Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Myrtle Beach August 10
Published on August 10, 2022 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies continue their series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans tonight at TicketReturn.com Field at 7:05 pm. Southpaw Frank Mozzicato (1-5, 5.40 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and Myrtle Beach uses RHP Tyler Santana (9-1, 2.28 ERA).
The Fireflies return home for a two-week homestand against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers and the Salem Red Sox August 16-28. The Fireflies will host Marvel Defenders of the Diamond Night and wear special Black Panther Jerseys, host two fireworks shows and giveaway two shirts on the homestand. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
------
AVILA DOMINANT IN 1-0 LOSS TO PELICANS: The Fireflies wasted an incredible performance from starter Luinder Avila as they fell 1-0 to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Tuesday night at TicketReturn.com Field. Luinder Avila turned in the most dominant start of the season for any Fireflies pitcher. The righty tossed a career-best seven innings while allowing only a trio of hits. He exited the game with the two teams still locked in a scoreless stalemate. In the bottom of the eighth, Oscar Rayo (L, 1-1) loaded the bases with a hit by pitch with two outs. The next batter, James Triantos, worked a four pitch walk to score Ezequiel Pagan to break the scoreless tie. Luke Little twirled 3.2 innings to start off the shutout before Jose Miguel Gonzalez (W, 7-3) spun the next four innings. Gregori Montano (S, 1) closed the door with a scoreless ninth inning to complete the shutout of the Fireflies.
NOT GOING TO GET THE JOB DONE: Last night, the Fireflies had their fair share of opportunities to score a run. The team mustered seven hits and three walks, but were unable to scratch a run across. The big contributing factor to that is that the Fireflies finished 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position. The lone hit was a single from Erick Pena that resulted in Carter Jensen being thrown out at the plate.
A RARE OCCURANCE: The last time the Fireflies lost 1-0 was at SRP Park on June 30, 2021. Columbia was blanked for the ninth time this season in yesterday's 1-0 loss.
NEW FACES IN THE CLUBHOUSE: Columbia also had the chance to welcome three new faces into the locker room today. Outfielder Gavin Cross and infielders Lizando Rodriguez and Yeudi Advincola were all added to the Fireflies active roster today. Cross is a fresh face in Minor League Baseball, as the Royals added him with the ninth overall pick in this year's draft out of Virginia Tech. The outfielder played three games in the Arizona Complex League, hitting safely in each game and working a 1.583 OPS in the stint in Arizona. Cross had more RBI (50) than strikeouts (41) while playing with the Virginia Tech Hokies prior to the draft. Rodriguez has been paired with Fireflies shortstop Daniel Vazquez since being selected in the same International Signing Class in 2019. The two were both considered top infielders in that year's International Pool. This year, Rodriguez has showed off his bat in 25 games in Arizona. The 19-year-old was hitting .317 with five homers and 17 runs scored in the highest level he's played at. Finally, Advincola was named the DSL Royals White Player of the Year in 2021and hasn't missed a beat in Arizona during the 2022 campaign. He's hitting .390 as the table-setter in 23 games this season.
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 10-17 record (.370) and are four games back of first place.
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: The Fireflies changed their pace of the season in July, finishing above .500 in a month of games for the first time since May 2021. Columbia was 12-11 across July including the latter-half of a six-game sweep of the Augusta GreenJackets at the start of the month. The smooth sailing hasn't continuing in August as the Fireflies have kicked-off the month dropping six of their first seven games.
Carolina League Stories from August 10, 2022
- Gilbert and Dezenzo Homers Help Woodpeckers Split Doubleheader - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- RiverDogs' Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short in 5-3 Loss - Charleston RiverDogs
- Mudcats and Shorebirds Suspended Due to Rain - Carolina Mudcats
- Jensen's Three Extra-Base Hits Not Enough - Columbia Fireflies
- Shorebirds and Mudcats Suspended on Wednesday Night - Delmarva Shorebirds
- GreenJackets and Fred Nats Postponed on Wednesday - Augusta GreenJackets
- FredNats and GreenJackets Rained out on Wednesday - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Myrtle Beach August 10 - Columbia Fireflies
- Late Home Run from Kath Not Enough in Ballers' 5-3 Loss to Salem in Series Opener - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Brown and Sibrian Homer as Mudcats Take Opener 7-5 - Carolina Mudcats
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.
