Seesaw Affair Ends With GreenJacket Collapse in Tenth

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Seesaw Affair Ends With GreenJacket Collapse in Tenth

Augusta Scores Three, Cedes Four to Fall in Extras

KINSTON, NC: For the second night in a row, the Down East Wood Ducks won on a tenth-inning walk-off, this time scoring 4 in the bottom half to knock off the GreenJackets 6-5.

Neither offense had much to celebrate in regulation, as both sides were capped at two runs apiece in the first 9 frames. The GreenJackets scored once each in the 3^rd and 5^th, both on RBI groundouts, but could not unlock a big inning. The Wood Ducks got on the board in the 3^rd via a single and E9, but the combo of Rayven Antonio and Anthony Garcia held the Ducks back for eight innings.

Augusta’s luck ran out in the bottom of the 9^th, as Garcia came one out shy of his first professional save. Garcia ceded a leadoff single to Yeremi Cabrera, but a groundout and strikeout put the runner at second with one out to go. Garcia would groove a 1-1 fastball to Chandler Pollard, and the young righty laced a line drive into center to tie the game and send it into extras.

The top of the 10^th presented the best offense of the series so far for Augusta, and a glimmer of hope the ‘Jackets have yet to see. The GreenJackets struck for three runs off of Joey Danielson, with RBI singles from Titus Dumitru and Will Verdung (in his first career 4-hit game) giving the road side a 5-2 lead after the top half.

Wynston Sawyer turned to reliever Reibyn Corona for the 10^th, who has had an up-and-down year but had the most saves on the active roster with four entering the night. Trouble rose immediately, as a single and hit by pitch loaded the bases with the automatic runner, and Corona then missed inside again, hitting Ben Hartl to put the winning run on board. Julian Brock cranked a sac fly to center to bring Down East within a run, and Willmer De La Cruz then committed a throwing error to bring the tying run in and put men at the corners with one out.

Corona and the ‘Jackets elected to intentionally walk Pablo Guerrero to create a force at the plate, bringing the infield in with one out and the bags full. Corona induced a ground ball from Keith Jones, and chaos ensued at Grainger Stadium. The ball rolled softly to John Gil, who fired home to Harry Owen and beat the runner for a seemingly innocuous second out. After an impossibly long hesitation, however, home plate umpire Kam Jones called the runner safe, declaring Owen had pulled off of home plate, bringing the winning run home and ending the game.

Unsurprisingly, Owen, pitching coach Elvin Nina, and manager Wynston Sawyer all erupted at the game-ending call, especially given the lengthy hesitation that preceded it. The ruling only added to an already adversarial relationship between Jones and Sawyer, dating back to a late May series in Fayetteville. The GreenJackets have now lost all nine games against Down East this year, with each of the three this week coming by a one-run margin.

The GreenJackets have three more chances this season to end on a high note, closing out the campaign at Grainger Stadium in Kinston. Owen Hackman gets the ball tomorrow against Caden Scarborough in the next chapter of an incredibly well-pitched series to end the year.

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