Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 4.5 at Augusta
April 5, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Augusta GreenJackets tonight at SRP Park at 6:05 pm. RHP Yunior Marte gets the ball for Columbia and Augusta counters with RHP Logan Samuels.
The Fireflies return home Tuesday, April 8 for their home opener against the Charleston RiverDogs presented by MUSC Health. Fans can enjoy Miller Lite $2 Tuesday specials at the game, including $2 hot dogs, popcorn, fountain sodas and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite. Buy your tickets today at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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GONZALEZ SWIPES MOST BASES FOR COLUMBIA SINCE 2021: Fireflies center fielder Asbel Gonzalez stole the second-most bases in a single-game in franchise history in an 12-7 loss to the Augusta GreenJackets Friday night at SRP Park. The four steals are tied with Jean Ramirez for the second-most walks in a single game in Fireflies franchise history. Major Leaguer Maikel Garcia holds the record. He swiped five bags at SRP vs the GreenJackets July 2, 2021.
EVERYONE DESERVES A MULLIGAN: Last night the Columbia Fireflies committed six errors, resulting in six unearned runs for the Augusta GreenJackets. Josi Novas and Roni Cabrera each had a pair of errors and Jorge Hernandez and Hensen Leal each committed one error.
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.
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.
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