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Kingsport Axmen

Dominate Win for Kingsport

July 15, 2016 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Kingsport Axmen News Release


KINGSPORT, Tenn.-It was a fun-filled time for Fun fest Night at the ballpark Friday evening as the Kingsport Mets tallied 15 runs off 15 hits to secure their second-consecutive winning series in the 15-3 route of the Bristol Pirates in Game 3 of the series from Hunter Wright Stadium.

Though the K-Mets (9-12) picked up the all-important win against a fellow Appalachian League West team, the Pirates (9-12) got the first laugh of the night when Raul Siri took a 1-1 fastball over the left field fence from Kingsport starter Adonis Uceta (2-2), two batters into the contest.

Bristol held a 1-0 lead just minutes into the game. However, the lead did not last long as the K-Mets stormed back in the bottom of the second inning to take a 4-1 lead through two innings complete.

Four-consecutive singles kicked things off for Kingsport in the bottom of the frame as Jose Maria and Franklin Correa each tallied back-to-back base knocks to set up Walter Rasquin who was coming off a 4-for-4 outing from Thursday's loss to the Pirates. Rasquin delivered with an RBI single to plate the first run of the day for the K-Mets.

Jose Medina would then single to put runners on the corners for Cecilio Aybar. The short stop would reach on a fielder's choice as Adrian Valerio chose to cut down Medina at second base, allowing Rasquin to score from third base. Two batters later, Ian Strom would double in Aybar as the second inning came to a close.

The run-scoring double was the second in as many games for the leadoff man, Strom.

Two innings later in the fourth, Kingsport would again explode on the offensive end for six more runs. Bristol starter Nestor Oronel (0-3) would retire both Aybar and Santo Marte to being the inning, but a fielding error form Valerio at short stop on a routine groundball hit by Strom kept the inning alive for the home team.

Ricardo Cespedes followed the two-out error with a single to right field and Dionis Rodrigues would reach first base with a six-pitch walk to load the bases.

Jose Maria then stepped to the plate and delivered a bases-clearing double to score all three runs. Correa would follow suite with a double of his own to plate Rodriguez and Rasquin came through for the second time on the night with his first home run on the year a batter later, a two-run shot over the left-center field wall.

The score was now 10-1 after four innings of play thanks to six-two out runs that scored followed the Valerio error. All six of the runs during the frame would go unearned to Orenell who existed the contest after the inning.

Leading by nine runs the next go-around at the plate, Kingsport decided to tack on an additional five insurance runs to hold a commanding lead of 15-1 after five innings. During the fifth-inning rally, some tensions began to rise when David Whitehead entered the game to pitch the frame for the Pirates, as a part of his rehab assignment from Double-A Altoona Curve.

Aybar and Marte would each single to reach first base to begin the inning and with a 3-0 count to Strom at the top of the lineup, Whiteman pitched ball four behind Strom's back. The hitter immediately took exception to the pitch and in the matter of seconds, both dugouts and bullpens were cleared as a mob began to ensue at home plate.

Both coaching staffs, manned by Kingsport's Luis Rivera and Bristol's Kory DeHaan, as well as home plate and field umpires, Mike Snover and Mark Bass, did a good job of not letting the situation escalate any further. No punches were thrown and no ejections occurred, but both teams were clearly at their breaking points.

Meanwhile, Strom made his way down to first base and the bases were now loaded for Cespedes with no outs in the inning. The center fielder singled to right to bring in Aybar form third and then Maria would follow two batters later with an RBI fielder's choice on a groundball to third base.

With two men on and two outs, Correa would come to the plate and deliver his third home run of the season- a three-run shot to left field and Kingsport's lead was now up to 14 runs.

Correa leads the squad in home runs (3) and RBIs on the year (19) and has homered in each of his last two games of the season.

A scoreless sixth inning would pass by before Bristol broke through for two more runs in the top of the seventh inning. On the mound in relief of Uceta, Kurtis Horne would surrender a leadoff single and a two-run home run to Deybi Garcia a batter later to bring the score to 15-3, still in favor of Kingsport.

That would be the final scoring on the night as Kingsport would hold on in the final two innings to secure the 12-run win and the fourth 10-run offensive effort of the season.

Uceta picked up the win for Kingsport after pitching six-innings strong while surrendering the lone run off the solo shot from Siri back in the first inning. The right hander tallied six strikeouts during the outing while not allowing a walk all night.

Oronel was charged with the loss after completing only four innings on the mound. The southpaw yielded 10 hits and 10 runs, though only four runs were earned due to the six-run rally that began for Kingsport in the fourth inning after the fielding error form Valerio.

A number of players stood out offensively on the night for Kingsport. The big hitters on the night were Maria who went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, Correa who tallied three hits, four RBIs, a home run and two runs scored and Rasquin who had another three-hit day, a home run and three RBIs on the night.

Rasquin is now 7-for-7 in his last seven at-bats on the season. The designated hitter tallied four singles in Thursday's loss and singled twice more in Friday's dominate win before belting his first home run of the season in the fourth inning. Rasquin walked in his final two plate appearances of the night.

The Kingsport Mets will hit the road early Saturday morning to square off with the Appalachian League East's best-record team to date, the Burlington Royals. There will not be a live broadcast of the series but Eric Cain will be back on the air when the K-Mets return to East Tennessee on Tuesday, July 19, for a three-game series at Elizabethton.

Stay tuned into kmets.com for promotional and ticket information, as well as everything you need to know about the 2016 Kingsport Mets. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

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Appalachian League Stories from July 15, 2016


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