Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 5.24 at Delmarva
May 24, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Delmarva Shorebirds at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland, tonight at 7:05 pm. RHP Felix Arronde (2-3, 4.23 ERA) takes the ball for Columbia and Delmarva counters with RHP Trey Gibson (0-3, 3.86 ERA).
The Fireflies return to Segra Park June 4 to start a set with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. Help the team unmask some villains Saturday, June 8 for Scooby-Doo! Night presented by Escapology. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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SIX-RUN THIRD LIFTS FIREFLIES TO VICTORY: The Fireflies bats blasted their way through the Delmarva Shorebirds, winning 11-5 behind a six-run third inning Thursday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The Fireflies bats woke up in the third frame. Lizandro Rodriguez singled to lead-off the inning and set the tone. Later, Erick Torres chugged out a triple to score Rodriguez and tie the game 1-1. The next batter, Blake Mitchell clobbered his fifth homer of the year to right field to give Columbia a 3-1 lead. The bats weren't done there as Derlin Figueroa smashed his fifth round-tripper of the season to score Daniel Vazquez to push Columbia's lead to 5-1. The inning ended after a Jhonny Perdomo sacrifice fly that plated Chris Brito, making the Fireflies lead 6-1 heading to the bottom of the third inning. Mitchell had a career night at the plate. In the sixth, he also mustered a two-run double to right, scoring Brennon McNair and Erick Torres to mark his first four RBI game. The eighth overall pick in the 2023 draft now has five homers and 19 RBI on the season.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Derlin Figueroa started an eight-game hitting streak May 12, and he is 14-37 (.378) with two homers and eight RBI. His 10-game hitting streak is the second-longest active streak in the Carolina League. He trails Freili Encarnacion who is currently riding an 12-game hitting streak. It's the Fireflies' longest hitting streak since Trevor Werner hit safely in 12-straight contests from August 15-29, 2023. If that hitting streak weren't enough, Figueroa is also on a 16-game on-base streak, which is four games behind Roismar Quintana for the longest in the League. It's the second-longest on-base streak for a Fireflies hitter this year (Blake Mitchell, 18).
MASHING MITCHELL: A few Fireflies bats are heating up, but one that has really come to life is the bat of Blake Mitchell. Columbia's backstop recorded his first four RBI game of his career Thursday and has tallied an extra-base hit in four of his last five games. Despite only recording one his in his first seven games in May, Mitchell is slashing .361/.425/.639 since May 11.
MAY FLOWERS: After having some trouble in April, Logan Martin and Emmanuel Reyes have come into their own again in the month of May. Reyes recorded a 6.04 ERA with 23 punchouts in 25.1 innings in April before surging with a 3.00 ERA in his first three starts in May. He also has brought the swing and miss stuff, striking out 20 in his first 15 frames this month. Martin has a 1.69 ERA after a 6.23 ERA in April and has spun 16 innings after just 13 last month.
A NEW HOPE: Ethan Bosacker, has the second-best ERA in the Carolina League, a 1.77 mark that is just .65 behind League leader Matt Wilkinson. Lynchburg's starter last pitched May 19 where he allowed one run over five innings of work. Bosacker is also fifth in opposing average (.185) and second in WHIP (0.81) in the Carolina League.
POWERING PENA: Saturday night, Fireflies outfielder Erick Pena mashed his Carolina League-leading fourth round tripper of the season. He's currently eighth in the Carolina League with a .485 on-base percentage. Pena has had a storied career with Columbia. He made the Opening Day Roster in 2022 and started his career with a bang, launching a walk-off homer against the Augusta GreenJackets on Opening Night. All-in-all he has mashed 23 homers in the neon and navy, nine in 2022, 10 in 2023 and four this year. It places him second on the Fireflies all-time homer leadboard, behind Dash Winningham (25 in 2016 and 2017) and tied with Juan Carlos Negret (23 in 2021).
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