FAYETTEVILLE, NC: After a 76-minute delayed start, the Woodpeckers emerged from the thunderstorm with lightning in their bats, scoring in six of eight innings as they secured a dominant 10-1 win over the GreenJackets Wednesday night.
Despite the lopsided final total, it was the GreenJackets who struck first, using their only two hits of the night to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
John Gil led off after the rain with a double to the wall on the first pitch of the game. Gil promptly stole third, and trotted home on a grounder from Owen Carey for the game’s first run.
Colby Jones cracked a two-out single to right, but was caught stealing to end the inning, and Augusta did not muster another hit for the rest of the game.
Fayetteville wasted no time retrieving the lead from the GreenJackets, and never took their foot off the gas as they extended the lead inning by inning.
Augusta starter Justin Miitello struggled mightily with his command, allowing a career-high six walks in 3+ innings, the most by a GreenJackets pitcher in a game this season.
Fayetteville scored two in the first, second, and fourth, chasing Militello on just three hits due to free passes and a good deal of situational hitting.
It was a Jancel Villarroel double that tied the game early, and Fayetteville kept the press on, using a pair of key errors in the 3rd to chase Militello and hand him his first Single-A loss.
While Militello was dispersed early, Woodpecker starter Dylan Howard settled in after the first, retiring his next twelve hitters in a career-long outing, as he secured his first professional win by pitching consistently to week contact.
The two bullpens stretched in opposite directions just as the starters had, as Fayetteville tagged Reibyn Corona and Trent Buchanan for four runs in five innings, three of which came against Corona including a mammoth opposite-field home run from catcher Jason Schiavone.
On the opposite side, Brandon McPherson was dazzling in his Single-A debut, as the former Pioneer League standout allowed two walks and no hits in four innings to pick up his first save in affiliated baseball.
With a 10-1 shellacking now firmly in the rearview, the GreenJacketsturn to steady starter Owen Hackman to right the ship and deliver the team’s first win of the week.
Hackman lasted just four innings against the Woodpeckers earlier this month, and now looks for redemption on the road for an Augusta squad that needs both length and command from the rotation from here on out.
