Augusta Wins Wild Ten-Inning Battle with Fayetteville

For Immediate Release

GreenJackets Media Contact: Mitchell Speltz

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*GreenJackets Survive Furious Woodpecker Rally *

Augusta Wins Wild Ten-Inning Battle with Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE, NC: Saturday night at Segra Stadium was a roller coaster for the Augusta GreenJackets (1-1) as they prevailed over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (1-1) in the tenth inning, 13-9 to survive an epic comeback by the home team.

Fayetteville jumped on the board first in the opening inning on a sacrifice fly by Justin Williams to make it 1-0 Woodpeckers.

But then the Augusta bats got hot starting with Mahki Backstrom who catapulted the GreenJackets ahead with a two-run homer. Kadon Morton came up later in the inning and drilled a home run of his own by taking one deep to center field to give Augusta a 3-1 lead after Morton's solo shot in the second.

The game would remain 3-1 until the fifth when the GreenJackets scored three more runs on an RBI single by Cal Conley and a run-scoring double by Geraldo Quintero. Quintero then found his way home on a wild pitch to cap off the inning with Augusta ahead 6-1.

Luis Vargas led the charge on the mound for the GreenJackets as the starter for Augusta dealt 5.1 innings with 5 strikeouts and just 1 run allowed on 2 hits.

The GreenJackets added to their lead courtesy of Geraldo Quintero again with another RBI double in the seventh to make it 7-1 on his third two-bagger of the game. Stephen Paolini followed him with a double of his own that scored Quintero and made it an 8-1 game.

All seemed safe for Augusta at that point but Fayetteville had other ideas. The Woodpeckers scored one run in the eighth to make it 8-2 entering the ninth. They'd then put on a major comeback effort by scoring six runs in the final inning to tie the game, with Logan Cerny hitting a three-run homer with two outs to even the score at eight and send the game to extra innings.

With momentum on the side of Fayetteville, the GreenJackets were able to fight back and deliver a huge, five-run tenth inning with Mahki Backstrom singling into center field with the bases loaded to score Cal Conley and Stephen Paolini to make it a 10-8 game. But for good measure, Connor Blair put the game out of reach for good by hitting a three-run homer to extend the Augusta lead back to five at 13-8.

The Woodpeckers would attempt for another major rally but were turned back as they were held to one run in their half of the tenth as Rob Griswold held the fort down to secure a 13-9 victory for the GreenJackets.

Rob Griswold (3-2) earned the win in relief for Augusta with Palmer Wenzel (0-1) taking the loss for Fayetteville.

There were a plethora of notable offensive performances on Saturday night for the GreenJacket highlighted by Mahki Backstrom who finished the game with four RBIs on his two-run homer in the second and two-RBI double in the tenth. Connor Blair's three-run homer in extra innings was his third of the season that brought in three, key insurance runs. Geraldo Quintero finished the night 3/5 with 2 RBIs with all three of his hits being doubles while Kadon Morton reached three times in the game with another multi-hit effort that included his solo home run in the second. Morton also scored three times.

The series between the GreenJackets and Woodpeckers concludes Sunday afternoon at 2:05 pm with Sam Strickland taking the mound for Augusta against Shea Berry for Fayetteville.

The GreenJackets return home for an incredible week of promotions at SRP Park when they host the Columbia Fireflies (Kansas City Royals) starting on Tuesday, June 28 with $2 TWOsday. Warrior Wednesday follows that along with Baseball Bingo and the Corona Bucket Special. It's 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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