ELIZABETHTON — The Greeneville Flyboys regained the No. 1 spot atop the Appalachian West division with a 3-2 win over the Elizabethton River Riders on Saturday at Elizabethton, improving to 13-8.
Kingsport, now 13-9, suffered a 5-4 loss to Johnson City on Saturday, allowing the Flyboys to leapfrog the Axmen for first place in the division.
Elizabethton’s Kade Huff hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second to make it 1-0, but the Flyboys were able to tie it up in the fifth after Avery Ortiz scored on a wild pitch by Colin Murphy.
In the sixth, the Flyboys took the lead scoring two runs. Brodie Johnston reached on a fielding error, which scored BJ Peart, making it 2-1, and Ortiz cracked a line drive RBI single to center field to make it 3-1.
Elizabethton made it a one run game in its next at bat, scoring on a wild pitch and making it 3-2.
Hunter Sloop drew the start on the mound, throwing for six innings. He gave up four hits, two unearned runs and struck out seven. Brock Toney relieved him in the seventh and eighth innings, giving up one hit, walking one and striking out four, and Brady Frederick closed the game with clean ninth inning with one strikeout.
Ortiz led the Flyboys at the plate, hitting 3-for-4 with an RBI. Peart and Nick Arias both had two hits and Brady Francisco, Max Knight and Tyler Inge had one hit each.
Greeneville’s game against Elizabethton on Sunday was postponed to July 29, due to weather. The Flyboys will host Johnson County at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, at Pioneer Park.
FRIDAY’S GAME Greeneville 12 Bristol 1
The Flyboys made short work of the State Liners in Friday’s match at Pioneer Park, outhitting Bristol 8-2 and improving to 12-8 at the time.
A quick two runs in the first gave the Flyboys a leg up. Johnston kicked it off with an RBI double to center field and Knight brought him home on a sacrifice fly.
In the fifth inning, Greeneville added four more runs. With the bases loaded, Knight drove all three runners home on a deep shot to center field for a three-run double, giving the Flyboys a 5-0 advantage. Ortiz scored Knight on a line drive single to left field to make it 6-0.
Defensively, the Flyboys played lights out with starting pitcher Aaron Calhoun’s (1-2) arm keeping the State Liners in check. In 5 2/3 innings, he allowed just two hits, one run, walked three and struck out nine, earning his first win as a starter.
Bristol’s lone run came in the sixth, when a wild pitch by Calhoun allowed a run to score.
Six more Greeneville runs put the game out of reach in the eighth. Ortiz scored on a balk, followed by a Micah Jordan RBI single. Inge worked a walk with the bases loaded to make it 9-1, Johnston hit an RBI single, Arias hit an RBI single and Ortiz hit a sac fly for the game’s final run, 12-1.
Tyler Jackson relieved Calhoun on the mound for 1 1/3 clean innings, striking out one. Ethan Phillips and Ethan Davis pitched one inning each, both walking one and striking out one to end the game.
At the plate, Johnston was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Arias was 2-for-4 with one RBI. Knight had one hit and four RBI and Ortiz had one hit and two RBI. Jordan and Inge both had one hit and one RBI each.
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