Late Rally Propels Columbia to Wednesday Sweep

For Immediate Release

GreenJackets Media Contact: Mitchell Speltz

(803) 349-9467

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Fireflies Sweep GreenJackets in Double-Header

Late Rally Propels Columbia to Wednesday Sweep

NORTH AUGUSTA, SC: After a Tuesday night rain-out, the Augusta GreenJackets (2-3) and Columbia Fireflies (4-1) met up for a double-header on Wednesday night that did not go Augusta's way as they were swept by their I-20 rivals.

Game one started well for Augusta as they took an early 1-0 lead on a first-inning home run by Cal Conley for his ninth homer of the season.

Columbia would come back and even things in the top of the second on a solo home run by Enrique Valdez to tie the game at one apiece.

The home run fest would continue in the fourth as Columbia took their first lead on a home run by David Hollie as the solo shot put the Fireflies ahead 2-1.

But Cal Conley came through again in the next half-inning as he belted another homer over the left-field wall to tie the game on his second solo shot.

The game would remain tied until the sixth inning when the Fireflies broke the tie with a throwing error on a sacrifice fly to go ahead 3-2. Columbia would then add a timely insurance run on the second home run of the game by David Hollie to make it 4-2.

The GreenJackets had one last opportunity to rally in the final inning down by two runs and they'd trim that deficit in half on an RBI single by Connor Blair to score Adam Zebrowski and make it 4-3. With the tying run at first, Braulio Vasquez flew out to center to end the game as the Fireflies held on for a 4-3 win in the first game.

In game two, the Fireflies took the lead in the second inning on a throwing error on a stolen base attempt to make it 1-0.

Augusta would counterpunch in the bottom half of the inning as they tied the game on a double by Eliezel Stevens as he picked up an RBI in his first at-bat with the GreenJackets. They'd add two more runs on a sacrifice fly by Caleb Durbin, and a wild pitch that scored Stevens to move ahead 3-1 after two innings.

Columbia would get back on the board in the fourth on an RBI by Guillermo Quintana to pull within one at 3-2.

The GreenJackets would get that run back in the fifth on an RBI single by Stephen Paolini with two outs to score Geraldo Quintero and push the lead to 4-2.

However, Augusta would run into trouble in the sixth inning as the Fireflies roared for a huge six-run frame on five hits to take an 8-4 lead.

They'd add one more to the advantage in the seventh as they held off the GreenJackets the rest of the night to win 9-4 and sweep the doubleheader.

Tim Holdgrafer earned the victory (1-0) in game one for the Fireflies with J.J. Niekro (7-1) taking his first defeat of the season. Ben Wereski (1-3) was the victor in the second game with Ronaldo Alesandro (0-2) finishing as the losing pitcher.

The series continues on Thursday night with James Acuna getting the start for Augusta against Shane Panzini for the Fireflies with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.

The GreenJackets continue their incredible week of promotions at SRP Park against the Columbia Fireflies (Kansas City Royals) with Red, White, and Beer Thirsty Thursday to conclude the month of June. On Friday, July begins with another Braves Buzzfest in addition to House GreenJackets night where the first 1,000 fans can receive a house flag sponsored by Savanah River Brewing Company. Independence weekend at SRP Park is going to be big with two of the best fireworks shows of the year on both Saturday and Sunday night with the White Claw Pregame Concert Series prior to both games with Brandon Bower performing before Saturday's game, followed by Guns for Hire on Sunday.

About SRP Park/Augusta GreenJackets

The Augusta GreenJackets are the Carolina League Single-A Affiliate of the Atlanta Braves playing in the state of the art SRP Park located in North Augusta, SC. The GreenJackets 2022 Game and promotional schedule is out and available online at www.Green-JacketsBaseball.com. 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.comor 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.

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