ASHEVILLE, N.C. --- For the second consecutive game, a young Augusta GreenJackets pitcher dominated the opposing team in his first professional postseason outing and, as a result, the GreenJackets are heading for the South Atlantic League Championship Series.
Two days after Madison Bumgarner's gem gave the GreenJackets a 1-0 win in Game 1 of the SAL Southern Divisional Series, Scott Barnes threw a one-hit shutout over seven innings in Game 2 to lead Augusta to a 4-2 win over the Asheville Tourists.
The victory gave the GreenJackets a 2-0 sweep over the Tourists to clinch a spot in the league finals for the second time in three years.
"No nerves. I was just trying to treat it like any other game," Barnes said. "I started finding the strike zone later in the game, and I just concentrated on throwing the first pitch for a strike."
Barnes, who was celebrating his 21st birthday, got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and didn't allow a Tourist runner past first base after that. He struck out four of the last six batters he faced.
"He's been doing that since he's been here," GreenJackets manager Andy Skeels said. "You hate to say you now expect that kind of thing from him, but he's been a very special surprise for us."
The GreenJackets got the necessary offense from No. 7 hitter Andrew Davis. The third baseman blew an ideal scoring opportunity when he struck out with the bases loaded in the second inning, but he found himself in the exact same situation in the fourth.
Davis laced a line drive off the right-field wall to score Dayton Buller and Thomas Neal for the first runs of the game. Garrett Baker scored later in the inning on a wild pitch, and Nick Noonan added one more insurance run on a solo shot in the eighth.
Asheville starter Shane Lindsay, named a two-time California League pitcher of the week at the Advanced-A level earlier this season, was tagged for three earned runs on four hits and three walks over six innings.
Asheville scored twice in the eighth after shortstop Juan Ciriaco's error kept the inning alive.
Reach Billy Byler at (706) 823-3216 or billy.byler@augustachronicle.com.






