NORTH AUGUSTA, SC: The GreenJackets scored in each of the first four innings to pull away early, while Jacob Shafer tossed six hitless frames to secure a 10-0 win in the year’s final game.
Augusta took the lead one batter into the bottom of the first, as John Gil crushed a leadoff homer against Fabian Ysalla for his 7th and final long ball of an impressive summer season.
The Jackets wasted no time adding more in the next inning, as Tanner Smith ripped an RBI double, Gil punched an RBI groundout, and Tate Southisene hit a run-scoring single for a 4-0 lead after two.
A change of pitchers did little to slow down the bats of Augusta, as Jake Peppers could not keep the Jackets silent in the 3rd either.
Augusta loaded the bases with nobody out on two singles and a walk, and despite Peppers striking out his next three batters, the Jackets scored twice on wild pitches.
The final offense of the day came in the 4th, as the GreenJackets used four walks and RBI hits from Owen Carey and Dixon Williams to score four runs against Jose Mendez.
The ten runs scored were the most in a four-inning burst of the whole season, and the highest team total at home since early August.
Shafer was brilliantly efficient in his final outing of the year, scattering three walks and pitching to soft contact as he cruised through six innings without a hit allowed. Shafer claimed his 3rd win in 7 games, and lowered his season ERA to a stingy 2.12.
The Ballers’ only hit came against Carter Lovasz in the 7th, with Anthony Depino ambushing a first-pitch sinker and slashing it into left for a single.
Lovasz and Owen Hackman would combine to keep the shutout intact, however, and posted the team’s first one-hit shutout of the year.
The GreenJackets end their season 67-62, their first winning season since 2022 and an 18-game improvement from last year’s record.
The year included six walk-off wins, four shutouts, a league Player of the Month in John Gil, and a wave of promotions and improvements from all corners of the roster.
The year’s regular season officially has concluded, and all eyes now turn to next year’s season beginning in early April.
