After a scoreless first inning, Augusta, the Low-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, drew first blood in the bottom of the second. Andrew Keck roped a one-out double into left field, then Jose Dilone followed with a double of his own to give the Greenjackets a one run lead.
The Freddies, the Low-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, answered in the very next half inning. Jonathon Thomas smoked a double back up the middle with one out, and Paul Witt moved Tuda to third base with a sacrifice fly. From there, Greenjacket starter Luis Vargas was called for a balk to bring the tying run home for Fredericksburg.
That tie did not last long. In the bottom of the third, Ambioris Tavarez and Bryson Worrell launched back-to-back home runs to lead off the inning, and give Augusta a 3-1 lead.
Neither side scored in the fourth, then in the top of the fifth, Fredericksburg started to mount a comeback effort. Tuda reached base on a two-out, two-strike bloop single, and then stole second base. Swiping second wasn’t enough for Thomas, as he broke for third base later in the same at-bat. But the throw to third got away from the Greenjacket’s third baseman, and Thomas scored to cut the deficit to just 3-2.
Augusta immediately had a response in their half of the fifth inning. Tavarez stung the Nats again with a leadoff triple, before Bryson Worrell clubbed his second homer of the night to put Augusta up 5-2. The Greenjackets made it a 6-2 lead in the seventh thanks to a Cory Acton RBI single.
That lead held up for the rest of the night, as the Greenjackets won the series opener 6-2. Vargas got his first win for Augusta, while Luke Young fell to 1-4 with the loss.
In Game 2, Jarlin Susana gets the nod for Fredericksburg against a yet-to-be-named starter for the ‘Jackets.
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Chris Graham
