From the Augusta GreenJackets
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Augusta GreenJackets came up short in their first game of the season against the Columbia Fireflies (Kansas City Royals), 7-6. The Fireflies gave their home fans an opening night to remember as they rallied from a 6-0 with Erick Peña completing the comeback for Columbia with a walk-off 3-run homer to stun Augusta.
The GreenJackets got on the board in the first inning thanks to Adam Zebrowski who drove in Brandol Mezquita with a double to make it 1-0. The inning would continue and Zebrowski would later score on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 Augusta after one inning.
They would add on in the third inning when Zebrowski struck again with a solo homerun over the left-field wall for the first August long-ball of the season to up the lead to 3-0.
The GreenJackets kept the offense rolling in the fourth when they produced their best inning of the night scoring three times. First, a two-run blast by Geraldo Quintero advanced the lead to 5-0. A few batters later it was Cal Conley getting in on the action with an RBI single to score Caleb Durbin, making it a 6-0 game.
The top story in this game for Augusta was the work of their starting pitcher Royber Salinas who pitched 4.1 dominant innings, striking out a career-high 11 batters. Estarlin Rodriguez relieved Salinas in the fifth inning as the Fireflies scored two runs in the frame to get back into the game.
Columbia would keep chipping away by scoring one run in the sixth with a Guillermo Quintanna solo-homerun. One more run scored in the seventh on an Erick Peña RBI single to cut the deficit to 6-4.
Peyton Williams came on in relief for Augusta in the eighth inning and put up a zero to stop the run of three-straight scoring innings for Columbia.
The Fireflies would get one last crack in the ninth inning, and after the first two runners reached, Peña got one last opportunity with two outs and the Royals’ 12th ranked prospect came through in the clutch with a walk-off 3-run homer to complete the opening-night comeback for Columbia. Jack Aldrich earned the win in relief for the Fireflies while Peyton Williams took the loss for Augusta.
Game 2 is Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. as the GreenJackets look to settle the score with AJ Smith-Shawver taking the mound for Augusta as he will face Luider Avila for Columbia.
About SRP Park/Augusta GreenJackets
The Augusta GreenJackets are the Single-A Affiliate of the Atlanta Braves playing in the state of the art SRP Park located in North Augusta, SC. 2022 Augusta GreenJackets season seat memberships are on sale now. To learn more about the benefits and to get in on the action, visit www.gjmembers.com or call (803) 349-WINS (9467).
