(Story courtesy Noah Adcock-Howeth, Augusta GreenJackets)
COLUMBIA – Augusta’s offense scored in the first inning for the second day in a row, and although they would add on later in the game, one run would’ve been enough as Didier Fuentes and Juan Sanchez combine to shut out the Fireflies in a 4-0 win Wednesday.
The GreenJackets and Fireflies have traded victories time and again this year, including in the first two games of this series, and tonight was Augusta’s turn to dominate on the road. The GreenJackets put two men aboard in the first off of prospect Blake Wolters via a Cam Magee double and Kade Kern single, with Magee dashing home on a Blake Mitchell passed ball to open the scoring.
From the first pitch of the bottom half, it was clear that Didier Fuentes was poised to dominate Columbia’s offense. Fuentes has been arguably the most reliable starter for Augusta since the first week of the year, and bulldozed through the Columbia lineup this evening. Fuentes allowed four singles and did not walk a batter, striking out nine batters in six scoreless innings to earn his 3rd win of the year.
The GreenJacket continued to piece together add-on runs to push the game out of reach down the stretch. Augusta struck again off of Wolters in the fourth, as Kern knocked a leadoff single, stole second base, advanced to third on a Noah Williams groundout and scored on Joe Olsavsky’s RBI single. Kern had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-3 with a hit by pitch including a sixth inning triple that allowed him to score on an RBI double from Jeremy Celedonio. Celedonio would drive in the final run of the game in the 8th, with a base hit that scored Luis Sanchez from second base to bring the ‘Jackets ahead 4-0.
After six phenomenal innings from Fuentes, Augusta sent reliever Juan Sanchez to the hill, looking to preserve the shutout through the final few frames. Sanchez ran into a bit of trouble early, as each of the first three hitters put their first pitch in play with two singles and a pop up, but the righty settled in to strand men at first and third with a big punchout of Brennon McNair.
After the 7th, Sanchez sailed smoothly across the final six outs without another hit allowed. By virtue of recording the final nine outs of the game, Luis Sanchez earned his first stateside save, and first overall since 2022 when he was still in the Dominican Summer League. The 4-0 win gives Augusta a 2-1 lead through the road half of the series, and 7-5 lead in the overarching season series spanning the width of the entire 2024 campaign.
The Jackets return home on Thursday for a nine-game homestand, facing the Fireflies for three and then the Fayetteville Woodpeckers for six. Kadon Morton will get the start Thursday in front of a standing-room-only crowd at SRP Park. Fireworks will be shot on both the fourth and sixth, as we celebrate Independence Day in North Augusta. Tickets and more info about all the exciting things happening at SRP Park can be found at greenjacketsbaseball.com.
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