For the second consecutive season, the Augusta GreenJackets were the best team in minor league baseball - during the regular season.

But for the second consecutive September, they walked off the field after their last game with the opposing team celebrating.

The GreenJackets, who went 89-51 this season, bowed out of the postseason Friday with a 7-1 loss to the Columbus Catfish in Game 2 of the South Atlantic League Southern Divisional series.

Columbus won 11-2 in Game 1 and swept the best-of-three series to become division champs for the first time since 2002.

"It's so disappointing. We had such high hopes," said Augusta outfielder Bobby Felmy, one of several GreenJackets who posted solid seasons. "I know it sounds clich and people say it all the time, but that's just the way it goes. That's baseball."

Last season, the GreenJackets posted a team-record 92 wins (47 losses), won the division title and advanced to the league championship. This season, despite the league's top pitching staff and its top three starters, Augusta ran up against a red-hot Columbus squad that had its number all season.

The Catfish (82-53 regular season) pounced on Kevin Pucetas in Game 1 and Ben Snyder in Game 2 - the league's top two starters by ERA - scoring a combined 13 runs in less than eight innings. They scored seven consecutive runs with two outs in Friday's 7-1 win.

"It was pretty much a whirlwind," said Augusta shortstop Emmanuel Burriss, who hit .321 with 51 stolen bases this season. "(Columbus) always was a good-hitting team, but I've never seen so many good swings on good pitches."

Augusta went 50-20 to win the first-half division title, giving it 103 wins in 139 games between the 2006 and 2007 all-star breaks.

"We had a great first half and won all these games but just didn't get it done in the playoffs," said manager Roberto Kelly, who is 258-157 in three seasons with the GreenJackets. "I think it was a good season. A lot of guys had great years. It was the first full season for a lot of these guys and some struggled for a bit. But hopefully they learned something and will be ready to take the next step."

LOCAL ROUNDUP: Tyler Colvin, a former North Augusta and Clemson standout playing in the Cubs organization, had perhaps the best season of any area player and appears poised to play his home games at Wrigley Field in the coming seasons.

Colvin began the year at high Class A Daytona, where he thrived, hitting .306 with 50 RBI. He was named a Florida State League All-Star but was promoted to Double-A Tennessee in June.

In 62 games there, he hit .291 with 31 RBI, playing center field and right field.

- Bradley Key, a former Green-brier and USC Aiken infielder, began the season playing for Class A Lakewood (Phillies) of the Sally League, where he hit .121 in 10 games.

After being released, he was signed by the Aiken Foxhounds of the independent South Coast League. He hit better than .300 for most of the season before finishing at .279 with 10 homers and 54 RBI.

- Lloyd Turner, a former Hephzibah infielder, spent most of the first half of the season at Triple-A Sacramento, where he hit .203 as a utility man.

Turner, drafted in 2002 by the Athletics, hit .230 in 43 games at high Class A Stockton.

- Keltavious "Kel" Jones, a Butler product, hit .256 last season in rookie ball, but excelled this season, batting .318 with 25 RBI for short-season Billings.

He was promoted to Class A Dayton and hit .212 as an outfielder there

- Tydus Meadows, a former Evans and Vanderbilt standout, appeared on the cusp of breaking into the majors last year after hitting .278 for Triple-A Las Vegas and .299 for Double-A Jacksonville in the Dodgers organization.

However, the call never came and Meadows was released after his ninth minor-league season.

He joined Fargo-Moorhead of the independent Northern League, where he went 5-for-10 in his last two games to finish at .301.

Reach Steve Sanders at (706) 823-3216 or steven.l.sanders@augustachronicle.com.