Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 4.4 at Augusta
Published on April 4, 2025 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies kick-off 2025 with a 7:05 contest against the Augusta GreenJackets at SRP Park. Columbia starts LHP Mason Miller and the GreenJackets counter with RHP Owen Hackman.
The Fireflies return home Tuesday, April 8 to play the Charleston RiverDogs. Opening Day presented by MUSC Health includes all of fans Miller Lite $2 Tuesday favorites, including $2 hot dogs, popcorn, fountain sodas and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite.
------------------
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: The Fireflies have a new manager this season. David Noworyta is a 28-year-old former catcher who has coached within the Royals Organization since the 2022 season. The skipper played at the University of Hawaii prior to playing on the Tigers farm. Noworyta has baseball in his blood. His father, Steve worked for the White Sox and Philidelphia Phillies for over 40 years, retiring as the Director of Minor League Operations for the Phillies.
THE YOUTH MOVEMENT: This year's Fireflies roster contains four players who are 19 years old. Two of the young players, Ramon Ramirez and Asbel Gonzalez are in the Kansas City Royals top-30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline. Ramirez joins a glutton of catching prospects in the Royals system including a pair of top 100 prospects Blake Mitchell and Carter Jensen. Jorge Hernandez and Roni Cabrera round out the teenagers. Cabrera is the lone player who is not a home-grown talent. He was half of the return of the Aroldis Chapman trade from 2023. The other half of that trade is Royals ace Cole Ragans.
ON THE VERGE: Columbia welcomes back 15 returnees to the roster this season. A pair of the players have a chance to break franchise records if they're with the team for an extended amount of time. Elvis Novas enters the season with nine saves, just five behind franchise leader Alex Palsha, who had 14 saves in 2016. Derlin Figueroa is also within striking distance of the homerun title. He is currently tied for seventh in franchise history with 13 round trippers, which is 16 shy of Erick Pena's franchise record 29 career homers.
A BICENTENNIAL EVENT: This season, the Fireflies and GreenJackets will play their 200th game against each other. Through the first 192 contests, Augusta maintains a 97-95 series lead. In 2024, Augusta won the season series 11-10. The two teams are separated by a 73 mile drive along I-20.
RIGHTEOUS ROTATION: The Fireflies rotation features a trio of returners in 2025. Blake Wolters, Hiro Wyatt and Josh Hansell return to the fold. Hansell was primarily a reliever in 2024, but ended the season on a high note, tossing five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. He ended the year with a 2.52 ERA over 64.1 innings. He rung up 71 hitters in 21 contests, six of which were starts. Blake Wolters is the highest-rated prospect on the team according to MLB Pipeline. The righty recorded a 4.76 ERA in the first half of 2024 before turning in a 2.81 mark in the second half. The 20-year-old was selected 44th overall in the 2023 draft. Hiro Wyatt got a late call to Columbia in 2024, but he made the most of it. In six games, Wyatt worked 27 innings and struck out 26 batters. He held opponents to a 0.96 WHIP while recording a 2.67 ERA.
A WINTER DOWN UNDER: This winter, two members of the Fireflies, Brennon McNair and Hyungchan Um, played for the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League. The two showed off their skills as McNair led the circuit in HR (11), XBH (18) and was top-five in SLG (.540), RBI (26) and SB (11). Was the fifth player in ABL history with 10 HR and 10 SB in season. Um wasn't far behind leading the League in Total Bases (78), finishing second to 2024 Fireflies teammate Brennon McNair in homers (10) and finishing top five in RBI (24), slugging percentage (.561), OPS (.912), hits (40) and extra-base hits (17). Both finished the 2024 season on the roster and are starting the year back in the Carolina League.
Carolina League Stories from April 4, 2025
- Late Rally from Crawdads Spoils Opening Night for Cannon Ballers in 7-4 Loss - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Pelicans' Offense Erupts for 13 Runs in Opening Day Win Over RiverDogs - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Myrtle Beach Routs RiverDogs on Opening Night - Charleston RiverDogs
- Woodpeckers Open 2025 Season with 7-0 Shutout Victory - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Mudcats Claim Opening Day Win Over Nationals - Carolina Mudcats
- Gonzalez Swipes Most Bases for Columbia Since 2021 - Columbia Fireflies
- Sox Dominate Delmarva in Opening Day Victory, 12-1 - Salem RidgeYaks
- FredNats Fall 5-2 on Opening Day at Carolina - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Red Sox Handle Shorebirds on Opening Night - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Orioles Announce Delmarva's Opening Day Roster - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 4.4 at Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
