River Riders use offensive explosion to take game one from WhistlePigs

Published 7:11 am Friday, June 16, 2023

By Andrew Smith

PRINCETON, W. Va. – The Elizabethton River Riders flushed the disappointment of a walk-off defeat rather quickly on Thursday night as they beat the Princeton WhistlePigs by a 13-7 final.

The offense was hot early for E-Town, as they scored seven runs through the first three innings of play. Knox Preston hit an RBI triple in the first to begin the scoring, before three-spots in each of the second and third innings set the tone for the River Riders.

Meanwhile, Princeton put up one run in the second on a solo shot off the bat of Tucker Moore and two in the third thanks to a pair of run-scoring singles. Through three full innings, the River Riders were up 7-3.

The offensive barrage continued through the middle frames for Elizabethton, as one run came home in the fourth on an error by the WhistlePig defense. Two more scored in the fifth, one on a solo homer by Kerry Herndon-Brown and another on a single by Skylar King. In the sixth, the River Riders scored three more times, Ethan Sitzman singled to score Peyton Basler, and then Hunter Porter brought home Herndon-Brown and Sitzman to make it a 13-3 through six.

Princeton got two runs in each of the eighth and ninth innings, but could not come closer to 13-7. The two teams will finish their two-game series on Friday night from Hunnicutt Field, with first pitch set for 6 p.m.