NORTH AUGUSTA – The GreenJackets capped the home half of their weeklong series with the Fireflies with a shortened seven-inning contest Wednesday, and picked up a 1-0 win in front of a sold out crowd at SRP Park.
A pop up thunderstorm descended on SRP Park shortly before the scheduled first pitch, and a 6:35 p.m. scheduled start time was pushed back by two hours. In accordance with Carolina League rules, any game starting two hours or more after its intended time may be shortened to seven innings, and that protocol was followed tonight.
After the first pitch was finally thrown, it was Augusta who scored the first (and only) run of the night. After Hiro Wyatt retired back-to-back batters to start the bottom of the first, Eric Hartman cracked his second double in as many nights to threaten the Fireflies. Colby Jones floated a single down the right field line, and Hartman dashed home for the lead.
That lead would be all that Owen Hackman needed, as the righty dominated through 5.1 nearly flawless innings for his first win since April 10. Hackman allowed a walk and single in the second, and a base hit in the fifth, and nothing further in a brilliant outing.
Hackman’s final base hit allowed ended his night in the sixth, with Wynston Sawyer summoning Samuel Mejia to hold the one-run lead. Mejia spiked a changeup to advance the tying run to second, but struck out Henry Ramos and forced a groundout from Yandel Ricardo to hold the line.
After the Jackets stranded a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth, proving unable to tack on against the Firefly bullpen, Mejia immediately faced trouble in the seventh. A single and two walks loaded the bases with one out, with the tying and winning runs in scoring position. Mejia worked an 8-pitch punchout of Josi Novas, before facing Gabriel Silva in the final standoff. Silva ripped a line drive to the left side, but defensive replacement Leiker Figueroa made a stellar leaping catch to rob him of extra bases.
The GreenJackets now head north to Columbia to continue the series, with three more games against the Fireflies on deck. Augusta will then return home, hosting the Salem Red Sox for the first time this year.
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