The Twins go to the finals!

ELIZABETHTON 4, DANVILLE 2 IN ELIZABETHTON

Four and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief led the Twins to a victory over Danville and a berth in the Appalachian League finals.

The Twins took the lead in the first inning.  With two out, Max Kepler doubled and D. J. Hicks hit a home run to put Elizabethton in front 2-0.   The Braves cut the lead to 2-1 in the third, but the Twins stretched it back to 3-1 in the fourth.

The Braves threatened to tie the score in the fifth.  A single, a sacrifice bunt, and Levi Hyams’ RBI double made the score 3-2 and put the tying run on second with one out.  Kaleb Merck then relieved Hudson Boyd and struck out the next two batters to end the inning.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the fifth when Hicks doubled and scored on an RBI single by Byron Buxton.

The Twins’ bullpen kept Danville off the board after that.  The Braves did not go down easily, putting two men on in both the seventh and the ninth, but Elizabethton’s relievers were up to the challenge in both cases.  Tyler Duffey struck out four in two innings and J. T. Chargois struck out two in his one inning of work.

The victory puts the Twins in the Appalachian League finals, which begin tonight.

BURLINGTON 3, JOHNSON CITY 2 IN BURLINGTON

Mark Threlkeld’s two-run homer in the second inning gave the Royals a lead they would never relinquish and put Burlington into the Appalachian League finals.

The Royals scored again in the fifth to make it 3-0.  The Cardinals cut the lead to 3-1 in the sixth.  It got interesting in the ninth, as Ronard Castillo doubled home Cesar Valera to put the tying run on second with two out.  Leandro Mateo then struck out to end the game.

Elizabethton is at Burlington for the first game of the best-of-three championship series tonight.  Angel Mata will face Patrick Conroy.