In a thrilling finish at Pioneer Park, the Greeneville Flyboys clinched their spot in the Appalachian League Championship game with a dramatic 6-5 walk-off victory over the Kingsport Axmen. The game showcased both clutch performances and dramatic moments, aligning perfectly with the baseball adages of big-time players making big-time plays and the importance of putting the ball in play.
Both starting pitchers, Kyle Bade for Greeneville and Dylan Loy for Kingsport, had notable seasons and were expected to make a significant impact. Bade, an Oklahoma State Cowboy, delivered a solid six-inning outing, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out five. Loy, a Tennessee Volunteer, pitched 4.1 innings, giving up four runs on four hits with five strikeouts.
The Axmen got on the board first and took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Tanner Kilgore drove a pitch to the gap in right center to score Devan Zirwas, who singled earlier in the inning. The Flyboys responded in the bottom of the same inning when Drew Blalock sent a broken bat single to left on a 3-0 pitch, scoring Brady Francisco and Nick Williams to make the score 2-1.
The Axmen took advantage of a couple of fielding miscues in the 3rd to tie the game and eventually take the lead back in the top of the 5th when Nico Newhan doubled, stole third, and eventually scored on a groundout. Not to be outdone, the Flyboys retook the lead 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth, chasing Loy from the game.
The Flyboys looked to Bade’s Oklahoma State teammate, Blake Julius to hold on to the lead in the later innings. The Axmen did what most teams were not able to do in the regular season, which was score runs off Julius, who had only given up five runs in twenty-eight innings of work. Three straight singles led to two runs and a 5-4 lead, chasing Julius from the game.
Jacob Kennedy, a third pitcher from Oklahoma State came on in relief of Julius and became one of the big-time players of the game by not only getting out of the 7th with a double play on two pitches, but finishing the game and picking up the win without surrendering a hit and picking up three strikeouts.
The Flyboys tied the game in the bottom of the 8th when Brodie Johnston came up with a big time double, advanced to third on a Francisco single and scored on a Nick Williams ground out.
Dylan Jackson started the excitement off in the bottom of the 9th by drawing a base on balls before giving way to pinch runner, Jordan Lewis. Lewis advanced to second on Mycah Jordan’s second single of the game. That is when leadoff hitter, Tyler Inge, was called on to lay down a sacrifice bunt to potentially move the runners into scoring position. Inge did his job by putting the bunt into play, and that is when all excitement broke loose as the throw from the third baseman sailed up the line for an error, allowing Lewis to come around and score the winning run and send the Flyboys to the championship game, for the second time since the league rebranded in 2021.
The Flyboys will travel to Danville, Virginia to take on the Otterbots in the championship game on Saturday night at 7:00. The Otterbots also advanced to the championship in walk-off fashion by defeating the Burlington Sock Puppets 3-2, scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth.
