Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 7.24 vs Kannapolis
CarL Columbia Fireflies

Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 7.24 vs Kannapolis

Published on July 24, 2026 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release


The Columbia Fireflies continue their series with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers tonight at Segra Park at 7:05 pm. LHP Darwin Rodriguez (5-5, 3.72 ERA) takes the ball for Columbia and Kannapolis counters with RHP Fabian Ysalla (Debut).

Tonight is Christmas in July at Segra Park! The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive an ugly Christmas sweater jersey giveaway, there will be Fireflies Holiday Lights photo ops throughout the concourse and there will be merry celebrations throughout the ballpark. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.

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RICARDO MATCHES FRANCHISE RECORD IN 2-1 WIN: Yandel Ricardo led the way for Columbia with his sixth-consecutive multi-hit game. With the performance, the Fireflies beat the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 2-1 Thursday night at Segra Park. For the first time this series, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers broke through first. Jaden Fauske ripped a lead-off single and advanced to second on a balk. Later in the inning, Javier Mogollon smacked a double to left-center to score Fauske and give the Ballers a 1-0 lead. The advantage didn't last long. Columbia countered in the home half of the first inning. Henry Ramos drew a lead-off walk, then Yandel Ricardo and Sean Gamble hit back-to-back singles to load the bases for Columbia. Jhosmmel Zue got the scoring with a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Ramos and tie the game 1-1. After that, Hyungchan Um smacked a single up the middle to bring Gamble home to give Columbia a 2-1 advantage.

STERLING STARTERS: The Fireflies starting rotation has the top ERA in Minor League Baseball this season. The group has recorded a 22-19 record combined with a 3.42 ERA over 411 innings through the first 93 games of the season. Fireflies starters have 407 strikeouts and have held opponents to a .236 AVG on the season. The Frederick Keys have the second-best mark in MiLB with a 3.77 through 374.1 innings pitched this season. Overall, the Fireflies hold the fourth-best team ERA in Minor League Baseball at 4.07. The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers lead the way with a 3.76 mark.

LUMINOUS LOMBARDI: Michael Lombardi has been a master of the strikeout this season. Sunday, he etched three strikeouts over 3.1 innings of work. Lombardi leads the Carolina League in strikeouts with 99. Lombardi is on the doorstep of becoming the seventh Fireflies pitcher to strikeout 100 batters in a season. Tony Dibrell owns the Fireflies single-season strikeout record at 147. The last Fireflies player to notch 100 strikeouts in a season was Felix Arronde, who struck out 103 in 2024.

THE GAMBLER: Sean Gamble struggled out of the gates at the plate this season. The first rounder hit just .118 across 21 games in April, but near the end of May, the centerfielder turned the page. Since May 21, Gamble is hitting .268 across 47 games. He is second on the team in OBP (.398), runs scored (36) and OPS (.788) and leads the club in stolen bases (18) during the stretch.

RICARDO RIPPING: Yandel Ricardo is on a red-hot stretch right now. Columbia's infielder has had multiple hits in six-consecutive games. On the run, Ricardo is 15-22 (.682) with a double, two triples and a homer. He has driven in nine RBI and scored seven runs. Ricardo is tied with Shervyen Newton for the longest multi-hit game streak in franchise history. Newton had six-consecutive games from July 5-12, 2019. On the run, Newton was 14-27 (.519) with three doubles and a homer. He also scored four runs and drove in six RBI.

BULLISH ON THE PEN: The Fireflies bullpen has been spotless since the ninth inning Tuesdsay. In that time, the group has combined to throw 11.2-consecutive innings without allowing a run. Dash Albus has been the main character in the crew. After Coleman Picard went down after just 1.1 innings in his start Wednesday, Albus worked 3.2 scoreless frames---the longest outing of his career--to get Columbia deep into the game. All-in-all, the pen spun 7.2 innings Wednesday in the club's fourth shutout win of the year.

Check out the Columbia Fireflies Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from July 24, 2026


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