Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Fredericksburg 7.2
Published on July 2, 2026 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Fredericksburg Nationals tonight at Segra Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Jose Gutierrez (5-2, 3.22 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and Fredericksburg counters with RHP Travis Sthele (4-0, 0.00 ERA).
Tonight is Military and Veterans Appreciation Night presented by the BlueCross BlueShield Federal Employee Program and WIS TV-10. The Fireflies and their partners have donated over 1,500 tickets to active military and veterans and fans can enjoy $1.50 Budweisers and hot dogs at the game tonight. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
--------------------------------------
FIVE-RUN THIRD PROPELS FIREFLIES TO 7-4 WIN: The Fireflies bats exploded for five runs in the third to upend the Fredericksburg Nationals 7-4 Wednesday night at Segra Park. The Fireflies bats broke out in the bottom of the third inning. Columbia sent all nine to the plate and scored five to take the lead. The frame was highlighted by a Henry Ramos single to right with the bases loaded. Dashyll Tejada had trouble fielding the ball, which allowed Ramos to clear the bases and reach third to give the Fireflies a 4-3 lead. Stone Russell started the scoring with a single to left-center to score Roni Cabrera and Hyungchan Um closed out the scoring with a single to right to plate Ramos. Columbia added on in the fourth. Cabrera started the frame with a ground-rule double. After Sean Gamble drew a walk, Henry Ramos lined a single to score the pair to give Columbia a 7-4 lead before the end of the frame. Ramos got three RBI in the contest and with the error, five runs scored off the bat of Ramos during the game.
STERLING STARTERS: The Fireflies starting rotation is tied for the top ERA in Minor League Baseball this season. The group has recorded a 15-16 record combined with a 3.40 ERA over 336.1 innings through the first 77 games of the season. Fireflies starters have 337 strikeouts and have held opponents to a .236 AVG on the season. The Fireflies are matched with the Fredericksburg Nationals who sit at 3.40 through 273 innings pitched this season. As a whole, the Fireflies staff has the fourth-best ERA in Minor League Baseball at 3.97.
LUMINOUS LOMBARDI: Michael Lombardi has been a master of the strikeout this season. Saturday, he etched five strikeouts across 4.1 innings of work. Lombardi is tied for the second--most strikeouts (86) in Single-A over 55.1 innings of work. Fresno's Brady Parker leads the way with 88 punchouts over 53.1 innings. Lombardi has the third-best K/9 rate in Minor League Baseball among pitchers with at least 55 innings this season (13.99). Seth Hernandez leads the way at 14.44. Lombardi's K% is fourth among the same group (36.3%), trailing first place Kade Anderson (41.4%).
HIP HIP, JOSE: Friday, Jose Gutierrez worked 6.1 scoreless innings with six strikeouts at Kannapolis. It was his fourth quality start in five starts last month. During June, Gutierrez is 4-0 with a 1.65 ERA. He has 26 strikeouts and only two walks across 27.1 innings to combine with a 0.77 WHIP. Gutierrez leads the Carolina League in IP, has the third-most strikeouts, has the second-best WHIP among those with 15 or more innings of work, has tallied the fourth-best K:BB rate (13.00) and has the fifth-best ERA of those with at least 15 innings of work this month.
HEROIC HAMMOND: After the promotion of Kendry Chourio in June, Josh Hammond became the Fireflies top-rated prospect according to both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. Since June 15, the infielder went on an absolute tear to celebrate. Over his last 13 games, Hammond is hitting .373 through 51 at-bats with a double and two homers. He has also scored eight runs and tallied four RBI. He has the fourth-best batting average in the Carolina League in that span. Hunter Hines leads the way with a .382 average.
RANDY'S ROCKING: Randy Ramnarace hasn't allowed an earned run over his last six appearances for Columbia. The Islap, New York native has spun 11.1 innings since May 29 and has worked around three hits to lower his ERA from 6.00 to 4.10. Brandon Herbold isn't too far behind. The Netherlands product hasn't allowed an earned run over his last five outings spanning 5.1 innings.
Carolina League Stories from July 2, 2026
- GreenJackets' Bullpen Falters in Maddening Loss to RidgeYaks - Augusta GreenJackets
- Lovich's Three-Hit Night Lifts Pelicans over Crawdads 5-2 - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Warbirds Walloped by Kannapolis - Wilson Warbirds
- Shorebirds Hold off RiverDogs to Get Back in the Series - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Fireflies Fall 5-1 to Fredericksburg - Columbia Fireflies
- RiverDogs Late Rally Falls Short in 3-2 Loss to Shorebirds - Charleston RiverDogs
- Pitching Staff Delivers Another Gem, FredNats Beat the Fireflies 5-1 - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Howlers Watch Lead Evaporate, Fayetteville Wins Big - Hill City Howlers
- Fan Information for the Fourth of July - Hill City Howlers
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Fredericksburg 7.2 - Columbia Fireflies
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
