It was a banner day down on the farm with plenty of individual performances to higlight, so let’s dive into it all.
(68-65) Gwinnett Stripers 4, (72-62) Charlotte Knights 2
- Jordan Groshans, 3B: 2-2, HR, RBI, R
- Brett Wisely, 2B: 2-3, 2 R
- DaShawn Kiersey Jr., 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI
- Brett Sears, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, ER, 6 K
Box Score
Jordan Groshans wasted no time finding showcasing his newfound power stroke, as he homered in his season triple-A debut, leading Gwinnett to victory over Charlotte on Wednesday.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Groshans took an 0-1 fastball on the upper outer part of the strike zone and drove it over the opposite field wall for a solo homer. The dinger marks
his 31st homer of the season. For context, he had 30 total in his MiLB career coming into 2026.
The solo shot registered at 100.1 MPH off the bat and traveled 383 feet, all while giving the Stripers a 1-0 lead.
Meanwhile Brett Sears made his third start of the year at triple-A and he continued to dominate.
Across six innings of work, Sears held Charlotte to just one earned run while striking out six and scattering five hits. In those three starts, Sears is carrying an ERA of 1.32 across 13.2 innings, striking out 16 batters in the process and only walking six.
Sears is setting himself up quite nicely to be a potential call-up to Atlanta in 2027, especially if he caps off his 2026 campaign on this type of hot streak.
Back to Wednesday’s action, this one went back-and-forth a couple of times before the Stripers broke through and held onto the lead.
Tied at 2-2 in the seventh inning, DaShawn Kiersey Jr. came through with a two-RBI double into right field, scoring Rowdy Tellez and Brett Wisely to give Gwinnett a 4-2 lead, which held on as the final.
(61-62) Columbus Clingstones 10, (73-54) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 1
- Adam Zebrowski, DH: 1-2, HR, 4 RBI, R, 2 BB
- Alex Lodise, SS: 2-5, 2 RBI, 2 R
- John Gil, 2B: 1-3, R
- Owen Carey, RF: 1-2, 2 R, 2 BB
- Eric Hartman, LF: 0-3, RBI, R, 2 BB
- Isaac Gallegos, SP: 4 IP, 4 H, ER, 5 K
Box Score
Columbus somehow managed to score double digit runs on Wednesday, all while registering just one extra base hit as the Clingstones came away with the 10-1 win.
Before we get into the offense, we have to give the pitching staff their flowers.
Isaac Gallegos got the start and tossed four innings of one-run ball in which he also struck out five. Relievers LJ McDonough, Samuel Strickland, Tyler LaPorte and Luis Vargas combined to toss five scoreless innings out of the bullpen in a very solid day on the mound by all.
While the Clingstones found themselves trailing 1-0 after the top of the first inning, that deficit would not last for long.
John Gil led off the home half with a walk, but Eric Hartman grounded into a double play to spoil the leadoff baserunner. However, Alex Lodise singled and Owen Carey and Dixon Williams drew back-to-back walks to load the bases for Adam Zebrowski.
Down 1-2 in the count, Zebrowski proceeded to turn on a fastball and pulverize it over the left field wall for a grand slam, giving Columbus the 4-1 lead int the process.
The Clingstones would be held to that 4-1 lead until the bottom of the fifth, when the offense broke out for six runs to add to their advantage.
Lodise got the scoring started with a two-RBI single, plating Gil and Luke Waddell to make it a 6-1 game. For Lodise, who went 2-5 on Wednesday, he is now hitting .310 at double-A in addition to a .780 OPS with the Clingstones.
With the bases loaded, Williams grounded into a fielder’s choice, but an errant throw allowed Lodise, Hartman and Owen Carey to score, extending the lead to 10-1.
As mentioned above, the Columbus bullpen was downright excellent as they sealed off the 10-1 rout.
(59-66) Rome Emperors 6, (71-56) Winston-Salem Dash 8
- Will Verdung, 3B: 3-4, RBI
- Mason Guerra, 1B: 1-5, HR, RBI, R
- Davis Polo, SP: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 12 K
Box Score
On the one hand, Rome battled valiantly in extra innings on Wednesday, but came up short. On the other hand, they squandered a dominant start from Davis Polo in the process.
For Polo, the righty struck out an even dozen batters across six innings, limiting opposing hitters to three earned runs and only issuing a pair of walks on the night. It was again an impressive performance for Polo who made his second high-A start of the season as the 21-year-old has struck out 18 total batters in those two starts, while only allowing four runs.
Offensively, the Emperors found themselves in an early 2-0 deficit before tying things up in the bottom of the fifth. Cade Doughty grounded into a fielder’s choice to plate Mason Guerra and Logan Braunschweig to tie things up at 2-2.
After Winston-Salem took the lead in the sixth, Rome once again tied things up in the home half, this time courtesy of a Will Verdung double that scored Luis Guanipa to make it a 3-3 game.
That remained the score through the ninth inning, sending this one to extras.
Both the Emperors and the Dash scored one run in the tenth and two runs in the 11th, sending the game to the 12th inning before the Rome bullpen collapsed, giving up two more runs as Winston-Salem took an 8-6 lead.
Unfortunately, Rome couldn’t tie things up for a fifth time in this one, as Conor Essenburg struckout, Luis Guanipa popped out and Cody Miller lined out to leave Carter Beck and Doughty stranded in scoring position to end the game.
(68-59) Augusta GreenJackets 1, (71-57) Charleston RiverDogs 3
- Jacob Jarrell, C: 2-3, 2 2B
- Manuel Campos, SS: 2-4, 2B
- Yamvier Carrero, 3B: 1-3, RBI, BB
- Yander Pinreo, SP: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 K
Box Score
Despite pacing Charleston hit-for-hit, Augusta was limited to just one run on Wednesday in the loss.
Yander Pinero got the start and gave up two runs in 3.1 innings of work, striking out two and scattering four hits along the way.
At the plate, Jacob Jarrell paced the offense by lacing a pair of doubled on the night, while Manuel Campos went 2-4 with a double to his credit, and Yamvier Carrero registered the lone RBI of the night for the GreenJackets.
