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By Ron Marvel

Star Correspondent

The River Riders have had a difficult time getting out of the gate in the young 2025 season, but they did reveal some character in a final-inning rally Sunday night. They found themselves down 5-0, but rallied to get the tying run into scoring position and couldn’t continue the late-inning heroics, falling to 2-8 in the Appalachian League standings.

The boys from Betsy went down quietly in the first inning. Eli Evans hit a laser to short, but it was directly into the glove of Axmen shortstop Kam Durnin. Clay Masonis took the rubber for the River Riders to kick off the final game of the three-game set at Hunter Wright Stadium. He got the first out but then issued back-to-back walks. Carson Larson just got under the glove of the Riders’ third baseman, Eli Evans, for the steal. The Axmen then hit into a force at second that allowed Larson to score and gave the Axmen a 1-0 lead after the first inning.

The Riders’ bats remained quiet in the second, and Masonis got a groundout to end an Axmen threat in their half of the second. The bottom of the third saw Masonis hit a batter and then give up a home run to the opposite field in left off the bat of Tyler Matt to make it 3-0.

Coach Jeremy Owens went to his bullpen, and Rowan Park got the last two outs of the inning. Evans smacked a ball to left-center and turned on the jets for a double — the first Riders hit of the contest in the bottom of the fourth — but he was stranded when Hudson Brown hit a hard ground ball to second that was corralled.

Kingsport picked up insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth and the fifth, as walks continued to plague the River Riders pitching staff. Appalachian League baseball games on Sundays are shortened, seven-inning affairs, so the Riders found themselves down 5-0 going into the final inning. Axmen closer Crisofer Cepedis had a difficult time finding the strike zone, walking both Hudson Brown and Caydn Karl to start the last inning. A wild pitch by Cepedis put Brown and Karl into scoring position and allowed Lenox Lively to pick up an RBI on a sac fly to left. A Jackson Berry single and a Luke Dougherty walk extended the inning and ended Cepedis’ outing.

Jack Radcliffe made it 5-2 with a slow roller to second. With two outs, Kansas State product Donte Lewis hit a single on a ground ball to left, scoring two runs and making it 5-4. He then stole second. However, with the tying run in scoring position, Josh Owens struck out to end the game.

The Axmen outhit the River Riders 5-3. Masonis took the loss, going two innings and giving up three runs. The River Riders will be off Monday before hosting Greeneville and Bluefield during the week.