Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta
June 30, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with Augusta tonight at 7:05 pm at SRP Park. RHP Cruz Noriega (3-1, 4.88 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia while Augusta counters with RHP Tanner Gordon (1-4, 5.09 ERA).
Columbia returns home Tuesday, July 6 with a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday at Segra Park. You can purchase tickets at FirefliesTickets.com.
---
STRONG START FROM ALCANTARA SQUANDERED IN 6-5 LOSS: After five scoreless frames from starter Adrian Alcantara, the Fireflies bullpen couldn't contain the Augusta GreenJackets' offense, allowing half a dozen runs in a 6-5 loss at SRP Park Tuesday night. Luis De Avila (L, 4-1) hurried through the first two batters in the sixth before allowing back-to-back jacks from Bryson Horne and Willie Carter to tie the game at a pair a piece. In the seventh, the lefty allowed four hits, a sacrifice and issued an intentional walk to allow the GreenJackets (21-27) to score four more runs to push the lead to 6-2. Alcantara put together another excellent outing for Columbia. The righty fanned a handful across five innings and allowed only four hits during the start. Alcantara has now allowed two earned runs or less in each of his last seven outings.
COLLINS CRUSHING BALL: Fireflies outfielder Darryl Collins has always had one of the higher averages on the team, but over the course of the last week, he's been able to show a bit of his power while increasing his batting average. Dating back to June 24, the lefty has played in four games and has tallied five hits in 16 at-bats (.313). Collins has driven in seven RBI, drawn two walks and stolen his fifth base of the season during that stretch as well.
EL DURO SHOWING HIS STUFF: After a slow start to the season, Juan Carlos Negret has found his stride in the month of June. The slugger has cracked six homers this month, which is tied with Kannapolis's Bryan Ramos and Carolina's Zavier Warren for most this month. The slugger is hitting just .181 this month, but when he makes contact, he makes it count. Negret has 11 hits this month, eight of which have gone for extra bases. He has two doubles to go along with his six homers in June.
YOU WANNA SEE SOME REAL SPEED?: The Fireflies saw Tyler Tolbert climb his way a position higher on the all-time team leaderboard. Tolbert stole a Fireflies-best three bases in Friday night's game to give him 21 on the season. That tied him for second-most in a single season for a Fireflies player with Hansel Moreno, who accomplished the feat in 2018. He's chasing Jacob Zanon, who stole 28 bags in 2017. Tolbert stole a base again Tuesday to increase his total to 25 this year.
EMSHOFF EMERGING: Catcher Kale Emshoff started the month of June off in a rut. Columbia's backstop began the month 1-30 at the plate with 15 strikeouts and eight walks. That's a .033 batting average and a .230 on-base percentage. He's picked things up the last two days though, going 2-5 at the dish with a pair of walks and a homer. It only makes sense that the Royals' 30th-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com, would get hot again while the team is at home. This year, Emshoff has a .311 average at home with all three of his homers and 14 RBI across 45 at-bats. That's compared to a .146 average and eight RBI in 48 at-bats on the road in 2021.
SAVING THE OPPORTUNITY: Last night, Walter Pennington earned his team-leading third save of the year. The southpaw has earned all three of his saves at home and has now punched out 18 hitters in 11.2 innings at Segra Park this year. Despite allowing an earned run last night, the Coloradoan still has a 1.54 ERA at home and has maintained a 0.77 ERA at the friendly confines in 2021.
Carolina League Stories from June 30, 2021
- Pelicans Fall 2-1 for Second-Straight Night against Wood Ducks - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- RiverDogs Lead from Start to Finish, Take Down Cannon Ballers 8-5 - Charleston RiverDogs
- 'Birds Sweep Doubleheader from 'Cats - Delmarva Shorebirds
- FredNats' Late Rally Falls Just Short in 9-7 Loss - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Easley Steals Win Away from Myrtle Beach - Down East Wood Ducks
- Stephens Sacrifice Fly the Difference in 1-0 Win - Augusta GreenJackets
- Bats Can't Support Strong Pitching Performance - Columbia Fireflies
- Pitcher Jason Munsch Transferred to Carolina - Carolina Mudcats
- Down East Wood Ducks Game Notes - at Myrtle Beach - Down East Wood Ducks
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Augusta - Columbia Fireflies
- Walk-Off Balk Pushes Woodpeckers Past Mudcats in Extra Innings - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Walk-Off Balk Leads to Carolina's Third Straight Loss - Carolina Mudcats
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.
