Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 6.18 at Carolina
Published on June 18, 2025 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Carolina Mudcats tonight at Five County Stadium at 6:30 pm. RHP Yeri Perez (2-1, 5.40 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and Carolina counters wtih RHP Bryce Meccage (0-1, 4.09 ERA).
The first half of the 2025 season ends Thursday night and the Fireflies are in first place in the South Division. Columbia's magic number to clinch their first playoff berth in franchise history is two. That means if the Fireflies win tonight and Augusta and Charleston lose, the Fireflies will clinch a berth in the post-season.
----------------------------------------
LATE RALLY FALLS SHORT IN 3-2 LOSS: The Columbia Fireflies fell 3-2 despite a late rally against the Carolina Mudcats Tuesday night at Five County Stadium. Derlin Figueroa doubled to start off the ninth. After that, Hyungchan Um drew a walk to bring the tying run to the plate with nobody out. After a popup and a flyout, Brennon McNair was at the plate and down to his final strike. McNair drilled a triple to the right-center gap to score Figueroa and Um and move the tying run 90 feet away. It came up short as Anfernny Reyes (S, 2) came in to strike out Dionmy Salon to end the rally for Columbia. Jordan Dubanewicz worked six one-hit innings in his second start for the Mudcats this year. After than Ethan Dorchies rattled off 2.2 innings before Reyes earned the final out.
MAGIC NUMBER COUNTING: The Fireflies are in first place in the South Division with two games remaining in the first half. Columbia owns the tiebreaker against Hickory, but both Augusta and Charleston own the tiebreaker against the Fireflies. That means that Columbia's magic number for Augusta and Charleston is two and the magic number to eliminate Hickory is one. In other words, if the Fireflies win vs Carolina Wednesday and Kannapolis beats Charleston and Lynchburg beats Augusta, then the Fireflies will clinch their first playoff berth in franchise history.
MASTER OF THE MISS: Friday night, Yunior Marte continued his solid start to the 2025 campaign. The 6'5" righty spun his third quality start of the year. He ranks among the Carolina League Leaders in most significant pitching statistics including ERA (6th, 2.83), strikeouts (4th, 45), innings pitched (1st, 47.2), opposing average (4th, .200) and WHIP (4th, 1.05). In his first full-season in the Carolina League, Marte has looked the part as Columbia's ace. Thursday he was awarded the Carolina League Pitcher of the Month Award for May. Marte began the month on a 15.1 innings scoreless stretch and paced the circuit in ERA over the course of May.
STRONG START: Among the 15 teen pitchers in the Carolina League, lefty David Shields has the third-lowest ERA (2.11) after his first six starts. He has the highest K% in the group (29.9%), has the fifth-lowest opposing batting average (.154), has the 2nd-lowest WHIP (0.98) and the second-lowest BB% (5.7%). Shields has spun 21.1 innings across his first six starts in the Carolina League to a tune of a 2.11 ERA.
ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: Sunday, Asbel Gonzalez stole home to earn his 46th steal of 2025. Gonzalez is within striking distance of Tyler Tolbert's single-season steals record of 49 from 2021. Tolbert had 49 steals in 51 tries across 80 games in Columbia. Gonzalez is second in the Carolina League to Tommy Hawke, who has 60 saves this season. Gonzalez also has a chance to break the Fireflies career steals record. Jean Ramirez had 68 steals from 2021-23 with the Fireflies. Columbia's center fielder isn't far from the single-season franchise runs scored record either. Eric Torres set the mark with 70 runs scored last year. Gonzalez has scored 47 runs three games prior to the season's half-way point.
TUESDAY BLUES: The Columbia Fireflies lost the series opener versus Carolina 3-2 after being held to a pair of his through the first eight innings at Five County Stadium yesterday. Columbia has struggled in road openers this season. After the loss yesterday, they are now 1-5 in their first game of a road series this year. They are 1-4 in Tuesdays on the roadas well.
Carolina League Stories from June 18, 2025
- Sox Sweep Doubleheader against Fredericksburg - Salem Red Sox
- Ballers Blasted by RiverDogs Offense in 14-5 Loss Wednesday - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Pelicans Rally Past Woodpeckers 8-7 in Thrilling Walk-Off - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- RiverDogs Keep First-Half Title Hopes Alive with 14-Run Romp - Charleston RiverDogs
- FredNats Lose Both in Doubleheader at Salem - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Magic Number Shrinks to One with 5-Run Ninth - Columbia Fireflies
- Late Rally Lifts Columbia Past Mudcats - Carolina Mudcats
- 'Dads Win 5-4 on Second Balk-Off of the Season - Hickory Crawdads
- Crawdads Rally in the Ninth to Stun Shorebirds - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Red, White & Bluey Ticket Specials Now Available - Columbia Fireflies
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 6.18 at Carolina - 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.
