FAYETTEVILLE – It was fitting that Fayetteville SwampDog manager Darrell Handelsman would pick up his 500th career victory against the Columbia Blowfish. After all, he had picked up 32 against them in the past five years.
Fayetteville starter Carter Capps (Mount Olive, 1-2) went the distance for his third straight complete game as the SwampDogs scored just enough behind him to hold off Columbia 3-2 at JP Riddle Stadium Thursday night.
Capps struck out 10 while allowing just two runs on five hits. He did not walk a batter and did not allow a Blowfish runner to reach second base until the seventh.
Blowfish starter Ryan Garton (Florida Atlantic, 0-1) was charged with the loss despite not allowing an earned run. However, three hits, two walks, a balk, and two wild pitches lead to a pair of unearned runs for Fayetteville.
The SwampDogs again tagged the Blowfish early for runs in the first inning. Jake Carlson (Dartmouth) reached after Columbia first baseman David Greene (Citadel) dropped a throw from third baseman Chase Vergason. A Jay Cannon (Brunswick CC) single moved Carlson to second and a groundout put both in scoring position with one out.
Fayetteville would not even need to put the ball into play after that. A wild pitch from Garton allowed Carlson to score and a balk a few pitches later brought home Cannon to give the SwampDogs a 2-0 lead.
The Blowfish were able to get their first run across in the seventh. Greene laced a one-out base hit into left field and Bryan Hill (Union) followed with a bloop single that moved Greene to third. With two outs, Hill tried to steal and Fayetteville catcher Benton Yaun (Georgia College & St.) threw down to second. Greene then broke for home and both runners slid in safely to narrow the lead 2-1 in Fayetteville’s favor.
But the SwampDogs responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Chris Wychock (Towson) led off with a single and moved over on Nick Natoli’s (Towson) sacrifice bunt. Brandon Padula (Maryland) then entered the game as a pinch hitter and contributed immediately with a double down the left field line to score Wychock and put Fayetteville up 3-1.
The Blowfish made things interesting in the ninth before coming up just short of tying the game. Chase Vergason (Florida Atlantic) started things off with a single and moved to second on Branfy Arias’s (Tusculum) groundout. Vergason would then steal third and score on Brison Celek’s (South Carolina) RBI single. With two outs, Demontez Jones (Georgia Southern) entered the game as a pinch runner and made the Fayetteville faithful nervous.
After a few check throws from Capps, Jones broke for second. Yaun did not attempt to throw him out, but instead fired it back to Capps on the mound. Jones noticed that Capps was not giving him any attention and took off towards third, reaching safely. However, Capps would retire Hill on a check swing for his 10th strikeout for the final out.
NOTES: Fayetteville now holds a 4-1 edge in the season series… Randy Sturgill made his first appearance out of the bullpen for Columbia, surrendering a run off two hits and two strikeouts in 1.2 innings…. Columbia returns home to take on the SwampDogs again on Friday. All fans in attendance will be automatically entered for a chance to win free Atlanta Braves tickets… Columbia also hosts the Peninsula Pilots on Saturday as the Blowfish honor local media personality Joe Pinner on Mr. Knozit Night.
