CarL Columbia Fireflies

Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 8.19 vs Myrtle Beach

August 19, 2023 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release


The Fireflies kick-off their weekend with a 6:05 pm tilt with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Segra Park. LHP Oscar Rayo (3-2, 3.55 ERA) takes the hill for Columbia and Myrtle Beach counters with RHP Drew Gray (0-3, 5.60 ERA).

Tonight is Faith & Family night at Segra Park. We'll start the day by opening gates early at 4 pm to allow fans to gather for a free pre-game Josh Wilson concert courtesy of HIS Radio 92.1. Following the concert, the Zooperstars! will take front-stage for in-game entertainment and after the game, we'll light up the Midlands' sky with a dazzling fireworks display to complete a fantastic summer evening of fun! Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.

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RALLY CUT SHORT ON BASERUNNING SNAFU FRIDAY: The Fireflies trailed 5-1 as they entered the ninth, inning, but with nobody out, they put the tying run on the basepaths, before Myrtle Beach turned a double play, ending Columbia's rally while trailing 5-3 Friday night at Segra Park. Lizandro Rodriguez started the frame with a single to right off Starlyn Pichardo, who then walked Trevor Werner. After that, Buddy Bailey went to the bullpen, pulling Gregori Montano (S, 2) to the hill. Roger Leyton slapped the first pitch he saw, scoring Rodriguez from second and pushing Trevor Werner to third. Dionmy Salon was hit by a pitch, putting the tying run on the basepaths with no one out. Montano balked, scoring Werner and pushing Leyton to third and Omar Hernandez, a pinch runner into scoring position.

HOT START: Carson Roccaforte's eight-game hitting streak to start his Carolina League career ended after an 0-1 outing last night vs Myrtle Beach, but in the contest he drew three walks, meaning that Roccaforte has reached base safely in each of his first nine games in full-season baseball. All-in-all, he is 10-34 with a double, two triples and five RBI. Spencer Finally, Jared Dickey has been an on-base machine in his first eight games, going 12-34 with two walks and a hit by pitch to earn a .410 on-base percentage. Dickey is riding the Fireflies' longest-active hitting streak, a six -game stretch.

MOVING ON UP: Ben Sears now has three saves in his last seven appearances, giving him nine saves on the season. That ties him with 2021 Columbia Fireflies reliever Luis Barroso for sixth all-time amongst Columbia Fireflies players. He's two away from tying current Quad Cities River Bandits reliever Cooper McKeehan for second on the Fireflies all-time leaderboard.

SECURING SQUIRES: Brett Squires' 15-game on-base streak ended Friday. Over the run he has hits in all-except two games he has played in and is 17-49 (.321). He has also walked a pair of times and roped two doubles and four homers on the month. All-in-all, Squires is slashing .370/.373/.585 over the nearly two-week run. The on-base streak in the University of Oklahoma product's second-longest on-base streak of the season. Squires reached safely in 22-consecutive games from April 20-May 14. On that hot stretch, Squires slashed .444/.433/.877 as he led the league in multiple categories, including on-base percentage and doubles through the run.

ROUGH SAILING: The Fireflies pitching staff has had some trouble in their last 10 games, allowing 61 earned runs in their last 90 innings of work. In that time, Columbia has allowed 104 hits and walked 43 hitters or a 1.63 WHIP as a staff to pair with a 6.10 ERA. The Fireflies second-half ERA has climbed to 4.50 during the stretch, which is nearly 1.5 runs per nine innings higher than the clubs' first-half ERA.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: Tonight, Columbia is playing their 112th game of the 131 games they have scheduled to play. The club has two road trips remaining, with six games against Carolina and six against Myrtle Beach remaining. They will also play eight more games remaining at Segra Park this year. They'll close out this series tonight and tomorrow with the Pelicans and they'll play six games against the Delmarva Shorebirds from August 29-September 3 to close out their home schedule. With 19 games remaining, the Fireflies trail the Charleston RiverDogs by nine games in the South Division second-half standings.

Check out the Columbia Fireflies Statistics



Carolina League Stories from August 19, 2023


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