CarL Columbia Fireflies

Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 9.3 vs Delmarva

Published on September 3, 2023 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release


The Fireflies close out their home slate of games with a 5:05 tilt against the Delmarva Shorebirds. RHP Mauricio Veliz (5-6, 4.18 ERA) takes the hill for Columbia and Delmarva counters with LHP Juan Rojas (1-2, 6.38 ERA).

Today is fan appreciation day at Segra Park. We'll have $1 fountain sodas, $2 hot dogs, popcorn, 12 oz cans of Miller Lite and domestic drafts, $3 craft drafts and cocktails and $5 16 oz cans of Whiteclaw Seltzer. We'll have pre-game catch on the field, a post-game team autograph session and kids run the bases, as well as a dazzling fireworks show to close out the year at Segra Park. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.

-------

SQUIRES PUTS GRAND TOUCH ON DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP: The Columbia Fireflies used a walk-off grand slam from Brett Squires to sweep a doubleheader with the Shorebirds, 11-4 and 11-7 Saturday night at Segra Park. Game 1 Columbia led tape-to-tape in game one, winning 11-4 to kick things off. The Fireflies matched Delmarva in the first inning, loading the bases, but leaving them stranded without scoring. In the second inning, the Fireflies got their bats moving, taking advantage of five walks, a hit batter and an error to score seven runs and move starter Luis De Leon (L, 3-1) out of the game. Lizandro Rodriguez and Jared Dickey closed out the inning with back-to-back RBI singles to start the game off in front 7-0 moving to the third inning. The scoring didn't stop there for Columbia. Carson Roccaforte started the third inning with a double down the line and came around on a Brett Squires base knock to right field to move Columbia's lead to 8-0. Later, Austin Charles hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right-center to score Trevor Werner as Columbia headed to the halfway point in game one in front 9-0. Game 2 Brett Squires sent everyone home happy with a walk-off grand slam as Columbia took game two 11-7 in nine innings. Trevor Werner did it again, smashing a homer to the left field berm on a 1-2 pitch with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game 5-5 for Columbia. It was Werner's seventh homer in his last 11 games and his third RBI of the day.

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 21 games in the circuit. The lefty is 20-65 with 14 walks and has put together a .438 on-base percentage while swiping 10 bases and driving in 11 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 123rd and 124th 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 their loss and the RiverDogs win last night, the Fireflies were officially eliminated from the playoffs in the 2023 season.

MASHING SQUIRES: Friday, Brett Squires capped off a fantastic month of August. The lefty leads the team in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.263), home runs (13), RBI (61) and on-base percentage (.384). While he's had a top-10 on-base percentage all season, his August certainly helped his stock. In 25 games, the lefty mashed seven homers and drove in 23 RBI while slashing .337/.396/,630.

WALK-OFF SPECIAL: Last night, Brett Squires hit the seventh walk-off winner of the season for the Fireflies. The lefty has two grand slams and 10 RBI across the first five games of the week.

Check out the Columbia Fireflies Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from September 3, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central