Columbia Fireflies Game Notes July 24 vs Augusta
July 24, 2022 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies close out their season series with the Augusta GreenJackets tonight at Segra Park at 5:05 pm. RHP Ben Kudrna (1-4, 3.12 ERA) takes the slab for the Fireflies and RHP AJ Smith-Shawver (2-4, 4.88 ERA) gets the nod for Augusta.
It's Sunday Funday at Segra Park! We'll have an autograph session from 4-4:15 pm on the concourse and kids can run the bases following the game. We're also celebrating Women in Sports at Segra Park, with appearances from women athletes from the University of South Carolina and Benedict College. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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COLUMBIA RALLIES TO BEAT AUGUSTA 6-5 SATURDAY: The Fireflies bats bested the Augusta GreenJackets bullpen, scoring three runs with their final six outs to win 6-5 at Segra Park Saturday evening. After Omar Hernandez reached on an error to start the seventh inning, River Town was able to bring him home with a double down the right field line. Later, Enrique Valdez rolled a ball to second to allow Town to hustle home to tie the game 5-5. The next inning, Town entered the game with runners on second and third and was able to drive a sacrifice fly to left, scoring pinch runner Omar Florentino to push Columbia in front 6-5. Ben Wereski (W, 2-3) slammed the door shut for Columbia. He came on in relief in the eighth to fan four batters and retire six of the seven hitters he faced. If that weren't enough, the southpaw was in the strike zone for 19 of the 21 pitches he threw.
MAKING MY WAY DOWN TOWN: Fireflies outfielder River Town is on a roll. When he doubled in the fourth inning of Friday's game, Town reached base safely in his 33rd-consecutive game, which is the longest active streak in Class-A baseball. He owns the third-longest active streak in Minor League Baseball. Vaughn Grissom has reached safely in 45 games dating back to May 27 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. Town now owns the Fireflies franchise record on-base streak. He passed Jeremy Vasquez who had a 28-game mark in 2018. During Town's 33-game stretch, he is slashing .283/.451/.528. He has tallied seven homers and 23 RBI on the streak.
EVERYONE WANTS TO BE APART OF A TURN-AROUND: RHP Ben Hernandez's splits say it all this year. After starting the season 0-1 with a 6.28 ERA in four starts in April, Columbia's starter has been rolling down hill, cruising to where he is, playing the best baseball of his professional career. In May, his ERA was 4.26 across a trio of games that included a stint on the injured list. Then he came back for a handful of starts in June where he rocked a 3.45 ERA with 17 punchouts in 15.1 innings. As July comes to a close, the Royals' 13th-best prospect according to MLB.com has a 1.72 ERA in three starts, including his longest start of the season, a 5.2 inning masterpiece in Down East right before the All-Star Break.
RALLY FIREFLIES: Columbia is outscoring opponents in only one inning this season, but it's an important one: the ninth. In the final frame of regulation, Columbia is outscoring opponents 34-27 this season. That really helps in late and close situations, and after scoring three runs in the seventh and eighth last night, Columbia is 14-11 in 25 one-run games throughout the 2022 season.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC: The Columbia Fireflies are tied for first place in the South Division second-half standings with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers after 23 games in the second-half. At the moment, Kannapolis owns the tie-breaker (overall record), so Columbia's magic number to clinch the playoffs stands at 44.
SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE: After going 4-11 in their first 15 games against the Augusta GreenJackets, the Columbia Fireflies were able to win seven consecutive to bring the series close to even with one game remaining versus their divisional foe in 2022. Columbia still has a chance to tie the season series if they win Sunday's games at Segra Park.
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