APPALACHIAN LEAGUE: Elizabethton Edges BriSox

BY JOHNNY WILSON
Sports Correspondent
BRISTOL, Va. – The difference between a first-place team and a last-place team can sometimes be hard to detect. That was the case Friday night at DeVault Stadium.

Despite a valiant effort by Robert Vaughn and home-standing Bristol, perennial strongboy and front-running Elizabethton took care of business in a 4-3 win against the last-place White Sox in an Appalachian League game.

The first-place Twins are 35-16, while the BriSox fell to 18-31.

Veteran Elizabethton skipper Ray Smith, whose clubs are seemingly always among the Appy’s elite, said he’s used to tight games.

“Hey, we’re not blowing anybody out by any means,” said Smith, in his 16th season at Elizabethton. “I guess you just go the extra mile when it’s a close game.
“You know, make the good pitch when you need to or get the key base hit when maybe the game’s on the line – kind of battle it out.”

Chris Herrmann provided the difference-maker on Friday, lining a two-out single to right field to plate Herbert Lara with the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning. Lara had reached with a beautiful, one-out drag bunt single off losing pitcher Alex Farotto.

Beating Farotto is no small task. The left-handed reliever came into the game with a 0.64 ERA in 12 appearances.

“I’ll go to war with Alex any night,” youthful Bristol manager Ryan Newman said. “He’s been there for us all year. It just didn’t work out tonight.
“You know that’s a good ballclub over there, and we’re in both of these games [including Thursday’s 4-2 loss]. That’s all I can ask, really. Sometimes the difference between winning and losing comes
down to one play here or there.”

One key play the Sox didn’t make was in the seventh inning, when three Bristol players converged in shallow left-center field on a towering Josmil Pinto fly ball that nicked at least one glove before falling to the ground. The play scored Brian Dozier, who had four hits and scored two runs for the Twins, to give Elizabethton a 3-1 lead.

“I really don’t know what happened, if the outfielders got a late jump or what,” said Newman. “Those things are going to happen in baseball, especially at the lower [classification] levels.”

The defeat took some of the shine off a big game from Vaughn, a catcher who blasted a pair of home runs and a single to knock in all three Bristol runs.

His second homer, a two-run shot in the bottom of the seventh, tied the game at 3-3 and ended a good night for Elizabethton starter Angelo Sanchez, a right-hander who struck out 10 in six-plus innings.

A four-year player at Kansas State University, the 5-10, 190-pound Vaughn hardly looks like a home-run hitter.

“Naw, I guess I don’t,” the 22-year-old said. “I guess it’s been since high school that I’ve done that.
“The first one [a screaming liner to left] came on a 3-0 pitch and I was sitting on a fastball. The second one was a first pitch and a knew he’d want to get ahead, so I looked fastball again. It feels good to have a game like this, I just wish we could’ve won.’’

The win went to Matthew Tone, a left-hander who pitched the final three innings without allowing a hit.

“We’ve been pitching right well,” said Smith, who got a home run from new addition Steven Liddle to break a 1-1 tie in the sixth. “Tonight is a good example.”

The two clubs conclude the three-game series tonight at 7 p.m. The game features a ’60s and’70s Night promotion.