It was a night to remember for the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (1-0), but one to forgot for the Potomac Nationals (0-1) in the first game of the 2019 Carolina League season.
On the backs of a four-run third inning and eight-run fourth inning, the Woodpeckers tallied a 15-0 victory in their first game under their new team moniker. Neither team’s starting pitcher recorded more than seven outs, while the two squads drew a combined 17 walks. Potomac didn’t register a hit until there were two outs in the home half of the sixth inning and tallied just one total in the loss.
The P-Nats had chances early, as they drew a pair of walks and loaded the bases in the first inning but came up empty. The club drew another pair of walks in the second inning, but again, came up with no runs. Two HBP’s in the third inning led to two more stranded baserunners for Potomac. The Red, White, & Blue went 0-9 with RISP and left 12 runners on base.
After 2.1 perfect frames from RHP Kyle Johnston (L, 0-1), the Potomac starter got into trouble. C Michael Papierski doubled with one out in the top of the third inning and he scored three batters later on an RBI single from LF Corey Julks. DH Seth Beer followed with a based loaded walk, while a two-run double from 1B Jake Adams gave Fayetteville a 4-0 lead and knocked Johnston out of the game.
RHP Carlos Acevedo got the final out of the third inning for Potomac but struggled in the fourth frame. Acevedo faced seven batters and all seven reached base. CF Jacob Meyers tallied two RBIs with a single, while Beer picked up his second RBI of the night on a bases loaded HBP. RHP A.J. Bogucki entered for Acevedo and surrendered a grand slam to Adams, which made it an eight-run inning and gave the Woodpeckers a 12-0 lead. Fayetteville added two more runs in the seventh inning and another in the ninth frame, as they built a 15-0 lead.
Potomac put multiple runners on base in each of the first four innings and five of the first six frames but failed to record a hit until LF Telmito Agustin singled with two outs in the sixth frame. LHP Parker Mushinski, who relieved RHP Carlos Sanabria (W, 1-0) to begin the bottom of the fifth inning, tossed four-shutout frames out of the bullpen and retired the final seven batters that he faced. RHP Tommy DeJuneas followed with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, as the Woodpeckers’ bullpen spun seven-shutout innings in the victory.
As Potomac turns the page, RHP Jackson Tetreault (0-0, 0.00) is set to make his 2019 debut. Last season, Tetreault went 1-1 with a 4.37 ERA in four starts for Potomac and picked up a victory in the Northern Division Championship Series for Potomac. For the Woodpeckers, RHP J.P. France (0-0, 0.00) is set to make his Carolina League debut. In 2018, France appeared in 10 games out of the bullpen between the Short-Season and Single-A levels. He allowed just one run in 18 innings combined.
First pitch at Northwest Federal Field on Friday night is set for 7:05pm. The Potomac broadcast will get underway at 6:50pm with the P-Nats Leadoff Show. You can listen to the Potomac broadcast at potomacnationals.com, at http://bit.ly/P-NatsBroadcast, or on the TuneIn Radio App.
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