Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 6.8 vs Fayetteville
June 8, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies kick-off their weekend with a 6:05 matchup with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers at Segra Park. RHP Blake Wolters (1-1, 5.28 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and Fayetteville counters with RHP Jackson Nezuh (4-3, 4.82 ERA).
Zoinks! Tonight night is Scooby-Doo! Night presented by Escapology. Join the Fireflies as they unmask the Fayetteville Woodpeckers with some great Scooby Snacks, a real life Mystery Machine and a post-game fireworks show. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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BATS EXPLODE BEHIND BOSACKER QUALITY START: The Fireflies used another quality start and runs in four innings to beat the Fayetteville Woodpeckers 8-2 Friday night at Segra Park. The quality starts kept rolling for the Fireflies (28-25) Friday. Ethan Bosacker (5-2) was masterful, spinning seven innings while allowing just a pair of runs to keep his ERA at 2.41, which is the third-best mark in the Carolina League. Each of Columbia's starters have gone at least five frames this series. Doug Kirkland was the first arm out of the pen. He set down the Woodpeckers (25-30) 1-2-3 in the eighth before handing the ball to Nicholas Regalado to close things out in the ninth. Regalado struck out a pair to work around a pair of hits for a scoreless ninth.
FIRST-CLASS FIREFLIES: Columbia's pitching staff has been hot this week. Through the team's first four games, it is 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA. The club has 27 strikeouts in 36 innings of work while maintaining a 0.83 WHIP and a.190 opposing average. In all of Minor League Baseball (120 teams) only four teams are 4-0 this week. The Fireflies have the best ERA and WHIP of all 120 teams and are ranked 13th in opposing batting average. Hickory and Kannapolis are tied for the Minor League lead in that category at a.148 clip. The team's ERA has decreased from 3.83 to 3.61 this week.
ROCKING WITH REYES: After a difficult April, where Emmanuel Reyes recorded a 6.04 ERA in 25.1 innings across five starts, the righty has shut down his opponents. In his last five starts, Reyes is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in 26 innings. Since May 1, Reyes has a balmy 1.12 WHIP and has worked five or more innings in four consecutive starts. Columbia's starter just turned 20 in May and is working in part of his second season in the Carolina League.
TOP OF THE HEAP: After Hunter Patteson's historic start Thursday, Columbia has a pair of pitchers firmly entrenched in the League Leaderboard. Ethan Bosacker is third in ERA (2.41) and Patteson sits in the eight spot (3.27). Patteson is also second in strikeouts with 56 and Bosacker and Patteson sit first and second in innings pitched with 56 and 55, respectively. Both are top three in WHIP, trailing just Garrett Baumann, who has a 0.89 WHIP this year. Patteson is second at 0.95 and Bosacker third at 0.98. Finally Bosacker is third in the Carolina League with a.207 opposing batting average.
RINGING THE BELL: Chase Isbell has been on an incredible tear for the Fireflies. The right-handed reliever has not allowed a run in his last seven appearances dating all the way back to May 7. In that time, Isbell has spun 11.1 innings while punching out 19 opponents. He has only allowed three hits and two walks to counter. Since May 7, his ERA has dipped from 1.35 to 0.79. If that weren't crazy enough, he has a 0.44 WHIP and a.086 opposing batting average over the 37 batters he has faced in the seven appearances.
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 leaderboard, behind Dash Winningham (25 in 2016 and 2017) and tied with Juan Carlos Negret (23 in 2021).
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