Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta 8.27
August 27, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies kick-off their penultimate series of the regular season with a doubleheader against the Augusta GreenJackets at SRP Park beginning at 5:05 pm tonight. RHP Jonatan Bernal (1-4, 4.43 ERA) takes the hill in game one and righty Mauricio Veliz (1-3, 6.35 ERA) gets the ball in game two for Columbia. Meanwhile, RHP Garrett Baumann (5-5, 3.65 ERA) toes the rubber for Augusta in game one and lefty Jacob Kroeger (0-0, 1.13 ERA) takes over for the second contest.
The Fireflies return home for their final homestand of the regular season September 3-8. They'll close out the year with three firework shows, Harry Potter Night presented by Lowe's Foods with a Hogwarts House Scarf giveaway and USC Night presented by E.F. Martin with a rally towel giveaway. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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COLUMBIA LOSES BACK-AND-FORTH FINALE AT SEGRA PARK: The Fireflies dropped a spectacular back-and-forth series finale 7-6 in 10 innings vs the Fredericksburg Nationals at Segra Park Sunday evening. Nick Peoples tied the game in the ninth inning. He smacked a one out solo homer off Ismael Michel to bring the score to 5-5. It was the first run Michel has allowed since July 21 for the Fireflies. In the tenth inning, Seaver King reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners with no one out. Then Caleb Lomavita singled to score Elijiah Green and move King to third with a 6-5 lead. Finally, Brandon Pimentel singled to score King to make the lead two for Fredericksburg.
BULLPEN MANIA: The Fireflies bullpen has been the highlight of the team all season. After allowed two earned runs over five innings Sunday, Columbia's bullpen is tied for the Minor League Baseball lead with a 3.03 ERA over 499.2 innings. The club's bullpen record is 42-19 with 32 saves on the season. The pen has also punched out 535 opponents this season while holding opposing teams to a .220 average. The club is matched with the Midland Rockhounds who have a 3.03 ERA over 474.2 innings with a 31-26 record and 35 saves on the season.
THIS IS 55: Sunday, Austin Charles drove in one RBI, giving him 58 on the young season. In 2023 only one Fireflies hitter finished the season with 55 or more RBI: Brett Squires, who had 69 RBI. The Fireflies single-season RBI record belongs to Juan Carlos Negret, who drove in 76 runs in a shortened 2021 season thanks in part to a franchise record 23 homers in a single season.
THE RACE INTENSIFIES: Sunday, both Columbia and Charleston lost games to lose a series at home and stay even week-over-week in the standings. Columbia currently sits 3.0 games behind Charleston and 1.5 games in front of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in second in the division. As Kannapolis continues their second-half slide after their first-half division crown, the Fireflies have the best record in the South Division for the entire season. Columbia has the best overall record in the division by 0.5 games.
AWESOME ARRONDE: Thursday, Felix Arronde struck out five over a handful of innings as he got the loss vs Fredericksburg. The righty leads the Fireflies with 97 punchouts on the season. His 97 strikeouts are tied for the third-most in a single-season for the Fireflies since 2020 with Luinder Avila, who punched out 97 in 2022. Both Adrian Alcantara (2021) and Shane Panzini (2023) are tied with 98 strikeouts for the most in a single year since the schedule was shortened to 132 games.
MITCHELL'S MISSILES: Tuesday, Blake Mitchell blasted his Carolina League leading 18th homer of the season. Mitchell is the first Fireflies player to lead the league in homers since Juan Carlos Negret slapped 23 homers in a pandemic-shortened 2021 season. Mitchell is just one round-tripper shy of Ariel Almonte, who plays for the Daytona Tortugas, for the most round trippers in Single-A in 2024.
YOU GOT MOSSED: Callan Moss is riding his longest hitting streak of his professional career for the Fireflies. Moss went 1-4 Sunday to extend his stretch to a six-game mark. On the run, he is 7-19 (.368) with a homer and five RBI and thanks to five walks over the stretch, he has recorded a .500 on-base percentage since August 15.
Carolina League Stories from August 27, 2024
- Ballers Fall in Strong Unanswered Offense Effort from Nationals - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Dowd Dominates and Offense Impresses as RiverDogs Beat Fayetteville 7-1 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Freddies Rally from Five Down to Beat Ballers - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Pelicans Drop Both Games of Tuesday's Doubleheader against Wood Ducks - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Woodpeckers Can't Solve RiverDogs' Pitching, Drop Fifth Straight - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Fireflies Rally for Doubleheader Split - Columbia Fireflies
- GreenJackets Split Twin Bill with Fireflies - Augusta GreenJackets
- Shorebirds Open Final Homestand with Win Over Red Sox - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Solid Start Lifts Mudcats Past Lynchburg - Carolina Mudcats
- Hillcats Fall, 3-2, to Mudcats - Lynchburg Hillcats
- RiverDogs Add Rays First-Round Pick to Roster - Charleston RiverDogs
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta 8.27 - Columbia Fireflies
- Sanchez and Rodriguez to Wisconsin; Molina, Seppings, Hernandez and Hardin Added from ACL Brewers and Knoth to 7-Day IL - Carolina Mudcats
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