The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (2-9) played game two at SRP Park on Wednesday against the Augusta GreenJackets (6-5). Nick Potter was on the mound for Fayetteville against Derek Vartanian of Augusta.
At the top of the first inning with two outs, Fayetteville shortstop Nick Monistere hit a double to left field. Right fielder Josh Wakefield followed up by hitting a line drive RBI single to right field. Monistere scored to give the Woodpeckers a 1-0 lead.
At the top of the second inning, Fayetteville second baseman Camilo Diaz hit Vartanian’s slider for a solo home run to center field. The Woodpeckers extended their lead to 2-0, and it was Diaz’s second home run of the season.
Moving to the top of the fourth inning with one out and a runner on first base, Fayetteville second baseman Camilo Diaz hit a two-run home run at 394 feet to right-center field. The Woodpecker extended their lead to 4-0. It was Diaz’s second home run of the night, and the exit velocity off the bat was 105 mph. A groundout by Yosweld Vasquez and Nehomar Ochoa Jr. struck out swinging that ended the inning.
Nick Potter pitched three innings, allowing three hits, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 34 pitches, of which 22 were strikes. Kellan Oakes was the pitcher for Fayetteville in the bottom of the fourth inning. With runners on the corners, Oakes struck out Cooper McMurray with a wild pitch, allowing Junior Garcia to score.
The Woodpeckers led the GreenJackets 4-1. Two batters later with one out, Dalton McIntyre hit a two-run RBI double to left field. Dallas Macias and Luis Sanchez scored, and the Woodpeckers had a one-run lead, 4-3. Oakes was replaced by Jackson Wells. With two outs, Wells got Alex Lodise to ground out to him for the final out of the inning. Oakes allowed three hits, three runs, one walk, and one strikeout, throwing 31 pitches, of which 21 were strikes.
Moving to the top of the sixth inning, Fayetteville had a runner on third base when second baseman Camilo Diaz worked a four-pitch walk after Cristobal Abreu threw a wild pitch. Anthony Huezo scored to give the Woodpeckers a 5-3 lead.
At the top of the sixth inning, Augusta had runners on the corners when Luis Guanipa hit a three-run home run to left field to give the GreenJackets a 6-5 lead. It was Guanipa’s first home run of the season. With two outs, a flyout by Junior Garcia ended the inning.
Jackson Wells pitched 2.1 innings, allowing three hits, three runs, two walks, and two strikeouts, throwing 47 pitches, of which 29 were strikes. Jose Varela replaced Wells at the top of the seventh inning. He pitched two innings, allowing a walk and one strikeout, throwing 20 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.
At the top of the ninth inning, Fayetteville had runners on first and second base with two outs. Nick Monistere worked a four-pitch walk, and the bases were loaded for Josh Wakefield. Wakefield lined out to left field, and the game was over. Fayetteville’s comeback attempt falls short as they lose to the GreenJackets by the final score of 6-5.
Fayetteville finished the night with nine hits, committed one error, went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base. Camilo Diaz went 2 for 3 with two home runs, three RBIs, a walk, and two stolen bases. The loss went to Fayetteville pitcher Jackson Wells (1-1). The win went to Augusta pitcher Cristobal Abreu (1-0), and Logan Forsythe earned the save.
The Woodpeckers and GreenJackets play game three on Thursday at 7:05 pm on the MLB App. Fayetteville has yet to name a starter, while Landon Beidelschies (0-1, 15.00 ERA) will start for Augusta.
