Pulaski wins to claim East title; to face Greeneville Monday for Appy League Championship

The Pulaski River Turtles are now Eastern Division Champions after a 9-1 victory over the Bluefield Ridge Runners. Story of the game would be the gem of a game by pitcher Luke Reed, as he threw a complete game with 16 Ks. Bluefield now falls to 26-25 on the season, while Pulaski improves to 32-21 and have clinched first place in the East.

The Pulaski River Turtles will face the Greeneville Flyboys on Monday night in Greeneville for the Appalachian League Championship at 7 P.M.

Pulaski attacked fast with a solo shot by Jackson Beaman in the first and got off to a quick 1-0 lead.

Pulaski added onto that lead in the second with an RBI single by Evan Minarovic and brought in Ryan Johnson to make it 2-0.

In the fourth, Pulaski brought in two runs to extend their lead to 4-0. The first run came off a wild pitch to bring in Beaman, the second was thanks to an RBI single by Mark Trotta that brought in Cameron Leary.

Bluefield would put up a single on the board in the top of the seventh, but that would be more than eliminated with a four-run bottom of the seventh by Pulaski. An RBI single by Mark Trotta would start the scoring. After that, an E3 would bring in Cameron Leary. A two-run moonshot to dead-center field by John Bay would cap off the inning for Pulaski and make the game 8-1.

An RBI double by Ryan Johnson would add on an extra insurance run in the eighth and make it 9-1.

The win and Pitcher of the Game went to Luke Reed, as he threw a complete game, allowing only 2 hits, 1 earned run, walked 2, and struck out 16. He did all of this on a whopping 134 pitches. The loss went to Ben Harris, as he allowed 6 hits, four earned runs, walked 3, and struck out 5.

The hitter of the game went to John Bay as he went 3-4, he had 1 one run, and batted in 2. Those two runs came off the two-run shot in the seventh.

Pulaski will cap off the regular season Saturday with a rematch against the Bluefield Ridge Runners.

By KYLE MANALO