Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 6.3 at Hickory
June 3, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies kick-off a fresh series with the Hickory Crawdads at L.P. Frans Stadium tonight at 7 pm. RHP Hiro Wyatt (1-1, 4.94 ERA) toes the slab for Columbia and Hickory counters with RHP Ismael Agreda (1-2, 2.15 ERA).
Columbia returns home to Segra Park Tuesday, June 10 to start a series with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers. They start the week with Fort Jackson Night, presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina. Join the team as they honor recent graduates of basic training at Segra Park. That weekend is also Copa de la Diversion weekend! Join the Fireflies as they become Los Chicharrones de Columbia. We'll have a Sugar Skull Bobblehead giveaway for the first 1,000 fans Friday, June 13, live music, dancing and a fireworks show post-game Saturday June, 14 and Sunday you can enjoy live music, a pre-game classic car and motorcycle show and dads can play catch on the field. Buy your tickets now at FirefliesTickets.com.
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FIREFLIES LATE RALLY FALLS SHORT IN 12-6 LOSS: The Fireflies rallied late scoring three in the eighth in Saturday night's game but ultimately fell 12-6 to the Fayetteville Woodpeckers at Segra Park. Fayetteville got on the board early with a pair of runs in the second, taking advantage of a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. The Woodpeckers added to their lead in the fourth and fifth innings to go up 6-1. Columbia sparked some offense in the bottom of the fifth. After Milo Rushford and Josi Novas reached base, Dionmy Salon delivered an RBI single to left to put the Fireflies on the board. In the sixth, Derlin Figueroa provided a major boost with an RBI triple, then came home on a Rushford groundout to trim the deficit to 9-3. The offense stayed hot in the eighth inning. With Figueroa in scoring position, Josi Novas blasted his seventh home run of the season - a two-run shot to center - to make it a 12-6 ballgame.
SPEED, I AM SPEED: Asbel Gonzalez is now second in the Carolina League in stolen bases with 40 on the season. He trails Tommy Hawke, who has 45. Gonzalez is also second to Hawke for the most runs scored in the League (42). Gonzalez also has the league's fifth-best batting average with a mark of .296.
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.
RAKING RAMIREZ: Ramon Ramirez is second in the Carolina League with nine homers and leads the pack with 39 RBI. He is also third in runs scored with 35. The backstop ended a 14-game on-base streak in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. It was the Fireflies longest on-base streak of the 2025 season and the longest since Callan Moss reached safely in 22-consecutive games in 2024.
KEEPING TABS: The Fireflies are three games back of the Augusta GreenJackets with 15 games remaining in the first half. The Fireflies play six against Hickory and Kannapolis and three at Carolina to end the half.
STRONG START: Among the 15 teen pitchers in the Carolina League, lefty David Shields has the second-lowest ERA (1.84) after his first four starts. He has the highest K% in the group (32.1%), is tied for the lowest opposing batting average (.154), has the lowest WHIP (0.82) and the second-lowest BB% (7.3%). Shields has spun 14.2 innings across his first four starts in the Carolina League to a tune of a 1.84 ERA.
IT'S JUST LIKE MAGIC: Left-handed Reliever Dash Albus hasn't allowed an earned run since April. In 10 appearances starting May 2, Albus has worked 12 frames with nine strikeouts. The Texas native has a 1.00 WHIP on the run and has held opponents to a .200 average. During the stretch, Albus is 2-0 and is 3-3 in save opportunities.
NO PLACE LIKE SEGRA PARK: After Josi Novas' seventh homer of the year in the eighth inning Sunday, the infielder has all of his homers at home this year. Novas is batting .273 at Segra Park this season and he has the second-highest OPS (.883) on the team at home in 2025. Derlin Figueroa leads the pack with a home OPS of .955.
Carolina League Stories from June 3, 2025
- Offense Fails to Rally in Kannapolis' 5-1 Loss to Myrtle Beach Tuesday - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Enddy Azocar Shines in Home Debut as Sox Slug Past Lynchburg, 8-3 on Tuesday Night - Salem Red Sox
- Too Little, Too Late for FredNats in 5-3 Loss to Delmarva - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Mudcats Rout RiverDogs in Series Opener - Charleston RiverDogs
- Pollard Pounds, Agreda Astounds, Crawdads Win 10-1 - Hickory Crawdads
- Pelicans Power Past Cannon Ballers in Series Opener - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Shorebirds Top Nationals in Series Opener - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Mudcats Blast Charleston in Series Opener - Carolina Mudcats
- Novas Homers Again in 10-1 Loss - Columbia Fireflies
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 6.3 at Hickory - Columbia Fireflies
- Garcia to Wisconsin; Holguín from ACL Brewers - Carolina Mudcats
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