Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 7.5 at Charleston
July 5, 2023 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Charleston RiverDogs at The Joe tonight at 7:05 pm. RHP Ben Kudrna (4-3, 3.96 ERA) takes the hill for Columbia and Charleston counters with righty Trevor Martin (3-3, 3.71 ERA).
The Fireflies return home after the All-Star Break, for a three-game series vs the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers July 14-16. The Fireflies have jammed that weekend filled with amazing promotions for our first-ever Dinosaur weekend. Ed's Dinosaurs will bring animatronic, life-sized dinosaurs to Segra Park, we'll have a dinosaur bobblehead giveaway Friday and on Saturday we'll set off a wonderful fireworks show. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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FIREFLIES SPOIL RIVERDOGS CELEBRATION WITH EARLY FIREWORKS: The Fireflies bats rallied late, breaking a 2-2 tie in the seventh and ultimately winning 5-2 in Charleston Tuesday night as they began a six-game series with the RiverDogs. Austin Charles came up to the dish in the seventh and hit his first homer of the season off the glove of Chandler Simpson and over the left-center fence to give Columbia a 3-2 lead. In the eighth, Columbia got some insurance. After Omar Hernandez led the frame off with a single, Lizandro Rodriguez smoked a double to left to plate the catcher from first and double the Fireflies lead. In the ninth, Austin Charles came through again, tripling in the ninth and scoring on a two-out single to give the Fireflies their final run and a 5-2 lead.
RAMPING UP RAMIREZ: Columbia's outfielder is riding a season-best seven-game hitting streak. Since June 25, Jean Ramirez is 13-28 with three walks and eight runs scored. He is slashing an insane .464/.531/.643 with four stolen bases over the seven games. The streak is Columbia's third-longest hitting streak of the year and is only two games behind Brett Squires, who had a team-best eight-game hitting streak earlier this season. Ramirez now owns the fourth-longest active hitting streak in the Carolina League this season.
CHARLES CONQUERS: Thursday, Austin Charles had his second three RBI game with the Columbia Fireflies. The infielder has 12 RBI in his first 17 games in Columbia and has nine doubles, including the one he hit Thursday night that led to Columbia's win. His heroics vs the Augusta GreenJackets have been good enough for Charles to win the Carolina League Player of the Week Award. Over the first five games of the series, Charles is 6-16 (.375) with four doubles and seven RBI. The infielder has an insane 1.101 OPS over the run. The train kept rolling Tuesday, as Charles knocked his first homer of the season and hit a triple--all after the seventh inning in Columbia's 5-2 win over the RiverDogs.
BLISTERING BULLPEN: The Fireflies bullpen hasn't given up a run in back-to-back games. After allowing two runs in the ninth inning July 2, the pen has spun 11.1-consecutive innings without allowing a run.
MASTERING MCKEEHAN: Fireflies back-end of the bullpen reliever Cooper McKeehan continues to impress the league. Thursday he spun a scoreless ninth inning to earn his team-leading ninth save of the season to tie himself with Luis Barroso for the fifth-most saves in a single season in Fireflies history. The southpaw also paces the Carolina League with seven wins this year. The BYU product has a 0.93 ERA and is on his longest scoreless stretch of the season. McKeehan has not allowed a run in his last nine appearances (beginning June 4). In that time, he has worked 14.2 innings, allowing six hits and two walks while punching out 11 hitters. The streak is only a few innings behind Johnny Magliozzi for the fifth-longest stretch without allowing an earned run in franchise history. Magliozzi worked 17.1-consecutive scoreless innings from August 3-September 3, 2016.
ZANY ZOBAC: The Fireflies righty is on another strong stretch as he has allowed only two earned runs in his last six outings, spanning 50.2 innings. Zobac set a career-high, spinning 5.0 innings Tuesday in a 4-3 win over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers to set the tone for the last road trip of the first half for Columbia. Zobac now has a 1.74 ERA across his first 12 outings and he has punched out 56 hitters in 42.2 innings.
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Carolina League Stories from July 5, 2023
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- Woodpeckers Reel in Three Separate Leads to Defeat Mudcats - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Romero Dominates in Relief, Pelicans Defeat GreenJackets 9-3 - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Tavarez Homers, Collins Plates Two in Foggy Wednesday Loss - Augusta GreenJackets
- Shorebirds Bounce Back with Comeback Win - Delmarva Shorebirds
- RiverDogs Earn Rain-Shortened Victory Over Columbia on Wednesday - Charleston RiverDogs
- Freddies Fall 7-4 Against Delmarva - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Rain Deals Final Blow in Fireflies' Loss - Columbia Fireflies
- Hillcats Earn 4-3 Victory Over Red Sox - Lynchburg Hillcats
- RiverDogs, Boeing to Induct Second Class of 2023 into Hall of Honor - Charleston RiverDogs
- Pelicans Drop First Game in Augusta 4-3 - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 7.5 at Charleston - Columbia Fireflies
- Fireflies Seeking Stand Up To Cancer Warriors of the Inning - Columbia Fireflies
- Cole and Whitaker Homer But Woodpeckers Fall in Series Opener - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Sibrian & Parra Lead the Way in 13-4 July 4th Victory - Carolina Mudcats
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