BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN

STAR CORRESPONDENT

Facing a late-inning deficit does not seem ever to faze the Elizabethton Twins who seem to rally and rise to the occasion very frequently.

That was the case on Friday night when the Twins (22-20) rallied from a 5-2 deficit to pull off a 10-6 victory over Bristol at Northeast Community Credit Union Ball Park.

Second baseman Charlie Mack crushed a three-run homer in the last of the fifth – his sixth round-tripper of the season – and staked the Twins to their first lead of the game at 7-5.

“It was huge to get the win today,” Mack said. “We have been struggling lately but that is behind us now and we look forward to getting more wins.

“Coming up in the right situation and getting a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on the ball and good things will happen.”

Mack’s homer was part of a 2-for-4 night in which he drove in three runs and scored three runs as well.

Catcher Kidany Salva had a 2-for-4 night with three RBI as well. His two-RBI single in the fourth frame got the Twins to within 5-4 after starter Sawyer Gipson-Long was chased in the fourth by Bristol bats and Twins miscues.

Gipson-Long pitched 3.2 innings giving up five runs (three earned) on 11 hits with three strikeouts.

Lefty Erik Cha came on in relief and he pitched well over his 3.1 innings of work. Cha gave up no runs on two hits, walked one and whiffed four.

“I felt good and I felt like I was mixing pitches well and keeping hitters off-balance,” Cha said. “It feels good to get the win tonight, and we hope it can start another streak for us.”

Bristol put up three runs in the second inning with Fernando Villegas driving in two with a single to centerfield and an infield error by Elizabethton allowing another runner to cross.

A pair of wild pitches allowed the Twins to score two runs in response after Matt Wallner singled and Mack doubled.

Pirates starter Luis Ortiz then fired a wild pitch to allow Wallner to score and moved Mack to third and his second wild one plated Mack to make it a 3-2 game.

With two out in the third inning, the Bucs collected three consecutive hits with Jesus Valdez driving in a run and a throwing error by centerfielder DaShawn Keirsey brought home another.

Gipson-Long’s throw from the backstop to the plate went past Salva but first baseman Parker Phillips throw nailed Samuel Inoa at the plate.

In all, the Twins made five errors on the night and they continue to lead the Appalachian League in that dubious category.

“We need to work on our defense for sure,” Mack admitted as he was guilty of two miscues on the night. “We don’t do a whole lot of situational defense in practice and we pay a lot more attention to hitting, but we do need to tighten up defensively.”Cha (4-1) earned the win in this one.

Saturday

E-Twins… 9

Bristol….6

Trailing 6-0 in the top of the fifth, the Twins (23-20) rallied to knock off the Pirates once again and even the season series with the BriBucs at 4-4.

Kyle Schmidt singled in a run in the fifth for ‘Betsy and the Twins got two more in the seventh on a pair of Bucs errors, a single from Mack and a sacrifice fly from Anthony Prato.

A ground-ball out by Schmidt brought home another run and made it a 6-3 ballgame.

A run in the eighth closed the gap to 6-4 leading to a rousing ninth-inning rally.

With two out Salva and Willie Joe Garry Jr. each singled and Keirsey drew a walk to load the bases.

Garry’s base knock brought home Prato who singled to open the inning and shortstop Seth Gray ended things with a grand slam home run to give the Twins their fifth walk-off victory of the season.

For Gray, it was his seventh big fly of the season.