(Story courtesy Augusta GreenJackets)
NORTH AUGUSTA – Ethan Bagwell carried a no-hitter through five innings, but the offense was held hitless with men in scoring position and the Jackets fell short in a 2-1 heartbreaker against the Hill City Howlers
Bagwell, despite his fourth quality start of the year, got saddled with his third straight loss. Despite that, the performance was one of his best in his career, as he retired thirteen straight to start the game and faced the minimum through five.
While Bagwell dominated, Augusta (34-31) got on the board first despite some missed opportunities against Nelson Keljo. Keljo walked three men in his first two innings, but used a pickoff and a pair of Ks to keep Augusta off the board. The Jackets would finally break through in the fourth, as Alex Lodise broke the scoreless and hitless stretch in one big swing with a solo home run, his team-leading ninth of the year.
Bagwell’s brilliance ended in the top of the sixth, as Hill City (31-34) found themselves on base and manufactured the tying run. Yeiferth Castillo began with a walk, before Luis De La Cruz fired a single to break up the no-hitter. Tyler Howard then rolled a grounder to force, but the return throw on the double play snuck under Bagwell’s glove at first and scored the tying run.
The Howlers’ game-winning swing came in the top of the seventh, as Bagwell made his first and only true mistake and paid for it. Bagwell fell behind on Anthony Martinez, and left a fastball in the heart of the zone that Martinez crushed the other way for a solo homer and the lead.
Augusta put the tying run on in both the eighth and ninth innings, but both times the Howlers pen held firm. Styven Paez provided a nice pitching highlight in the top of the ninth, inheriting the bases loaded with nobody out but somehow not allowing a run, but Angel Perez worked around a leadoff walk to slam the door and hand the Jackets their first loss of the series.
The GreenJackets will wrap up the first half of the season Thursday night, as Derek Vartanian and Joey Oakie take the ball for their respective teams. After June 18, every team’s record will reset to 0-0 with two more playoff spots up for grabs in the back half of the summer.
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