESPONDENT
The Elizabethton River Riders improved their home record to 6-1 with a 5-3 victory over the Pulaski River Turtles on Sunday at Northeast Community Credit Union ballpark and completed a two game sweep.
Designated hitter Hunter Porter blasted a two run home run in the third inning to stake the River Riders to a 4-3 lead and lefthander Baker Cox pitched four innings giving up three runs on just two hits while striking out six.
“I felt pretty good,” Cox said. “The two hits I gave up came off my slider. My changeup felt a lot better today coming out of my hand. I want that one pitch back though.”
That pitch was a slider that Jack Wentworth sent over the leftfield fence for a three run, second inning home run after Cox plunked Nico Senese and David Dielman to stake the River Turtles to a 3-1 advantage.
The River Riders (7-5) opened with a single from Hayden Moore and a run scoring triple to centerfield off the bat of red hot Kerry Herndon-Brown who is hitting at a .581 clip. Betsy scored a run in the second frame to close the score to 3-2 on an RBI triple from Trey Fenderson.
Fenderson’s shot allowed Skylar King to score after he singled to open the second frame. In the third inning Porter followed a single from Matty Wright with a towering blast over the leftfield fence that was a no doubt shot that left Pulaski leftfielder Carter Owens to simply turn and watch the flight of the ball as it flew over the fence.
“Hustle never slumps,” River Riders manager Jeremy Owens said. “These guys lay out, always run out ground balls and never stop hustling. The fans out here cheer us on and it’s a great atmosphere here. I’m at a loss for words to describe these guys. They play together and are good team mates to each other.”
In the last of the fifth the Riders got an insurance run when Ethan Sitzman reached on a two out infield error and Herndon-Brown reached on an infield single. Porter then drove in his third run of the contest with a solid single to centerfield.
In the sixth frame Xavier Cintron made the play of the game when he leaped to his right to snag a line drive off the bat of Pulaski third baseman Sam White that brought the home crowd to its feet in applause.
“That’s the kind of play we seem to make,” Owens said. “We have some really good ball players here. They are coachable and want to get better and when you have that combination it makes it easier on coaches and the fans see that and really appreciate that effort.”
Relievers Andres DeLeon, Trevor Callahan and Devine Valle each pitched one scoreless inning to close out the game and earn a two game sweep of Pulaski.
River Riders 5-3
Pulaski 030 000 0 – 3 4 1
Elizabethton 112 010 x – 5 8 1
W – Cox L – Little
HR – Wentworth (1), Porter (1).
