Former Bristol skipper Bill Kinneberg puts Pulaski ahead of the playoffs

PULASKI, Va. – If you were wondering what Bill Kinneberg is up to these days, he’s taking care of the Pulaski River Turtles as they make a playoff push.

“It’s been a good summer,” Kinneberg said. “We have a good team, great kids and my job was easy. I liked very much.”

Kinneberg’s Appalachian League club has played exceptionally well during the season, and on Saturday night at Calfee Park they survived for an 8-5 victory over the Bristol State Liners, the team he managed a season ago.

Pulaski (20-18) is currently third in the Appy League East Division, four games behind first place Danville (25-15) and 1 1/2 games behind second place Burlington (22-17) , because two playoff spots are available. wins in every division this year under an expanded postseason format.

“We’re fair,” said Pulaski outfielder Seth Buchanan, a former Lebanon High star who just finished his freshman season at Virginia Military Institute. “It’s really doable and a lot of the guys are pretty excited. Sometimes you get later in the summer and it’s kind of the dog days and everyone wants to go home, but here everyone is still pushing and we’re trying to get better.”

Meanwhile, the State Liners (14-24) are assured of a sub-.500 record for the third straight season, even if this summer has been unlike any other in franchise history.

With no stadium in Bristol to call home, the team is based in Greeneville, Tennessee, sharing Pioneer Park on the campus of Tusculum University with the Greeneville Flyboys. The players were housed in the Tusculum dormitories.

Bristol played nearly all of its contests on the road and played its last game at Greeneville on July 10.

“It’s pretty tiring, but you have to be mentally strong in this game,” Bristol outfielder Mikah Conner of Presbyterian College said. “Just keep working. It’s all about getting better for us, going back to college.”

Conner will return to Clinton, South Carolina with some confidence.

With the State Liners trailing 8-0 Saturday, he got them on the board with a no-doubt three-run homer off Anthony Schatz (Tallahassee Community College) in the seventh inning.

“I took a pretty good swing,” Conner said of his second dinger of the season. “I knew he was off his feet.”

He added an eighth-inning single and joined Appy League All-Star selection Dylan Mass (Saint Leo) as the only guys with multiple hits for the State Liners.

Mass mashed a solo homer to start the ninth inning to go along with the sixth inning single.

Bristol nearly produced quite a comeback, loading the bases with no outs in the ninth inning as Pulaski reliever Caleb Gallant (Gaston) struggled.

That prompted Kinneberg to call up Garret Coiner (The Incarnate Word) from the bullpen in a high-leverage situation, to say the least.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think I was going into the game today,” Coiner said. “I thought I was throwing (Sunday) and they told me to warm up. I went and grabbed my cleats and got hot as fast as I could. We just filled the area when we got in there.”

So he did, striking out Esteban Garcia (Boston College), retiring Elijah Alexander (Connors State Junior College) on a ground ball and selling Hunter High (Tennessee) to seal the deal.

Six different pitchers took the mound for Pulaski to mixed results.

“There was a lot of teaching tonight and that was good in some ways,” Kinneberg said.

Kinneberg loves teaching the game to youngsters and has done so for decades.

He coached at five colleges — including stints as head baseball coach at Texas-El Paso, Wyoming and Utah — and also worked with pitchers in the Chicago White Sox farm system.

Bill’s roommate and his son’s godfather, Joe Kinneberg (who started at third base for Pulaski on Saturday) is also in town for a visit.

Kinneberg’s old friend from the University of Arizona happens to be Terry Francona, who led the Boston Red Sox to World Series titles in 2004 and 2007.

He retired from baseball last season after a successful run at the helm of the Cleveland Guardians.

“He came to watch Joe, he didn’t come to watch me,” Bill Kinneberg said. “He likes to retire and move around. He spends some time on the East Coast seeing his children and grandchildren.”

Kinneberg has enjoyed the last few weeks with the river turtles.

The team was 6-13 after a loss at Burlington on June 27, but has since won 14 of its last 19 games.

“Our launch was probably the most changed,” Kinneberg said. “We’ve got some guys that have really helped us and we’ve gotten to know our staff a little bit and what makes them good. Maybe we can put them in positions to be successful and throw strikes. That’s the biggest thing in the last three weeks.”

The guys on the bump can learn a lot from Kinneberg and pitching coach Ted Power (who pitched for eight MLB teams from 1981-1993) when it comes to the finer points of the game.

“They are super professional and the door is always open for questions,” Coiner said. “They know a lot and I always try to pick their brains. It was pretty cool.”

There were smiles around the clubhouse after Saturday’s game as slugger Alec DeMartino (UNC-Wilmington) hit a three-run homer to overzealous clubhouse chaperone Brad Hill.

“We all show up every day and have a great team atmosphere,” Coiner said. “We all love each other and have fun. We can’t create too much of a situation or we’ll just play tense. We have fun and play freely.”

Seth Buchanan did not play in Saturday’s game and is hitting .206/.409/.382 with two homers, two doubles, two triples and 12 RBI. He walked 22 times, the same number of times he was hit.

“I definitely feel like I’ve improved a lot since last summer,” Buchanan said. “More specifically, my bat and stuff. I feel better offensively.”

Buchanan played with the State Liners last season, as did Joe Kinneberg.

Bill Kinneberg, Ted Power and first base coach Tommy Murphy were on the Bristol staff in 2023 and are now with the New River Valley team.

They were due to train in Bristol this summer, but the ongoing stadium saga has led to a change of plans.

The State Liners and city officials are currently considering making Tod Houston Field in Bristol, Tenn., their main venue of the future.

In addition to managing Bristol’s entry into the Appy League in 2023, Kinneberg was also the pitching coach for the Bristol White Sox in 2003 and 2004.

He is 5-0 against his old team this season, but still has a soft spot for his old stomping grounds.

“Absolutely,” Kinneberg said. “I love the city of Bristol; I spent three summers there and I really hope for (President/General Manager) Mahlon (Luttrell) and everyone associated with the organization that something good happens to them and baseball returns to Bristol this summer.”

Pulaski ;000;700;100—8;9;1

Bristol;000;000;311—5;7;2

Fordham, Mayes (5), Schatz (7), Shaw (7), Gallant (9). Coiner (9) and Reader. Cole, Lang (6), Neville (7), Sylvest (8), Cromwell (9) and Blair. V – Mayes (1-1). L – Cole (2-2). S – Coiner (1). HR – DeMartino (P), 4, two on; Conner (B), 7th, two on; Mass (B), 9th, none.