Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 8.31 vs Delmarva
August 31, 2023 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Delmarva Shorebirds tonight at Segra Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Henry Williams (2-0, 1.80 ERA) takes the ball for Columbia and Delmarva counters with RHP Juan De Los Santos (1-8, 4.09 ERA).
Tonight is our final Budweiser Thirsty Thursday of the year, where fans can enjoy $1 fountain sodas, $2 domestic drafts and $3 craft drafts and cocktails. We're going another step further though and we're celebrating USC night at Segra Park, complete with a glow in the dark rally towel giveaway for the first 1,000 fans through the gates, courtesy of E.F. Martin. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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FIREFLIES LOSE BACK-AND-FORTH GAME 8-7: At the end of the night, there were only four zeroes on the scoreboard, as Columbia allowed a pair to score in the seventh, dropping the opener 8-7 to Delmarva Tuesday at Segra Park. The Fireflies tied the game in the bottom of the sixth after trailing for most of the game. Jared Dickey singled to plate Trevor Werner, who hit a lead-off double to bring the score to 6-6. Later, Ty Weatherly (BS, 1, W, 1-0) threw three wild pitches, eventually allowing pinch runner Wilmin Candelario to score, granting Columbia a 7-6 lead. The lead wasn't meant to hold. In the top of the seventh, Matthew Etzel hit a lead-off single and came around on Jake Cunningham's first Carolina League homer, a wall scraper to right that flipped the script, giving Delmarva a 8-7 lead. Columbia loaded the bases with no outs in the home half, but ended up not scoring a run.
HOT START: Carson Roccaforte started his Carolina League career on an eight-game hitting streak. Even though the hitting streak ended last Friday against Myrtle Beach, Roccaforte has reached base safely in each of his first 17 games in the circuit. The lefty is 18-61 with 14 walks and has put together a .438 on-base percentage while swiping 10 bases and driving in nine RBI.
CAREER MILESTONES FOR RAYO: Last night, Oscar Rayo notched another quality start. The lefty is 21 years old and already in his third season in professional ball. Across those three seasons, the southpaw has now thrown 125 innings. In 131 frames he is 7-3 with a 3.02 ERA. He has held opponents to a respectable .241 average while keeping his walk rate low to earn an elite 1.11 WHIP. If that weren't enough, he also has 138 punchouts or 9.48 per nine innings pitched.
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: Tonight, Columbia is playing their 121th game of the 131 games they have scheduled to play. The club has one road trip remaining, as they'll play six against Myrtle Beach. They will also play five more games remaining at Segra Park this year. They'll play five games against the Delmarva Shorebirds from August 29-September 3 to close out their home schedule. With 11 games remaining, the Fireflies trail the Charleston RiverDogs by nine games in the South Division second-half standings.
WERNING OPPONENTS: Trevor Werner has demolished the baseball in his first 20 Carolina League games. Sunday in the fifth, Werner smashed his fifth homer of last series and he has gone 11-24 with two doubles so far this week. The performance against Carolina was good enough to earn him Carolina League Player of the Week honors. It's hard to believe the hot stretch actually started well before this series began, Werner is riding a 12-game hitting streak right now. The hitting streak is the longest-active hitting streak in the Carolina League. On the run, Werner is 20-47 (.425) with five homers and 21 RBI in just 12 games dating back to August 14. His streak is the longest Fireflies hitting streak since Edgardo Fermin tallied a 13-game hitting streak from June 14-July 1, 2018. The streak is now the third-longest hitting streak in Fireflies history. The longest belongs to Raphael Gladu, who had a 23-game hitting streak from May 9-June 9, 2018.
MAKING MOVES: 2019 Columbia Fireflies shortstop, Ronnie Mauricio will join the Mets roster prior to Friday's game. If he plays in a game this year, he'll be the fourth former player to make his MLB debut this season.
Carolina League Stories from August 31, 2023
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- Late Runs Add Up In 12-3 Win - Columbia Fireflies
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- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 8.31 vs Delmarva - Columbia Fireflies
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