Flyboys split doubleheader with Danville in season finale

DANVILLE, Va.—The Greeneville Flyboys split a doubleheader with the Danville Otterbots in Saturday’s season finale at American Legion Field. The Otterbots took Game 1, handing the Flyboys a 4-1 loss (seven innings) while Greeneville took Game 2 with a 5-4 win (seven innings).

Danville (26-31) got on the board first with an RBI groundout in the first inning and a sacrifice fly in the third to take a 2-0 lead. The Flyboys (28-29) were able to cut the lead in half thanks to a Maddox Mihkalakis (Arizona) RBI double that scored Ian Daugherty (Oklahoma State) in the fourth inning.

The Otterbots would come right back, scoring two runs on an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, taking a 4-1 lead that would hold the rest of the way. Flyboys starter Shane Tucker (Long Island) (L, 2-2) was charged with the loss after going 3 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on four hits while walking and striking out five. Seth Whitley (Appalachian State) went 2 1/3 innings of hitless baseball while walking one and striking out three.

In Game 2, the Otterbots got on the board first again with an RBI groundout and an RBI infield single in the second inning to make it 2-0. The Flyboys would come right back after Cameron LaLiberte’s (Arizona) RBI double in the third inning. Andrew Pinkston (Northwestern) and Dub Gleed (UC Irvine) would plate a pair of runs, each with an RBI single, to take a 4-2 lead.

Bradyn Long (Georgetown College) (W, 1-0) earned the win in relief in his Appy League debut after going two scoreless innings, allowing two hits, and striking out three. Starter Cade Nelson (Gateway CC) had an impressive start, going five innings, giving up four runs on five hits while walking one and striking out seven.

Nelson was in line for the win before the Otterbots tied things up on an RBI double and RBI groundout in the sixth. However, with a 4-4 game in the seventh, Myles Smith (UC Irvine) led off with a triple off the left field wall before scoring on a wild pitch, giving the Flyboys the lead and the win. Long shut down the Otterbots in the bottom of the seventh to close out the game.

The Flyboys end their 2022 season with a 28-29 record and finished in fourth place in the West division, 10.5 games out of first-place Kingsport.