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Star Correspondent

On Thursday evening, the Elizabethton River Riders opened the 2025 Appalachian League season to a large crowd of fans.

Unfortunately, the fans did not go home happy as the Riders dropped a 6-4 decision to the Coal Cats.

“I want to say we had nine walks tonight, and that is hard to defend,” River Riders manager Jeremy Owens said. “I lost count of how many of them scored. We didn’t quit; we came back and scored a couple of runs late, and we had some opportunities to do something, but you tip your hat to them—they made some pitches, and we had an error hurt us in the seventh.”

Left fielder Sal Mineo had two hits — both doubles — in four at-bats, and the Coal Cats collected 10 hits overall. Mineo had a two-out double in the third and scored on a single from shortstop Sam Winsett for a 1-0 Tri-State lead.

The Riders answered in the fourth after a walk to second baseman Josh Owens and a run-scoring double from catcher Tua Wolfgramm to tie the score at 1-1.

In the fifth, the Cats struck for the go-ahead run on an RBI double from Michael Rodriguez for a 2-1 advantage.

Riders starting pitcher Jake Yeager pitched three innings, giving up one run on three hits while striking out five and walking one.

The Cats added to their lead in the sixth, with catcher Jackson Golden delivering an RBI infield single to make it a 3-1 contest.

Tri-State took control of the contest with three runs in the seventh against Henry Slaby, the third River Riders pitcher of the game. Mineo walked, Winsett singled, and Rodriguez walked to load the bases. Chandler Murray hit a ground ball to short, where Brady Thompson fielded, stepped on second base to force one out, but his throw to first was wild and two runs scored on the play.

Jorge Gonzalez Febo then struck a single to make it a 6-1 Cats lead.

“One error cost us a run, and right now we are trying to find our way,” Owens said. “We’ll talk about it and come back tomorrow, and I am excited about what this team has to offer.”

The Riders got one run back in the seventh on an RBI single from Thompson and scored two more runs in the eighth, with Wolfgramm driving in a run with a double and Australian left fielder Luke Donaghey’s single making it a 6-4 game.

Tri-State 6, River Riders 4
Tri-State                    001 011 300 — 6 10 0
River Riders                 000 100 120 — 4 5 2