Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Fredericksburg 8.24
August 24, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies kick-off their weekend tonight at 6:05 against the Fredericksburg Nationals at Segra Park. RHP Hiro Wyatt (1-1, 3.00 ERA) takes the bump for Columbia and Fredericksburg counters with righty Brayan Romero (0-0, 6.46 ERA).
Tonight is Faith & Family Night presented by Cassell Brothers Home Services. We're kicking things off early tonight. The gates are opening at 4 pm for a pre-game Jordan St. Cyr Concert presented by HIS Radio 92.1 beginning at 4:30 pm. Then we're staying afterwards for a dazzling fireworks show after the game. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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FIREFLIES FALL 6-1 TO FREDNATS FRIDAY: The Fireflies fell 6-1 to the Fredericksburg Nationals Friday night at Segra Park. The club has lost three of their first four games this week and after a Charleston RiverDogs win are now four games back of first on the season. Josh Hansell was a bright spot from the bullpen for the Fireflies. The 6'6" righty matched a career-best with eight punchouts in five innings while allowing three runs (two earned). Fredericksburg jumped on the board in the top of the second inning. After Emmanuel Reyes recorded four groundouts on 10 pitches to start the game. He allowed a bloop single to Caleb Lomavita and then Brandon Pimental crushed a two-run homer to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead.
BULLPEN MANIA: The Fireflies bullpen has been the highlight of the team all season. After working 7.2 innings last night, Columbia's bullpen leads all of Minor League Baseball with a 3.04 ERA over 490.2 innings. The club's bullpen record is 42-18 with 31 saves on the season. The pen has also punched out 525 opponents this season while holding opposing teams to a .219 average.
MISSING MICHEL: Ismael Michel has stepped up in a big way over the last month for Columbia. The righty hasn't allowed a run in his last nine outings (15.1 IP) which has pushed his ERA down from 3.27 on July 21 to 1.42 today,. On the run he is 4-0 with 16 strikeouts in 15.1 innings pitched in relief for Columbia.
THIS IS 50: Wednesday, Austin Charles drove in one RBI, giving him 54 on the young season. In 2023 only one Fireflies hitter finished the season with 50 or more RBI: Brett Squires, who had 69 RBI. The Fireflies single-season RBI record belongs to Juan Carlos Negret, who drove in 76 runs in a shortened 2021 season thanks in part to a franchise record 23 homers in a single season.
THE RACE INTENSIFIES: Friday, the Fireflies lost 6-1 to Fredericksburg and Charleston upset Myrtle Beach 7-6 to push the Fireflies further behind the leader of the division. Columbia currently sit 4.0 games behind Charleston and 2.5 games in front of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in second in the division. As Kannapolis continues their second-half slide after their first-half division crown, the Fireflies have the best record in the South Division for the entire season. Columbia has the best overall record in the division by 1.5 games.
AWESOME ARRONDE: Thursday, Felix Arronde struck out five over a handful of innings as he got the loss vs Fredericksburg. The righty leads the Fireflies with 97 punchouts on the season. His 97 strikeouts are tied for the third-most in a single-season for the Fireflies since 2020 with Luinder Avila, who punched out 97 in 2022. Both Adrian Alcantara (2021) and Shane Panzini (2023) are tied with 98 strikeouts for the most in a single year since the schedule was shortened to 132 games.
MITCHELL'S MISSILES: Tuesday, Blake Mitchell blasted his Carolina League leading 18th homer of the season. Mitchell is the first Fireflies player to lead the league in homers since Juan Carlos Negret slapped 23 homers in a pandemic-shortened 2021 season. Mitchell is just one round-tripper shy of Ariel Almonte, who plays for the Daytona Tortugas, for the most round trippers in Single-A in 2024.
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