Joe Vetrano hit a 438-foot home run in the 9th inning, but Johnson City came up just short at home on Thursday night, falling 8-7 to the Kingsport Road Warriors.

The win is the first of the season for the newly-formed Road Warriors.

Vetrano’s home run was a towering moonshot to center field, and was the fifth of the season for the Boston College slugger. With the score then at 8-7 in favor of Kingsport, Troy LaNeve singled up the middle to put the tying run on base. However, Knoxville native Colby Reynolds then got Cade Sumbler to fly out and struck out Jaxson Crull to send the Road Warriors dugout into jubilation.

Kingsport (1-4) entered the night with no home runs over their first three games, but blasted three on Thursday night over the high walls of TVA Credit Union Ballpark. Johnson City (12-24-1) had given up three home runs in a game only twice prior, on the road at Elizabethton on June 30, and on the road at Princeton on July 9.

The first Road Warriors home run came in the first inning, a two-run shot from Logan Harbin with no outs to make it 2-0. Johnson City answered in a big way, bringing nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and scoring five runs. Sacrifice flies from LaNeve and Connor James were complemented by RBI singles from Sumbler and Crull.

Trailing 5-2 in the fourth, Kingsport cut into the lead with a two-run single from catcher Nick Sosa to make it 5-4. Johnson City would tack on another run with an RBI double from LaNeve in the fifth inning before the Road Warriors took the lead for good with a big sixth frame. After Connor Hyatt hit the second of the three Kingsport homers, Preston Steele singled with two outs to drive in two runs and hand the Road Warriors the 7-6 lead.

Logan Sutton hit a pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning, providing what would end up being an important insurance run for the visitors heading into the chaotic ninth.

Johnson City’s Gianluca Shinn tossed 2 ⅓ innings in relief, scattering five hits with one run allowed. Will Westbrock threw a scoreless ninth inning for the Doughboys.

Vetrano finished 3-for-4 with the home run and a walk, while Crull went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and LaNeve ended his night 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

Johnson City will look for a series split when they welcome the Road Warriors back to TVA Credit Union Ballpark on Friday night for Game 2. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m.

Fans can access live radio coverage of every Doughboys game this summer by visiting: https://www.mlb.com/appalachian-league/johnson-city/fans/audio-listen-live