Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Charleston
August 31, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster moves affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster:
INF Jose Marquez has been released
C Kale Emshoff has been promoted to the Quad Cities active roster
2B Peyton Wilson has been placed on the Fireflies active roster
C Luca Tresh has placed on the Fireflies active roster
INF Dillan Shrum has been placed on the Fireflies active roster
Wilson will wear jersey #8. Tresh will wear jersey #21. Shrum will wear jersey #33.
The Fireflies active roster now sits at 30 with five on the injured list.
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The Columbia Fireflies begin a series against the Charleston RiverDogs at 7:05 pm at Segra Park tonight. RHP Wander Arias (0-0, 5.40 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and Charleston will toss LHP Ben Brecht (4-2, 2.67 ERA).
Tonight is a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday where all hot dogs, popcorn, fountain sodas and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite are just $2 at Segra Park. Gates open at 6 pm and tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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FIREFLIES BLOW OUT PELICANS 13-4 IN FINALE: The Fireflies offense exploded Sunday, scoring six in the fifth inning to beat the Myrtle Beach Pelicans 13-4 at TicketReturn.com Field. The big strike came in the fifth, when Columbia (47-55) put half a dozen on the board. After Myrtle Beach (51-51) recorded the first out of the frame, Kale Emshoff doubled before Saul Garza was able to single to score the backstop. Gage Hughes singled before Matt Schmidt and Burle Dixon drew back-to-back walks to make the score 6-4 in favor of Columbia and to set the table for Herard Gonzalez. Gonzalez hit a ground rule double to put two more on the board for Columbia and keep runners at second and third for Darryl Collins who drove in a pair of runs on a ball that was misplayed by Pelicans center Fielder Christian Franklin. After all was said and done, the Fireflies had a 10-4 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. In the final game against the Pelicans this year, the Fireflies did not go away quietly. Herard Gonzalez came home to score in the top of the first before Myrtle Beach answered with four runs in the home half of the inning. The offense didn't give up there though. In the top of the second, Matt Schmidt deposited a single in right to score Gage Hughes before Darryl Collins drew a bases loaded walk to put the team within one. The next inning, the Fireflies put runners in scoring position again and Emshoff came home off the bat of Jose Marquez, who received an RBI groundout to tie the game. Emshoff would smack his 10th homer of the season to left in the sixth to put Columbia in front 11-4.
CHALLENGING LEAGUE TOP MARKS: Fireflies outfielder Juan Carlos Negret has established himself as an all-or-nothing hitter during the 2021 campaign. The slugger leads the Low-A East League with 21 homers, which is the most in a single season in Fireflies history. He trails just Dash Winningham, who hit 25 homers between the 2016 and 2017 campaigns for the most all-time homers in Fireflies history. Negret has also done an excellent job at producing RBI this season. Despite having a sub-.200 batting average, Negret has driven in 68 RBI, which is good for the second most in the league in the 2021 campaign. He trails only Charleston's Diego Infante, who has sent home 69 RBI for the 67-29 RiverDogs this season.
HEROIC HERNANDEZ: Diego Hernandez started three games last series and played in four. In that time, he went 4-13 with a triple, two stolen bases and his first homer of the season. The outfielder has also scored five runs and driven in four. He has a 1.092 OPS in what has been his best series of the season so far.
WILY WALLACE: Righty reliever Chase Wallace has turned around his season in the month of August. After recording a season-worst 10.24 ERA throughout 9.2 innings in July, the Tennessee-native has already worked 15 innings in August and has allowed only a pair of earned runs. Limiting opponents to a .196 average, Wallace has maintained a 1.20 ERA in the month of August.
HEY, IT'S FRANKLIN: A.J. Franklin spun three scoreless frames Friday, bringing his tally to 8.2 scoreless innings while donning a Fireflies uniform. It hasn't always been clean for the Vanderbilt-product, who has a 1.50 WHIP with the Fireflies so far. He has walked 10 batters and allowed three hits in his four outings with Columbia, but he has been able to work around trouble to keep runs from scoring in each of his outings so far. Franklin's four consecutive games without allowing a run are the most in his career.
Carolina League Stories from August 31, 2021
- 'Birds Bats Explode in Rout of Mudcats - Delmarva Shorebirds
- RiverDogs Roll to Series Opening Victory in Columbia - Charleston RiverDogs
- Six-Run Barrage Jumps Woodpeckers to Win over GreenJackets - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Down East Bats Struggle in Loss to Kannapolis - Down East Wood Ducks
- Four Errors Result in 8-1 Loss in Opener - Columbia Fireflies
- Tuesday Game Postponed - Salem Red Sox
- FredNats, Red Sox Postponed in Salem - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Read Joins FredNats on Rehab, Stainbrook Promoted, Rutledge Activated from Injured List - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Jose Lopez Promoted, RiverDogs Add Three Pitchers - Charleston RiverDogs
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Charleston - Columbia Fireflies
- Down East Wood Ducks Game Notes - vs. Kannapolis - Down East Wood Ducks
- Nick Krauth Named Low-A East Pitcher of the Week - Down East Wood Ducks
- Cannon Baller Chronicle: Week 17 - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Ballers Split Series with Lynchburg, Fall 15-0 Sunday Afternoon - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
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