Columbia Fireflies Game Notes July 13 at Down East
Published on July 13, 2022 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Down East Wood Ducks this morning at 11 am at Grainger Stadium. RHP Shane Panzini (0-2, 3.62 ERA) rolls along for the Fireflies while RHP Emiliano Teodo (2-3, 3.42 ERA) gets the nod for Down East.
Columbia returns home for a weekend series vs the Augusta GreenJackets following the All-Star break July 22-24. July 23, the Fireflies will host A Night Under the Big Top, where Segra Park will bring the circus to town. The night will be capped off following the game when a man will be shot out of a cannon on the field! Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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FIREFLIES DROP OPENER IN DOWN EAST 6-4: The Fireflies bullpen couldn't hold off a Down East Wood Ducks rally as Columbia fell 6-4 at Grainger Stadium Tuesday evening. The Wood Ducks rallied from behind to jump in front by three runs once the Fireflies bullpen entered the game. In the eighth inning, a fielding error from Omar Florentino woke the Ducks up with one out, prompting a passed ball that allowed Down East to take the lead 4-3, then a fielder's choice that plated another run before Tim Holdgrafer (L, 1-1) walked Abilemic Ortiz with the bases laoded to put the Wood Ducks in front 6-3. Down East tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, Efrenyer Narvaez doubled and then Abilemic Ortiz walked aboard for Junior Paniagua, who laced a double that scored both Narvaez and Ortiz, making it a 3-3 ball game.
MAKING MY WAY DOWN TOWN: Fireflies outfielder River Town is on a roll. As he walked in the eighth inning of Tuesday's game, Town reached base safely in his 26th-consecutive game, which is the longest active streak in Class-A baseball. He owns the fifth-longest active streak in Minor League Baseball. Colson Montgomery has reached safely in 46 games dating back to April 24 and owns the longest streak. The longest on-base streak in A-ball this season belonged to Denzel Clarke of the Stockton Ports. The outfielder reached safely in 37 games from April 14-June 11. The longest franchise on-base streak belongs to Jeremy Vasquez who reached safely in 28-consecutive games from April 5-May 6, 2018.
STARTING STUDS: A big reason the Fireflies have had the success they have had in the second half is because the starting pitching has really stepped up their game. In the second half, starters have a 2.83 ERA across 66.2 innings. In the first half, the rotation surrendered a 4.85 ERA in 226 innings at the helm. The bullpen has a 6.01 ERA in the second half so far.
CARTER'S CRANKING: In the last 10 games, no Fireflies hitter is hotter than Carter Jensen. The backstop has 13 hits in his last 30 at-bats, and he has walked an additional 10 times. He is slashing .433/.548/.633 during the stretch and has amassed three doubles and a homer to help him drive in seven RBI for Columbia. He has also scored 10 runs in his last 10 games played.
NEW YEAR, NEW ME: The second half of the season started last Thursday, which reset each team's record to 0-0. The Fireflies finished the first half (66 games) 28 games back of Myrtle Beach, who had the best record in Minor League Baseball. After starting the second-half 11-5, the Fireflies are a half-game back of first and possess a magic number of 51 to clinch the first playoff berth in franchise history.
AMAZING AVILA: Righty Luinder Avila is the only qualifying pitcher for the Columbia Fireflies this season. Last week, after working six innings without allowing an earned run and punching out nine GreenJackets hitters, he earned Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors. He continued his hot stretch yesterday, spinning five frames and allowing a single earned run. It was enough to earn his fifth win of the season as the Fireflies beat Myrtle Beach 5-3. In Avila's last three starts, dating back to June 25, he has tallied 17 innings while only allowing two earned runs (1.06 ERA). During the run, he has punched out 15 hitters while walking only a pair.
Carolina League Stories from July 13, 2022
- Another Late Rally Downs Pelicans as Woodpeckers Win 3-1 - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Myrtle Beach Pelicans Win First Game in Their Homestand Against Fredericksburg Nationals 2-0 - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- HillCats Score Four in Eighth to Steal Victory from RiverDogs - Charleston RiverDogs
- Hillcats Victorious Over RiverDogs - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Augusta and Fredericksburg to Play Doubleheader on Friday - Augusta GreenJackets
- FredNats Rained out Wednesday, Will Play Friday Doubleheader - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Carolina Ends Six Game Skid with 1-0 Victory - Carolina Mudcats
- Avocados Fall Short - Down East Wood Ducks
- Three Homers Lead Fireflies Back to Win Column - Columbia Fireflies
- 'Birds Shutout as Four-Game Winning Streak Comes to a Close - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes July 13 at Down East - Columbia Fireflies
- Avocados Luchadores Take Game One - Down East Wood Ducks
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