Johnathan Edwards
Thursday, June 20, 2024
The Coal Cats maintained their trend of alternating wins and losses, splitting Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Johnson City Doughboys. The first game, played under sunny skies at Jack Cook Field, ended with the Doughboys defeating the Coal Cats 12-9.
Storms on Tuesday night forced the doubleheader, with a number of early innings complete before the rain set in and canceled the game altogether. This case of inclement weather moved the game to the 4 P.M. slot on Wednesday.
Game one was a high-scoring affair. Early in the second inning, Logan Piper surrendered a three-run homer to Eduardo Morales, putting the Doughboys ahead 3-0. However, Tri-State fought back in the third inning, tying the game at 3-3 with runs from Michael Rodriguez, CJ Richard, and Trent Adelman. The game remained tied until the sixth inning, where a disastrous sequence for the Coal Cats allowed the Doughboys to score eight runs, including several bases-loaded walks and a hit-by-pitch. Despite a late rally by Tri-State, Johnson City secured the win.
After a grueling first game, endurance became the key in game two. Johnson City again took an early lead, but the Coal Cats cut it in half by the fourth inning. In a dramatic finish, newcomer Spencer Barnett hit a walk-off home run in the seventh, marking a memorable debut and securing a 3-2 victory for the Coal Cats
The Coal Cats are back in action at 7 P.M. Thursday evening, kicking off a four-game slate against the Burlington Sock Puppets. As always, you can find more Tri-State baseball coverage in the “Coal Cats Corner” section of our website, which you can access here. Onward and upward.
You can listen to the audio version of this story here.