Johnathan Edwards
Tuesday, July 9, 2024
The Coal Cats recorded one win in their first six outings of July, leaving them with an overall record of 10-19, placing them last in the East Division of the Appalachian League.
Starting with a pair of games in Bluefield, the Coal Cats won game one with a score of 12-7. The Ridge Runners amassed an early 5-2 lead after two full innings, but the Coal Cats took the lead in the fourth inning after a sacrifice fly from Logan Poteet tied the game. Bluefield third basemen Jaden Brown committed a fielding error that allowed to runs to come in put Tri-State up 7-5. Bluefield responded by tying the game once more at seven runs apiece, but five additional runs solidified the Coal Cats victory. Evan Holewinski was credited with the win on the mound for Tri-State, with four strikeouts and two runs allowed in three innings pitched.
Game two in Bluefield did not produce the same success for Tri-State, with the Coal Cats falling 17-4. Tri-State scored in the eighth inning, but by then, the Ridge Runners had already scored 17 runs.
Tri-State returned to Jack Cook field after splitting the Bluefield series, kicking off a two-game series with the Pulaski River Turtles. On July 4th, the River Turtles took a 7-4 victory over the Coal Cats. Pulaski took a 3-0 lead before Logan Poteet hit his second home run of the season, reducing the deficit to 3-1. Pulaski extended their lead to 6-1 with a three-run fourth inning, which was reduced to 6-3 by Tri-State in the fifth inning. A sacrifice groundout from Gavin Johnson and an RBI single from Poteet gave Tri-State those two runs in the fifth. A wild pitch in the top of the seventh tacked one more run on the bound for Pulaski, creating a lead that was safe for the remainder of the game. Tri-State scored one more run off an RBI double from Michael Rodriguez in the final frame, but still fell by three runs.
The second game against the River Turtles resulted in a 5-3 loss for Tri-State. The game remained scoreless through three innings before Noah Toole hit an RBI single, driving in Austyn Winkleblech for a 1-0 lead. Winkleblech produced in the batter’s box as well, driving in two runs off his RBI double to 
extend the lead to 3-0. Tri-State finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to RBI singles from both Jeff Martz and Chace Chaplin. With the game tied 3-3 going into the top of the ninth, Pulaski pulled away in the final frame by loading the bases, scoring Connor Cooke from third thanks to a walk. A wild pitch from Coal Cats pitcher Ben Rabatin scored another run.
The final two games in the first six contests of July also resulted in losses for Tri-State, with these two matchups being against Bluefield again. This time, the Ridge Runners were the visiting team, after playing host to the Coal Cats just a few games prior to this pair of showdowns. In game one of this series, Bluefield doubled up on Tri-State, collecting a 12-6 victory. Game two was lower scoring, but Bluefield doubled the score on Tri-State yet again. This loss leaves the Coal Cats at the bottom of the division and league standings.
Tri-State has the day off on Monday before traveling down to Johnson City, Tennessee to take on the Doughboys. Johnson City will be aiming to return to .500 overall, currently sitting at 13-14 and third in the western division. Game one of this series gets underway at 7 P.M. on Tuesday.
For more Tri-State baseball coverage, be sure to check out the Coal Cats Corner section of the station website.
Johnathan “Jeddy” Edwards is a recent grad of the School of Journalism with a degree in Sports Journalism. He enjoys traveling for concerts, amusement parks, and sporting events. In the last year alone, he got to be on the call for over 30 Marshall sporting events by being a part of the sports staff. In his spare time, whenever he does have it, he loves spending time with his friends and family. He was a part of the crew that won half a dozen awards for one broadcast, it was Marshall men’s basketball vs North Texas in early 2021. It was his first time producing, and the wonderful on-air talent made his job easy.