Fireflies Bats Red Hot in Win over Greensboro
May 4, 2016 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
GREENSBORO, NC - Every Firefly hitter reached base safely on Wednesday night and Columbia cruised past the Greensboro Grasshoppers, 8-3. The Fireflies used three-run innings in the first and eighth frames to propel past their foes.
The first five Columbia (14-12) batters of the game all reached against starter Jordan Holloway (L, 0-1). J.C. Rodriguez drew a walk and the next hitter Vinny Siena was plunked. David Thompson then drilled his third home run of the season over the right-field fence to give his team the 3-0 lead.
P.J. Conlon (W, 4-0) then took the mound in the bottom half of the frame in search of his fourth win of the year in five starts. The lefty ran into a little trouble, allowing two runs. Angel Reyes drove in one and Isael Soto followed with a run-scoring double. Conlon then induced a ground-ball out from Roy Morales to escape the jam.
It was smooth sailing the rest of the way. Conlon pitched 6.1 innings surrendering only those two scores and striking out five. The southpaw is one of two South Atlantic League pitchers with four or more wins in 2016.
Columbia added a run in the sixth and seventh innings when Ivan Wilson and Milton Ramos plated runs in each frame respectively. Then came another three-run outburst in the eighth. First, Wilson and Siena drew walks. With two outs, Thompson stepped up to the plate already with three RBIs on the night. He added another when he doubled down the left-field line. Dash Winningham's single then plated Siena and Thompson.
Thompson and Winningham combined to go 8-for-10 at the plate with four runs scored and six RBIs. The pair registered more than half of their team's 15 hits.
Greensboro's (8-18) Stone Garrett hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth, but that was little too late.
The Fireflies continue their series with the Grasshoppers on Thursday evening at NewBridge Bank Park starting at 7:00 p.m. Right-hander Thomas McIlraith (1-1, 4.50) toes the rubber for Columbia and faces lefty Brett Lilek (0-0, 5.40).
You can listen to the action on WGCV 620 AM, 105.1 and 96.3 FM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and the TuneIn Radio app starting at 7:00 p.m.
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