Noah Adcock-Howeth, Augusta GreenJackets
NORTH AUGUSTA – A parade of walks opened the door time and again for the GreenJackets, but the offense proved unable to find the big swing as the Jackets fell 6-5 in ten innings against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers June 3.
A disheartening loss belies the success of starter Jacob Kroeger, who made his first start at home this year and dazzled through five one-run innings while striking out a career-best seven hitters. The lone blemish was a solo homer in the fifth from Cesar Hernandez, but Kroeger wrangled the next three batters to cap his night on a high note.
Kroeger departed with the lead, thanks to Augusta’s lone hit of the night with a man in scoring position. After two scoreless against starter Raimy Rodriguez, the Jackets utilized a trio of walks to load the bases with two outs in the third. Walks would be a theme on the night, as Fayetteville pitching walked 11 batters, tied for the most drawn by the Jackets this year. Colby Jones took the bat in the key spot, and ladled a two-run single up the middle off reliever Rafael Gonzalez to open the scoring.
The departure of Kroeger signaled a shift in the momentum of the game. While Augusta put a man in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, they could not extend the lead in any frame. Meanwhile, the Woodpeckers celebrated the arrival of reliever Juan Sanchez by putting two men in scoring position with two out. Sanchez forced the ground ball he needed, but Luis Sanchez threw it down the first base line, and his error gave Fayetteville its first lead.
The Woodpeckers doubled the advantage in the seventh, with Jancel Villarroel slapping an RBI single off of Justin Long for a 4-2 lead, before the Jackets’ patience finally won out. Volatile righty Abel Mercedes survived the sixth with a double play, but lost his bearings in the seventh, loading the bases on two walks and an error. Mercedes walked Jones to bring one run home, then did the same to Mason Guerra to tie the contest. He would find the zone against Nick Montgomery, who charged one out to deep left for a sac fly and the lead.
The ninth inning was a tale of two very different outcomes, as the Woodpeckers forced extras at SRP Park against Jackson Dannelley. Dannelley got the last out of the eighth, but hung a slider to Esmil Valencia, who tied the game on a thunderous homer. Dannelley navigated the rest of the frame scoreless, but extras occurred anyways as veteran reliever Cam Brown curtailed the Jackets. Augusta put the winning run on 3rd with no outs, but a strikeout, pop up, and rolled grounder prevented Isaiah Drake from scoring.
Fayetteville found victory in the 10th thanks to Alberto Hernandez, who scored the automatic runner on a hard chopper over the head of shortstop John Gil. Augusta would bunt the tying run to 3rd in the bottom half, but Leiker Figueroa broke home on an infield grounder and was out at the plate, while Luis Sanchez then tried to take second and was doubled off himself to end the night.
Augusta falls in the series opener at home for the second time in five tries at home, and the fifth time overall. The offense will have to about-face in a hurry, as hulking righty Alonzo Tredwell awaits Wednesday after firing five hitless innings this past week. Luis Arestigueta will look to match his stride at 7:05 p.m. at SRP Park.
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