Noah Adcock-Howeth, Augusta GreenJackets
NORTH AUGUSTA – A game that seemed as though neither side wanted to grab the win ended in disappointment for the home side, as the GreenJackets stranded the tying run at second in the bottom of the ninth and fell 6-5 Aug. 14 at SRP Park.
The two sides combined for 14 walks, five hit by pitches, and six wild pitches in a game that saw nearly twice as many runs as hits. Augusta did not record their first hit until the seventh, when Titus Dumitru began the frame with a laser up the middle to get on the board. Fayetteville starter Raimy Rodriguez walked three and hit one. He fired five hitless innings in his best start of the year taking the no-decision.
Augusta entrusted the start to Luis Arestigueta, making his full-season debut with the GreenJackets. Arestigueta ran into a bit of trouble early, when two hit by pitches yielded a run thanks to an RBI single from Caden Powell but settled in nicely. The righty struck out five and allowed just two hits, flashing a handful of pieces that could lead to optimism regarding his development.
The GreenJackets manufactured a pair of runs in the early goings of Pedro Marquez’s first Fayetteville appearance, scoring in both the sixth and seventh to tie the game at two. John Gil led off the sixth with a walk, and promptly stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Gil dashed home on Junior Garcia groundout to tie the game. Dumitru would score the very next inning, following his single with a steal, wild pitch and balk as Augusta leveled the score.
With the game tied entering the ninth, Fayetteville began to create a big inning of their own, using a hit by pitch, fielder’s choice, error, and walk to load the bases with no outs against Reibyn Corona. In just his second pro game, Joseph Sullivan proved the difference maker, rocking a two-run single to right to give the Woodpeckers the lead. Corona was almost out of the inning with nothing further, but a two-out grounder to short yielded John Gil’s second error of the inning to double the output.
Augusta did not go quietly in the ninth, as Colby Jones walked and scored on a Willmer De La Cruz triple with one out to add some intrigue. De La Cruz sprinted home on another wild pitch, and Marquez drilled Austin Machado in the back before being lifted in favor of Abel Mercedes. Mercedes has fought command issues of late, and a walk and balk put men at second and third with one out. Gil poked a sac fly to left to bring Augusta within one, but Mercedes punched out Garcia swinging to neutralize the GreenJackets’ comeback bid.
With the six-game series now tied at one win apiece, Augusta will trot out Rayven Antonio in his SRP Park debut Thursday to look to swing the series back in their favor. Fayetteville turns to Anderson Brito, who has been very strong in a small sample size in his first three starts with the Woodpeckers. Tickets for the week’s slate of games are available at greenjacketsbaseball.com or by calling (803) 349-WINS (9467).
