From the Augusta GreenJackets
COLUMBIA — The Augusta GreenJackets rebounded from a heartbreaking loss on opening night with a convincing victory on Saturday against Columbia, 17-6 thanks to an explosive offense.
The homerun ball played a major part in the offensive showcase with Antonio Barranca getting it started in the second inning with a mammoth, three-run homer to straightaway center field to put Augusta on top 3-0.
In the third, two more runs came across thanks to an RBI triple by Braulio Vasquez and an RBI single by Connor Blair to bring home Vasquez, making it a 5-0 game.
The Fireflies would climb back into the ballgame with three runs on three hits in the fourth as they cut the deficit to two.
But that’s as close as they would get as the offense slammed the door on Columbia from that point on. The insurance runs started in the sixth with a two-run blast for Cal Conley that made it a 7-3 lead for Augusta. But that was only half the runs in the frame, Stephen Paolini collected his first RBI of the season on a single to score Brandol Mezquita. It was then Vasquez who added to his extra-base hit total with an RBI double to bring home Paolini from first base to up the GreenJackets’ lead to 9-3.
In the seventh inning, Cal Conley wasn’t finished as he lifted his second two-run bomb of the game over the right-field wall to make it a double-digit scoring night for the offense as that made it an 11-3 game.
The GreenJackets put the game away for good in the eighth inning with their best, run-scoring inning of the early season with a six-run frame that included a two-run double by Brian Klein, and RBI singles by Geraldo Quintero, Mezquita and Paolini. An additional run also scored on an error.
Columbia added three runs in the ninth but it was not enough as Rob Griswold secured the final outs for the GreenJackets to secure their first win of 2022.
AJ Smith-Shawver started the game and pitched well as he shut out Columbia through the first three frames, he would depart after 3.2 innings with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk in a no-decision. Kris Anglin relieved Smith-Shawver in the fourth inning and delivered a masterful performance in relief by not allowing a run across 3.2 innings of work with 7 punch-outs and 2 walks to earn the win. Rob Griswold got the final five outs of the game for the GreenJackets.
The rubber match of the three-game series will be on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. at Segra Park with Adam Shoemaker taking the hill for Augusta and he’ll square off against Eric Cerantola of the Fireflies.
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).
SRP Park is the anchor piece of Riverside Village, a live, work, “playball” development which includes apartment living, retail, restaurants, class “A” office space, and a Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center. To learn more about SRP Park and hosting events and availability, visit www.thesrppark.com.
