(Story courtesy Augusta GreenJackets)
COLUMBIA – The GreenJackets scored in back-to-back innings to start the night, but were held scoreless after the second as the Fireflies posted five unanswered to win 6-2 and even the series at one win apiece Wednesday night.
Augusta’s best swing came right out of the gate, as Tate Southisene hammered the second pitch of the game over the wall in left for his third homer of the year, and first career leadoff homer. Alex Lodise followed by tripling against starter Blake Wolters, but Wolters retired the next three men he saw to strand Lodise at third and keep it 1-0.
Much like last night, the Fireflies were incredibly adept at retaliating after giving up runs, and that’s exactly what they did against Derek Vartanian in the bottom of the first. Henry Ramos led off with a bunt single, and took third on a softly hit double from Sean Gamble. After a Josh Hammond walk loaded the bases, Ramos came home to score on a fielder’s choice from Brooks Bryan, tying the game after one.
Each side traded runs again in the second inning, with both sides pushing across a single tally. Caden Merritt walked and stole second to set the table in the top half, before sprinting home on an RBI single from Cooper McMurray. In the bottom half, the Fireflies manufactured the tying run via a fielder’s choice, stolen base, deep fly ball, and single, with Ramos getting the RBI.
Columbia took the lead in the bottom of the third, as Hammond continued his impressive first pro season with a two-strike homer to open the frame and put the Fireflies in front. The run would be the last allowed by Vartanian, but Augusta’s silence with their own bats would still hand him his first loss as a pro.
The Jackets could not muster another hit against Wolters, as he cruised through five innings in total and picked up his first win of the year in the process. He was succeeded by Henson Leal, and although he did issue a pair of early walks, Leal worked two hitless innings himself to keep Columbia in front.
The Fireflies did not add to their total until the bottom of the seventh, when they began to pull away by attacking Kade Woods in his season debut. Ramos greeted Woods with a first-pitch double, and Gamble was hit by a pitch before Hammond mustered an RBI double of his own. Back-to-back fly balls brought home two more runs, and put the game out of reach in the final two frames.
The GreenJackets did pick up one hit in their final two chances, as McMurray’s single in the ninth was the team’s first and last hit since the beginning of the third. Augusta totaled just five hits in the game, tied for their fewest of the year.
With the series now even at one win apiece, the Jackets and Fireflies now head into a Thirsty Thursday duel with Landon Beidelschies sparring against Hiro Wyatt in the third of six games this week, and twenty-four games this season between the two divisional rivals.
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