Story courtesy Noah Adcock-Howeth, Augusta GreenJackets
NORTH AUGUSTA – An early contender for game of the year featured a storybook ending, as 18-year-old Eric Hartman crushed a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to cap a chaotic Sunday affair at SRP Park.
The home run capped a magical beginning to Hartman’s pro career, where the young outfielder finished the weekend 6-14 with 2 HRs and hits in every game. His pro debut, combined with the first pro endeavors of Owen Carey and Nick Montgomery, were just a few of the many bright spots across Opening Weekend.
Both sides took advantage of early miscues to post multi-run innings, with Columbia striking immediately in the top of the first. A two-out error from Luis Sanchez extended the inning, and lefty Derlin Figueroa made Augusta pay with a monstrous two-run homer off of Brett Sears to open the scoring.
The Jackets would get both runs back and then some in the second, as Firefly starter Josh Hansell lost complete control with two outs. Hansell issued walks to three straight hitters with two on and two out and hit the next to give Augusta a 3-2 lead.
Columbia came charging back in the middle innings against Augusta’s bullpen. The Fireflies pushed two across in the fifth as reliever Jacob Kroeger walked four straight to begin the inning, then added four more the next inning on a Figueroa grand slam. Figueroa ended the day with two homers, four walks, and six RBI in a herculean effort.
Never deterred by adversity, the Jackets came roaring back, posting four runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted by a two-RBI double from Sanchez. After Columbia posted one more run in the seventh, Augusta would regain the lead in the next half with six straight men reaching base against Nick Conte in his pro debut.
With one more insurance run in the eighth to double the lead, the Augusta faithful could taste victory in the final inning, as reliever Samuel Mejia, in his third inning of work, retired the first two batters of the inning. The Fireflies fought to the last, however, and used a single and HBP to put the tying run aboard. Wynston Sawyer was forced to go to his bullpen again, and Trent Buchanan battled for 11 pitches against Jorge Hernandez before the latter won the war with a two-run double to tie the game.
Forced into extras, and with rain falling harder with each passing batter, Columbia struck without a hit to take a lead in the top of the 10th. Figueroa worked a leadoff walk, and both he and automatic runner Brennon McNair advanced on a perfect sacrifice bunt from Colton Becker. Buchanan got the next out cleanly, but a two-out wild pitch sent McNair scampering home to put the Fireflies in front.
The beleaguered Fireflies bullpen turned to Jordan Woods in his Firefly debut for the 10th, and he started strongly. By punching out Montgomery and holding the automatic runner at 2nd. Woods’ luck ran out quickly, though, as he hung a 1-0 slider to a waiting Hartman, who deposited it over the left field wall for a game-and-series-winning homer.
From here, both teams advance to a much needed off day tomorrow, before starting their respective six-game series Tuesday. Columbia heads back to Segra Park for their home opener, playing host to the Charleston RiverDogs. Augusta, meanwhile, will travel up to Hickory, North Carolina, to battle the Crawdads for the first time since 2019. Augusta and Columbia will play 18 more times this year, including nine at SRP Park.
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