(Story and photo courtesy Augusta GreenJackets)
NORTH AUGUSTA – Derek Vartanian fired the best outing of his pro career, hurling seven scoreless innings against the Salem RidgeYaks (4-7, 29-47) to give the Augusta GreenJackets (9-2, 44-33) a low-scoring 1-0 win Wednesday night.
After a gutsy start last week that saw Vartanian work through 6.1 frames despite allowing a career-high nine hits, the former Campbell Camel was a new man against Salem. Vartanian did not allow a single runner to advance past first base, and tied his career high with eight strikeouts. The righty faced the minimum after the second inning, recording 15 outs in his final 15 batters as he earned his third win of the year.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the RidgeYaks, as they squandered phenomenal pitching from all three arms they deployed. Starter Cole Tolbert was on a predetermined short leash, only able to go three innings, but he allowed just two hits in his time. Tolbert had the misfortune of allowing the game’s one and only run, however, as a bloop single from birthday boy Cody Miller scored Conor Essenburg from second.
Augusta was grateful to get the run from Miller, as they did not have a hit the rest of the night. Luis Cohen relieved Tolbert, and went a perfect 12 up, 12 down through four breezy innings to keep the Jackets off base. Augusta did put a man in scoring position in the 8th against Harry Blum via a walk and steal, but Blum worked out of the jam and kept the bats silent.
Vartanian left the game after seven, and the GreenJacket bullpen continued its run of success. Logan Forsythe survived a bases-loaded jam to post a zero in the eighth, before Lewis Sifontes worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his first professional save. The win was Augusta’s second nine-inning shutout of the year, and was also Augusta’s fastest of the season, as nine innings flew by in an hour and fifty-six minutes.
The Jackets have won four in a row overall, as well as five straight games at home for the second time this year. Both offenses will be understandably hungry to improve Thursday, but they will see two high-variance pitchers in Augusta’s Jeremy Reyes and Salem’s Jacob Mayers.
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