Rivers Riders drop game in sudden death to JC Doughboys
Published 11:04 am Monday, July 24, 2023
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Star Photo/Ron Marvel
Rivers Riders coach Jeremy Owens has a discussion with Hayden Moore before his at bat.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel
Xavier Cintron rips a ball to left field to bring in the tying run.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel
Catcher Keaton Cottam takes a breather between batters in the fourth inning.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel
Left fielder Hayden Moore glares into the setting sun; he would go 1-3 on the night at the plate.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel
Kade Huff stands in the on-deck sizing up JC Doughboy pitcher Joe Acosta.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel
DJ Dilehay trots home to make it 6-5 Doughboys in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel
Shortstop Knowles prepares to fire to first base.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel
River Riders first base coach Andy Tomberlin reminds his player of the current situation.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel
After a Hayden Moore K on a pitch that appeared outside, Coach John Chalupa has a heated exchange with the plate umpire that would lead to his ejection.
Star Photo/Ron Marvel
River Riders pitcher Divine Valle fires home the pitch for a called strike.
By Ron Marvel
Star Correspondent
The All-Star Break couldn’t be coming at a better time for the River Riders who just can not seem to buy a break right now, losers of six of their last seven games they would drop this one in sudden death 6-6 to the Doughboys. The River Riders would seem to be in command going into the sixth inning of a seven-inning Sunday affair but as has been the case recently they just could not hold onto their late lead. The game would be noted for nine walks issued by River Riders pitchers.
Dylan Knowles would kick things off in the first inning scoring off a fielding error off the glove of Doughboy shortstop Cody Miller to make it 1-0. They would pad that lead in the bottom of the third when Hayden Moore would single to right to plate DJ Dilehay to make it 3-0. This would come after a steal of home base by the speedy Trey Fenderson. The River Riders would then pick up another run in the bottom of the fifth off a Kade Huff base hit that was scorched to left field bringing home Moore.
The top of sixth would be where things would get off track for the River Riders; after a couple of walks and a called strikeout, Doughboy Cody Miller would bounce a ball off the left-field wall for a double, scoring two runs and cutting the River Riders margin in half. After the River Riders pitching change, Doughboy Jack Pokorak would hit another double to left to score Miller and then River Riders pitcher Hunter Porter would issue three back-to-back walks to plate Pokorak. The River Riders would get out of the inning after Braden Spano would line out to center fielder Skylar King but the game would stand tied at four all.
The Doughboys would take a two-run lead in the top of the seventh fueled by a couple of singles, a couple of walks and a fielding error at shortstop. However, the River Riders would rally in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game up. DJ Dilehay would start the inning off by getting hit by a pitch, followed up by a Knowles single that would bring home Dilehay. Hayden Moore would then be called out on strikes; this call would lead to the ejection of three River Rider players, including Moore, pitching coach Joshua Chalupa and pitcher John Harrick. Once order was restored, Keaton Cottam would walk and then Xavier Cintron would hit a liner to the gap in left-center scoring Knowles and tying the game at six all but Cottam would be thrown out at the plate on a bang-bang play to end the inning.
Doughboys Logan Sutter would hit a walk-off single in sudden death to end the game, dropping the River Riders to 19-20 on the season heading into the break. Trey Fenderson, Will Bolinger, Turner Swistak, and Pablo Torres were named as All-Stars for the Appalachian League All-Star game; it will be held at Hunter Wright Stadium Stadium on Tuesday at 7 pm. The River Riders will return to action on Wednesday, traveling to Danville to play the Otterbots.
