Doughboys beat Bluefield after lightning halts game

The game was called in the eighth inning due to inclement weather

July 17th, 2021

Johnson City walked away with an 8-3 win at home Friday night after their contest against Bluefield was called due to inclement weather in the bottom of the eighth inning.

With the victory, the Doughboys secured a season series win over the Ridge Runners, taking three out of four from Bluefield on the summer. The win also gives the Doughboys some measure of revenge after losing 14-1 in a blowout to Bluefield on Thursday.

The game began with some phenomenal Doughboy pitching performances, starting with Carlos Nolasco, who tossed four shutout innings while striking out two. Landon Maynard then came on and pitched a perfect fifth and sixth before getting knocked for three runs in the seventh. Leo O’Shinski came on to mop up the mess and then handed it off to Andrew Ronne, who threw a scoreless top of the eighth before the lightning hit.

Johnson City held Bluefield to just four hits one night after watching the Ridge Runners tally seventeen knocks, their season-high.

Offensively, Johnson City struck first in the third inning with an Alex Reyna groundout that scored Damani Thomas. Later, the Doughboys hung four more runs in the fourth frame on hits from Thomas, Reyna, and Alex King and walks from Alan Espinal and Chyran Cruse.

Alex Reyna finished his night 1-for-3 with three RBIs and a walk.

After Bluefield crawled back to make it a 5-3 game in the seventh, the Doughboys loaded the bases and then brought everybody home on a bases-clearing double from Ashton King to set the final score at 8-3.

Up next, Johnson City will welcome the Bristol State Liners to town Saturday for a doubleheader at TVA Credit Union Ballpark. First pitch in Game 1 is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Fans can purchase tickets for the Doughboys homestand by visiting: https://www.mlb.com/appalachian-league/johnson-city/tickets.

Fans can access live video coverage of every Doughboys home game by visiting: https://appalachianleague.univtec.com/home.