River Turtles fall to Bluefield in back-and-forth game

The Pulaski River Turtles fall to the Bluefield Ridge Runners in a back-and-forth battle, losing 12-9.

Those expecting a high-scoring affair going into the game were not disappointed. Bluefield got on the board quickly. An RBI double from Jackson Feltner put the Ridge Runners up 1-0 after one. Pulaski tied it up one inning later when Bluefield walked with the bases loaded to bring in catcher Irvin Escobar. Bluefield took the lead back in the third, with an RBI double from Ryley Preece that brought in third baseman Sam Tanous.

Pulaski then followed in Bluefield’s steps by walking with bases loaded to bring in Preece and make it 3-1. In the fourth, a four-run inning put Pulaski up. The first run came off an RBI single from shortstop Owen Deshazo that brought in Escobar. In the next at-bat, second baseman Carter Newman brought in right fielder Christian Smith off an RBI single. Then right after that, center fielder Rodney Green Jr. hit a double to bring in both Deshazo and Newman and made it a 5-3 Pulaski advantage.

The inning of the night, where the Ridge Runners took control of the game, was in the fifth, when they scored seven runs off of seven hits and made it 10-5. In the top of the sixth, a sac fly from right fielder Josh Heath brought in catcher Haydn McGeary to make it 11-5. In the bottom of the sixth, a three-RBI double from designated hitter TJ Fondtain put Pulaski within three and make the game 11-8.

Then in the seventh, a groundout from Green Jr. brought in Deshazo to make it 11-9. We saw the first scoreless inning of the night before Bluefield shortstop Kaelen Culpepper hit a double to bring in Preece and make the final, 12-9.

The winner on the mound went to Bluefield’s Colby Guy. Guy went 2.2 innings, allowing three runs off three hits while walking two and striking out four. The loss went to Pulaski’s Drew Blake, who went 4.1 innings. He allowed five earned runs off seven hits, walking four and striking out four.

Pulaski will look to tie up the series in a rematch against the Ridge Runners on Tuesday.