Riders fall to State Liners and out of playoff picture
Published 8:02 pm Sunday, July 28, 2024
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The River Riders starting pitcher Caden Carroll (28) fires a warmup pitch just prior to the start of Friday night’s game against the State Liners of Bristol.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders In the bottom of the first inning, River Riders center fielder Nick Hockemeyer(5) made a sliding catch on Bristol’s Dylan Mass (6) liner to left centerfield for the final out.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders River Rider second baseman Kevin Hall Jr. (57) gobbles up a grounder off the bat of Bristol’s Hayden Blair (49) and fires to first, for the first out of the bottom of the second.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The River Riders starting pitcher Caden Carroll (28) applies to tag to Bristol’s Hunter High (28) off his comebacker to the mound for the final out of the bottom of the second.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders After being hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the third the State Liners Cayden Phillips (9) dives back into first on a pick-off attempt by Elizabethton starter Caden Carroll. First baseman Jayden Lobliner (46) waits on the throw and applies a late tag on the play.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Bristol’s Mikah Conner slaps a sharp grounder toward River Rider shortstop Jackson Berry, who flipped the ball to second baseman Kevin Hall Jr. (57) trying to turn two in the bottom of the third. The State Liners Canon Pierce (20) is out at second.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The River Riders' James Woody (51) hits a soft grounder that the fielders chose out toward Bristol second baseman Preston Abdulla (20), moving Jayden Lobliner to second on the play.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders On a grounder to right by Hunter High, the State Liners Elijah Alexander (10) slides in under the tag of the River Riders Kade Huff (7)at the plate. Hunter High takes second on the throw.
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
STAR CORRESPONDENT
On Christmas in July at Northeast Community Credit Union Ballpark, the Elizabethton River Riders played Scrooge as they fell 10-1 to Bristol on Friday night, potentially eliminating them from the Appalachian League playoffs.
Due to alterations to Bryce Cox Field, the State Liners were designated the home team for the evening.
“I think that was it for us as far as making the playoffs,” River Riders manager Jeremy Owens said. “(Bristol) put the ball in play, and a couple of our errors put us behind in that third inning. We had a couple of balls dropped, and a couple of others fell in spots we couldn’t get to.”
The River Riders (16-26) fell into a deep hole in the third inning when the State Liners tallied six runs to take a 7-0 advantage. The frame started with a hit batter from Betsy starter Caden Carroll, who plunked Cayden Phillips.
Preston Abdulla singled, and Canon Pierce was also hit by a pitch to load the bases for Bristol. Micah Conner reached on a fielder’s choice ground ball, which plated Phillips and put runners on the corners.
An error by Riders second baseman Kevin Hall allowed Abdulla to score and left runners on first and second base with one out. First baseman Tyler Zedalis singled in a pair of runs, finishing the night four-for-four with three runs batted in.
Zedalis’ hit made it 5-0, and Elijah Alexander and Hunter High each had RBI singles as Bristol took a 7-0 lead.
In the fourth frame, Abdulla hit a solo home run — his first of the season — to make it an 8-0 contest, and the rout was on. Carroll went three innings for Elizabethton, giving up seven runs (four earned) on five hits with three strikeouts.
Bristol’s starter Sam Cole (3-2, 5.00 ERA) went six innings of shutout ball, giving up just three hits while walking two and striking out five.
The State Liners scored a pair of runs in the sixth on three consecutive singles from Pierce, Conner, and Zedalis to load the bases. A fielder’s choice grounder by Hayden Blair brought home one run, and an infield error brought home another as Bristol extended the lead to 10-0.
In the seventh, left fielder Colin Sloan got the Riders on the board with a solo home run over the left field fence — his second of the season.
“It hasn’t been a great season, but we are going to show up and play hard,” Owens said.
Bristol 10-1 Elizabethton
Elizabethton 000 000 100 – 1 5 2
Bristol 016 102 00x – 10 13 0
W – Cole (3-2)
L – Carroll (2-2)
HR – Zedalis (7), Abdulla (1), Sloan (2)
