NORTH AUGUSTA, SC: Starter Jeremy Reyes turned in his second straight stellar start, spinning seven strong frames to silence the sturdy sticks of the Fireflies after a shower-soaked start.
After a 31-minute rain delay preceded a scoreless top of the first from Reyes, the GreenJacket offense awoke early for the first time this week, keying in a handful of early runs against Darwin Rodriguez.
Eric Hartman laid down a perfect drag bunt on the first pitch he saw, and raced home one batter later as John Gil cracked an RBI double to the left field wall.
Two batters later, Dixon Williams broke through with the biggest swing of his young pro career, launching a two-run home run the opposite way for a 3-0 lead.
The early lead would be more than enough for Reyes, as he raced through the early innings with little pushback. Reyes allowed just one hit in his first five innings, and counted out six strikeouts in those frames.
The continued development of his new cutter, which debuted last week in Kannapolis, has been a key factor in his recent run of dominance.
For the first time this week, the GreenJackets finally pushed across a run against the Firefly bullpen. Yeri Perez worked a scoreless 4th in replacement of Rodriguez, and looked set to grab another after having a man at first and two out the next inning.
Unfortunately for Perez, the inning extended due to a catcher’s interference on Hyungchan Um, and Colin Burgess made his fellow backstop pay as he hooked a two-out double inside the third base bag to bring home a run.
The Fireflies got on the board for the first and only time in the top of the 6th, as Jose Cerice continued to terrorize the GreenJackets this week.
Reyes let Asbel Gonzalez aboard with a one-out hit by pitch, and the league leader in steals did what he does best to swipe second. After a pop up from Ramon Ramirez, Cerice ambushed a first pitch fastball and punched it into shallow right for an RBI single.
That run would be the lone counterattack Columbia created, as Reyes worked through the 7th scorelessly, just the second GreenJacket pitcher to go seven innings in a game this year.
Carter Lovasz took the mound in relief for his professional debut, and did so in style, striking out four in two scoreless innings to pick up the save in his first game.
The GreenJackets are back in action Saturday night, Aug. 23, as reliable starter Rayven Antonio takes the ball against Hiro Wyatt.
The Jackets will take the field as the Pavos Salvajes de Augusta for the final time this summer, with the redesigned jersey set to be auctioned off postgame to benefit the National Wild Turkey Federation.
