Johnathan Edwards
Friday, June 7, 2024
When it rains, it pours. The inaugural season-opening homestand for the Tri-State Coal Cats garnered a buzz from the community, a sizeable in-person crowd, and a few firsts… just not a first win. Tuesday, June 4th, presented the city of Huntington its first home minor league baseball game in three decades, an evening matchup between the Pulaski River Turtles and the debuting Tri-State Coal Cats.
A crowd of 1,345 faithful Coal Cats fanatics showed up to Jack Cook Field to watch the newest team in the Appalachian League take its home field for the first time, a team banded together by young players who met each other for the first time about four days prior to playing together on a baseball diamond in front of a gaggle of spectators. After trailing early on in the contest, leave it to a team from Huntington to score its first run in team history off of a “balk.” That’s something one doesn’t see every day.
The growing pains were apparent, but the Coal Cats showed great poise in defeat. The potential is right there on the field, but it takes time, especially with a brand-new team compiled of players assigned by the league. A tremendous wall of rain fell upon the area in the top of the eighth inning, delaying the game for about half an hour before the game was finally called off. The River Turtles topped the Coal Cats by a score of 6-3 in the opening night game cut short by Mother Nature, with Pulaski outhitting the home team eight hits to just one for Tri-State. The lone hit of the night for the Cats came from CJ Richard in the bottom of the fifth inning, that hit registering as a triple. Jack Garvey, the right-handed pitcher for the River Turtles, was credited with the win.
After the early end on Tuesday, fans and players alike could only wish for a complete game. A complete game is what they got, just not in Tri-State’s favor. The rain fell throughout the day, but cleared up prior to first pitch and allowed the festivities to continue for a second straight evening. 853 pairs of eyes watched down from their seats as quite the similar game played out. In this contest, CJ Richard led off for the Coal Cats, collecting another hit and going 1-5, scoring a run in the process. Once again, commendable pitching from the visiting River Turtles was solidified by Keenan Mork, the 6’2 pitcher credited with the win. In his outing, Mork faced nine batters, dealing 15 strikes across 39 pitches. When all was said and done Wednesday night, the River Turtles prevailed by a final score of 8-4.
The Coal Cats complete the first two games of the season, falling in both to a more established franchise. On the bright side, baseball is a game of growing pains and daily turn-arounds. Tri-State is 0-2 in its first two contests, but there are 46 more games this summer to improve upon the early struggles of a roster that has been assembled for less than a week, and an overall team that has been a “team” for six weeks. If you’re a fan of the young team, don’t hang your head just yet.
The Coal Cats hit the road for the first time this Friday through Sunday, taking on the Kingsport Axmen in a three-game series. First pitch on Friday is slated for 7:00PM, as Tri-State looks for its first ever win. The audio version of this story can also be found in the “Coal Cats Corner” section of WMUL-FM’s website. Onward and upward.