Stephen Paolini delivers his first Double-A home run in the clutch as Columbus beats Birmingham again
COLUMBUS, GA., — The Columbus Clingstones (13-17) led early, saw the lead slip away late, and jumped in front of the Birmingham Barons (14-16) for good thanks to a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth inning from Stephen Paolini that gave Columbus the decisive lead in a 4-2 win on Friday night at Synovus Park.
Decisive Plays: Columbus struck early with three hits in the first inning, including an RBI double from Ethan Workinger and an RBI single from David McCabe to bring the lead to. 2-0. Birmingham got a run back in the fourth, but Landon Harper struck out Adam Hackenberg to deny the Barons any further scoring. An RBI single from Rikuu Nishida tied the game in the seventh. Paolini slashed a solo home run (1) the opposite way to put the Stones ahead for good in the eighth…