(Story courtesy Augusta GreenJackets)
NORTH AUGUSTA – The Columbia Fireflies (17-15, 51-47) scored eight runs in the second inning, and held on for dear life as they survived a late stampede from the Augusta GreenJackets (18-14, 53-45) to hold on for a heart pounding 9-8 win in Augusta Wednesday night.
The Fireflies lashed into young starter Gensi Angeles, who could not catch a break in his Single-A debut. Angeles allowed six hits and eight runs in 1.1 innings, with four home runs proving too much to handle. Columbia’s power surge was capped with three consecutive home runs in the second inning, a frame that saw twelve men bat and eleven men reach to push the Fireflies up 9-0.
For the majority of the night, it appeared that Columbia would run away with the game, as Augusta scored just one run in its first five frames. Manuel Campos’ first Single-A hit was an RBI triple in the third, but Augusta was still down by eight runs with just four offensive frames remaining.
The Jackets brought themselves back into the game by virtue of a five-run sixth inning, sending nine men to the plate as Jesus Oliviera lost the zone in his second inning. Oliviera walked four men, the last of which brought home a run, before the Jackets pushed across four more on a pair of hits against Michael Braswell to pull within three.
Cooper McMurray’s RBI single in the seventh pulled Augusta even closer, giving the Jackets the chance to tie in the bottom of the 8th. Conor Essenburg doubled off the fence to get within a run, and the Jackets then loaded the bases with two outs against Andy Basora. With McMurray at the plate, Basora built the tension to a full count, before executing a perfect changeup to strike out the lefty and strand the bags full.
The GreenJackets saw their bullpen post 7.2 innings of one-run baseball, with the one run being unearned against Adiel Melendez in the second inning. Carter Lovasz and Daniel Brooks combined for five scoreless frames to give Augusta a chance for heroics, but Manuel Colon retired the side in order in the 9th to break the hearts of the home faithful and avoid a generational collapse for the Fireflies.
Both sides have now won one game to start this series, with both wins coming on the back of early offense. Thursday’s starting pitchers will have increased pressure to keep their opposition in check early, with Augusta’s Landon Beidelschies and Columbia’s Jose Gutierrez being the men entrusted with the task. First pitch of Thursday’s game is at 6:35 p.m., the final game with that start time of the week.
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