CarL Columbia Fireflies

Columbia Fireflies Game Notes August 13 at Myrtle Beach

August 13, 2022 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release


The Fireflies kick-off their weekend with a 6:05 contest with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at TicketReturn.com Field. RHP Shane Panzini (0-2, 4.36 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and Myrtle Beach counters with righty Koen Moreno (0-0, 5.94 ERA).

The Fireflies return home for a two-week homestand against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers and the Salem Red Sox August 16-28. The Fireflies will host Marvel Defenders of the Diamond Night and wear special Black Panther Jerseys, host two fireworks shows and giveaway two shirts on the homestand. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.

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WALLACE DRIVES IN FOUR IN 6-5 WIN: The Fireflies stood tall behind a four RBI performance from 2022-draftee Cayden Wallace as they upended Myrtle Beach 6-5 Friday evening at TicketReturn.com Field. The Fireflies (20-19) bats struck back in the top of the third inning. After Pelicans' (21-19) starter Luis Rodriguez issued a pair of walks, Cayden Wallace lined a base knock through the right side of the infield to score Yeudi Advincola and Jean Ramirez to cut Myrtle Beach's lead to 3-2. 2022 draftees continued to make a difference as Javier Vaz again made it a one-run game in the fourth, singling to score Omar Hernandez to keep Columbia in striking distance after Myrtle Beach countered with a run in the bottom of the third. It was Wallace who made the difference in this one though. He came up again with ducks on the pond in the fifth. He laced a double to left-center that scored Ramirez and Daniel Vazquez to put the Fireflies in front 5-4. The Fireflies found a run of insurance in the top of the seventh after Andricson Salvador tossed a bases loaded wild pitch that allowed Advincola to score which gave Columbia some insurance.

JUMP STARTING JENSEN: Backstop Carter Jensen has been on a tear this series vs Myrtle Beach. Wednesday, Columbia's catcher went 3-4 with two doubles and a homer. On the series, he is now 5-8 with three doubles and a home run. He has scored two runs and has two RBI in the two games so far.

WALLACE RUNNING WILD: In the third baseman's first two games in Columbia, he is 6-8 with four RBI vs the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. The former Razorback has now played his first five professional baseball games and is 7-15 (.46) with two extra-base hits, five RBI, four walks and only one strikeout.

POISED PENA: After a rough start to the 2022 campaign, outfielder Erick Peña has been making significant strides in the month of August. Following a 1-4 performance with a run scored Friday night, the outfielder has hit safely in four consecutive games. In the month of August, Peña has played in nine games, hitting .267 and striking out in only 37% of his at-bats. His next lowest monthly strikeout rate was 40% in the month of July.

STERLING STARTERS: In the first three games of the Fireflies series vs Myrtle Beach, the starting pitching has been phenomenal. Luinder Avila, Frank Mozzicato and Ben Kudrna have combined to spin 16.1 innings while allowing only a pair of earned runs (1.10 ERA). During the stretch, Avila became the first Fireflies pitcher to work seven innings in a single game this year and the Fireflies have held their opponent to one run in a game twice. They've now held opponents to one run or less in seven games this season.

NOT THE NAVY: The Fireflies have not played well while wearing their navy jerseys this season. After dropping the first two games of this series wearing blue jerseys, Columbia is 8-26 while wearing the navy jerseys. To put that into perspective, the club is 14-16 when donning the road greys.

SECOND-HALF FIREFLIES?: After trudging to the finish line of the first-half of the season with a Carolina League-worst 18-48 record, the Fireflies burst onto the scene in the second-half, sweeping Augusta after taking two of the first three games with the RiverDogs to begin the second slate 8-1. Since then, the Fireflies have a 12-18 record (.400) and are five games back of first place.

Check out the Columbia Fireflies Statistics



Carolina League Stories from August 13, 2022


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