Columbia Fireflies Game Notes September 1 at Carolina
September 1, 2022 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Carolina Mudcats tonight at Five County Stadium at 7 pm. RHP Ben Kudrna (2-4, 3.38 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and RHP Jacob Misiorowski makes his Carolina League debut for Carolina.
The Fireflies return to Segra Park for their final homestand of the season September 6-11 to face the Charleston RiverDogs as they fight for their first playoff berth in franchise history. Join the Fireflies for the final fireworks show of the year, a t-shirt giveaway and Wands and Wizards night to close out the regular season! Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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LATE OFFENSE SPARKS 7-1 WIN OVER MUDCATS: The Columbia Fireflies bats ignited, scoring six runs in the final four innings to upend Carolina 7-1 Wednesday night at Five County Stadium. Columbia took the lead in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs, Gavin Cross singled to right off Edwin Jimenez (L, 4-7). Next, Cayden Wallace sent a towering triple off the top of the 25' center field wall at Five County Stadium to break the 1-1 tie. The inning didn't stop there though, Guillermo Quintana doubled to give the Fireflies some insurance, taking a 3-1 lead to the bottom of the sixth. Columbia added some insurance in the top of the eighth as Quintana drew a bases-loaded walk to put the visiting club on top 4-1. More runs came in the top of the ninth. Javier Vaz drove a double to the left field corner, plating Daniel Vazquez and Lizandro Rodriguez to put the Fireflies in front 6-1. A wild pitch would bring Vaz around to close out the scoring.
NEW FACES, FAMILIAR PLACES: The Fireflies added another pair of players from the 2022 draft yesterday after placing Shane Connolly and Gary Camarillo on the development list. The replacement players are third-round pick out of Auburn RHP Mason Barnett and 10th rounder out of Louisville, outfielder Levi Usher. Both players had incredible postseason runs in their final collegiate seasons as they were named to their own All-Regional teams. Usher hit over .400 in the tournament and earned a Rawlings Gold Glove while Barnett topped out the Auburn radar guns in relief.
JUMP-STARTING JENSEN: Carter Jensen has reached base safely in 19-consecutive games, which is the second-longest on-base streak for Columbia this season and the third-longest active on-base streak in the Carolina League. Eddison Paulino paces the pack as he has reached safely in 31-consecutive games.
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 24-22 record (.522) and are 2.5 games back of first place. Columbia's elimination number is 9 with 10 games remaining. Columbia has now won four series this season, and all four series (at Augusta June 28-July 3, at Myrtle Beach August 9-14, vs Kannapolis August 16-21 and vs Salem August 23-28) have come in the second half.
SWING AND A MISS: Lefty Marlin Willis fanned four hitters in the eighth inning last Thursday. It was the first time a pitcher has struckout four batters in one inning while wearing a Fireflies uniform. Willis has been on a tear in the second half of the season, punching out 26 hitters in 14.1 innings to spin a 1.88 ERA in 10 games.
100 CLUB: Last Sunday, Luinder Avila became the first pitcher since 2019 to spin 100 innings in a single campaign. Last season, Adrian Alcantara was the closest, as he worked 97.1 innings. In 2019, Willy Taveras, Christian James and Jose Butto all spun at least 100 innings for the Fireflies.
SOUTHPAW SIZZLES: After adding five, one-run innings to his resume Wednesday at Carolina, Frank Mozzicato has put together an impressive last three outings, spinning 20 innings while allowing only three earned runs (1.35 ERA). During the stretch, the Connecticut native has punched out 28 batters (12.6 K/9 IP).
Carolina League Stories from September 1, 2022
- Perez Hits Tenth Inning Walk-Off in 7-6 Victory - Carolina Mudcats
- Carter Young Hits First Career Homer as 'Birds Out-Slugged by FredNats - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Hillcats Stop Cannon Ballers - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Red Sox Take Control Late to Defeat GreenJackets - Augusta GreenJackets
- Fireflies Surrender Final Four Runs in Extra Inning Loss - Columbia Fireflies
- Keshawn Ogans Called up to High-A - Augusta GreenJackets
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes September 1 at Carolina - Columbia Fireflies
- Woodpeckers Shutout the Wood Ducks - Down East Wood Ducks
- Pelicans Split Doubleheader with RiverDogs to Begin Series - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Calderon, Garcia Dominant As Woodpeckers Shut Out Down East - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
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