Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Augusta 7.2
July 2, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Augusta GreenJackets tonight at Segra Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Jonatan Bernal (0-0, 2.25 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and Augusta sends RHP Jeremy Reyes (1-2, 1.56 ERA) to the hill.
Tonight is Military Appreciation night presented by Colonial Life Insurance. Join the Columbia Fireflies as we honor active duty and veterans of the Military. It's also a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday where fans can have $2 hot dogs, fountain sodas, popcorn and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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UM'S FIRST HOMER SPOILED IN 10-2 LOSS: The Fireflies started off their three-game homestand with a 10-2 loss to the Augusta GreenJackets Monday evening at Segra Park. The GreenJackets got on the board first in the top of the second inning. Kade Kern led things off with a single and came around on a Jacob Godman ground out to break the scoreless tie. Augusta wasn't done there though. Cam Magee singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and came around on a Leiker Figueroa single to make the visitor's advantage 2-0 heading to the bottom of the second.Augusta tallied on three more runs in the fifth. Robert Gonzalez singled with one out and stole second before coming around on a throwing error from center fielder Erick Torres. After Logan Martin (L, 1-2) walked Isaiah Drake, Luis Sanchez singled to set the table for Kade Kern. The right fielder flared a base knock to right center to score the two base runners and move Augusta's lead to 5-1.
GOING STREAKING: Catcher Dionmy Salon is riding a hot streak for Columbia. He is on his longest hitting streak of the season, a nine-game stretch that began June 9 and is tied for the second-longest active hitting streak in the Carolina League. He trails Esteban Gonzalez who has hit in 10-consecutive games for the Lynchburg Hillcats. Salon is 12-27 (.444) on the run and has five RBI. Salon has increased his batting average from .165 to .229 during the strech which encapsulates over one quarter of his games played this season.
QUALITY FELIX: Saturday, Felix Arronde worked his team-leading fifth quality start of the season. He's two ahead of Ethan Bosacker for the most on the Fireflies. So far this season, Arronde has a 4-6 record to pair with a 3.68 ERA. He's been able to persevere despite receiving the lowest run support of any regular Fireflies starter this year. The bats are scoring 2.19 runs per nine innings when Arronde is on the hill in 2024.
KICKING WITH KIRKLAND: In Doug Kirkland's last eight outings, he has allowed just one earned run spanning 14.1 innings of work (0.63 ERA). In that time, he has 17 punchouts and his opponents are hitting .119 against him. In his first full professional season, Kirkland is 3-3 with a 2.60 ERA. He has an outlandish 37 strikeouts in 27.2 innings and opponents are hitting just .176 against him this season.
POWERING PENA: Erick Pena clobbered the ball in June. He finished the month second in the Carolina League in OPS (1.004) and RBI (19), third in homeruns (4), fourth in total bases (46) and 14th in batting average (.291) over the month. On the season, the outfielder is hitting a career-best .222 and is approaching career highs in homers (he has eight, his career-best is 10) and RBI (he has 35, his career-best is 36). He's been able to increase his power numbers while also increasing his on-base percentage to .313, which is 37 points higher than it was during the 2023 season. While it isn't perfect, he's also dropped his K% from 53% in 2023 to 39% in 2024.
I CAN SEE THE FUTURE: Today, Major League Baseball announced their All-Star Future's game rosters, which contained a pair of former Fireflies player. RHP Ben Kudrna was Kansas City's second rounder in 2021 and after spinning a 3.48 ERA in 17 starts in 2022, he was named the Columbia Fireflies Pitcher of the Year by the Royals. Gavin Cross was also named to the roster. The outfielder was selected in the first round of the 2022 draft out of Virginia Tech and reached base safely in his final 22 games with the Fireflies that same season.
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