Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 5.15 vs Augusta
May 15, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Augusta GreenJackets tonight at 7:05 pm. RHP Hiro Wyatt (1-0, 5.27 ERA) gets the ball for Columbia and Augusta counters with RHP Jeremy Reyes (0-2, 3.18 ERA).
Tonight is a Budweiser Thirsty Thursday with a twist. We're adding a new special deal! Fans can enjoy $1 Busch Light while at the game! Plus, fans can still have $3 Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and fountain sodas at Segra Park. Buy your tickets now at FirefliesTickets.com.
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SHIELDS DAZZLES IN DEBUT AS FIREFLIES WIN 20th OF 2025: The Columbia Fireflies used an excellent outing from their pitching staff and a late Josi Novas blast to beat the Augusta GreenJackets 3-1 Wednesday night at Segra Park. David Shields was fantastic in his Carolina League debut. The southpaw spun four innings, wrung up five hitters and only allowed a pair of hits. After that, the bullpen followed suit. Yeri Perez went through a pair of scoreless frames to get the ball to Dennis Colleran (W, 1-0). The righty spun two perfect innings and struck out four GreenJackets to get Columbia to the ninth inning. Henson Leal (S, 1) closed out the game. The righty struck out three and allowed one run in the ninth to lock down Columbia's 20th win of the season. The Fireflies are in first place in the South Division and lead Kannapolis by one game heading into Thursday's slate.
SPEED, I AM SPEED: Asbel Gonzalez is now second in the Carolina League in stolen bases with 32 on the season. He trails Tommy Hawke, who has 35. Gonzalez is also second to Hawke for the most runs scored in the League (31). Gonzalez also has the league's fourth-best batting average with a mark of .341.
MASTER OF THE MISS: Friday, Yunior Marte got his second win of the season behind five scoreless innings on the bump. During the start, the righty wrung up nine RiverDogs batters. It was a career-high for Marte, who's previous best was five strikeouts in a single game. It was also the most strikeouts in a single game for a Fireflies pitcher in 2025. He passed Josh Hansell and Tanner Jones who each have an eight punchout game this season.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Fireflies finished their 12-game homestand 9-3 against the Carolina Mudcats and Hickory Crawdads. The team has been red-hot at Segra Park this season, going 14-6 at home compared to a 6-9 record over their first nine road contests of the 2025 season.
RAKING RAMIREZ: Saturday, Ramon Ramirez launched his second three-hit game of the season. It allowed him to push his on-base streak to eight-consecutive games. The righty hit .310 on the stretch that began May 1 with seven runs scored and an additional five RBI before the streak ended Sunday. Ramirez had an .877 OPS over the 33 plate appearances in the month of May. He is tied for the Carolina League lead with 25 RBI.
ON A ROLL: Fireflies reliever Nick Conte got off to a slow start in 2025, but he has hit his stride over his last four games. Tuesday, Conte pitched more than one inning for the first time this year, striking out four batters in 1.2 scoreless innings vs Augusta. After recording a 15.63 ERA over 6.1 innings in April, Conte has a 0.00 ERA in his first 3.2 innings in May. The righty has allowed only one hit over his last three appearances and he has wrung up seven.
EXTRA-BASE MACHINE: Brennon McNair has had a strong start to the 2025 season. The outfielder is hitting .250 through his first 30 games of the year. He also has the second-most extra-base hits in the Carolina League this season. He has launched 14 extra-base hits this year, which trails the league leader Freili Encarnacion who has 17.
BRINGING THE POWER BACK: Josi Novas smashed a solo homer to break the scoreless tie vs Augusta last night. It was Columbia's first homer in 11 days. The previous round-tripper came from Brennon McNair May 3.
Carolina League Stories from May 15, 2025
- FredNat Offense Comes Alive, Destroys Delmarva, 12-1 - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Shorebirds Unable to Overcome Big Offensive Night by the Nationals - Delmarva Shorebirds
- RiverDogs Win Fifth Straight to Climb Back to .500 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Mudcats Sweep Doubleheader from Fayetteville - Carolina Mudcats
- Fireflies Fall Short 4-1 vs Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
- Three-Run Eighth Inning Pushes Hillcats Past Pelicans - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Jeffrey Mercedes Stuns Myrtle Beach with Eighth Inning Single - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Crawdads Win in Extras 5-4 - Hickory Crawdads
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 5.15 vs Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
- Gillis to Wisconsin; Welch from Wisconsin; Vire to 7-Day IL - Carolina Mudcats
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