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Star Correspondent

Friday evening’s clash between the Elizabethton River Riders and Tri-State Coal Cats was suspended due to rain and lightning, but Saturday saw the teams resume action.

Left fielder Jordan Crosland went three-for-three with two runs batted in, and second baseman Josh Owens drove in three runs as the Riders took a 9-5 win over the Cats.

“I’m excited about this team and what they can do,” Riders manager Jeremy Owens said. “Right now we are finding our way, and we need to be patient.”

Betsy started hot with a run in the first inning on a double by Owens, which was followed by three consecutive walks by Cats starter Brayden Thomas to give Elizabethton a 1-0 lead.

The Riders scored three more runs in the last of the second inning, which saw an error open the frame, followed by walks to Crosland and Jackson Berry to load the bases.

Owens then crushed a line drive to deep right field to clear the bases but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple, as he overslid the base and was tagged out.

Owens’ blast staked the Riders to a 4-0 lead that would only grow larger in the third inning. Cats third baseman Ryan Maggy drove in a pair of runs in the top of the third to make it a 4-2 contest, but the Riders tacked on three more runs in the last of the stanza.

A one-out single by Jack Ratcliffe and a walk to Luke Donaghey put runners on first and second, and a wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet. Crosland then got his second hit of the game to plate both runners.

Shortstop Brady Thompson drove home Crosland with a double to left to make it a 7-2 ballgame.

Thompson and Jayden Lobliner each drove in a pair of runs, and the Riders collected 11 hits in this one. In the top of the fourth, Sal Mineo collected his second triple of the series and scored on a base knock from Michael Rodriguez.

Lobliner drove home Tua Wolfgramm in the bottom of the sixth, and Thompson plated Crosland in the seventh with a single.

River Riders 9, Coal Cats 5
Tri-State  002 100 002 – 5 13 2
River Riders 133 001 10x – 9 11 1
W – Andrew DuMont (1-0). L – Thomas (0-1).