(Story courtesy Noah Adcock-Howeth)
MYRTLE BEACH – A rusty return from the All-Star break continued for the GreenJackets Tuesday night, as Myrtle Beach scored in each of its final four offensive innings to secure a 7-1 win in the series opener.
Starting pitching shined early for both sides, as Garrett Baumann and Kenten Egbert each blanked their opposition through three frames. Baumann returned from a two-week hiatus by striking out a career-high eight hitters, dominating primarily with his fastball. Egbert allowed three hits and three walks but stranded six men on base to post zeroes. Both arms suffered high pitch counts, however, which would be key in the middle innings.
Egbert hit his preordained limit of 65 with two outs in the fourth, and handed the ball to Angel Hernandez. Hernandez struggled to settle in, with two walks and a wild pitch putting men at the corners for John Gil. The youngest man on the roster would stay poised, stroking a two-out, two-strike single past a diving shortstop to score Joe Olsavsky and put the GreenJackets up front.
Baumann worked around a pair of two-out knocks for a scoreless fourth, but allowed a bunt single and a walk to start the fifth and was lifted by acting manager Connor Justus, helming the squad for the week in place of the absent Wynston Sawyer. Justus turned to piggyback arm Adel Dilone, and the Pelicans pounced on the change. A walk loaded the bases for Cristian Hernandez, and the shortstop guided a single through the open right side to give Myrtle Beach their first lead. Dilone would not survive the inning, and was lifted for Albert Rivas, who stranded the bases full to limit the damage.
Myrtle Beach continued to add in the back half of the game, scoring two runs in each of the next two innings off of Rivas via a Hernandez double, Miguel Pabon double, and Anderson Suriel single, his first hit and RBI at the Single-A level. Meanwhile, Augusta’s offense was flummoxed by the Pelican ‘pen, as Angel Hernandez, Vince Reilly, and Shane Marshall refused to allow a run after the fourth and conceded just one hit. An E3 brought home a final run in the eighth off of LJ McDonough, only further cementing the final result.
Baumann takes the tough luck loss for Augusta and falls to 5-3, while Angel Hernandez gets his second win of the year in his third season with Myrtle Beach. The day was also highlighted by history from outfielder Jacob Wetzel, who made his club-record 259th start for the Pelicans.
Wednesday features a battle between a pair of 19-year-old righties as Didier Fuentes and Nazier Mule go toe to toe at Pelicans Ballpark in front of the substantial beachgoing crowd. The GreenJackets will return home at the end of the month on July 30, hosting the Down East Wood Ducks for the first and only time in their final season of existence. Tickets for the week’s slate of games can be found at greenjacketsbaseball.com or by calling (803) 349-9467.
Augusta Good News is an award-winning member of Georgia Press Association. Sign up for the newsletter here.
