Columbia Fireflies Game Notes vs Salem June 4
June 4, 2022 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies kick-off their weekend against the Salem Red Sox at Salem Memorial Stadium at 6:05 pm. Southpaw Frank Mozzicato (0-1, 9.45 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and Salem goes with RHP Gabriel Jackson (2-5, 5.45 ERA).
Columbia returns home for a two-week homestand June 7-19 that includes two Budweiser Thirsty Thursdays, two Freebie Fridays, two firework shows and the return of Negro League Weekend! Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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SIX-RUN SIXTH SETS DOWN COLUMBIA: Columbia jumped out first Friday night, but couldn't hold the Salem Red Sox, as the Fireflies fell 10-5 at Salem Memorial Ballpark. Columbia (14-35) was nursing a 3-1 lead with Samuel Valerio (L, 0-3) on the bump in the sixth when seven Salem Red Sox (26-23) were able to make it aboard and six scored to send Valerio to the showers early. Valerio spun 1.2 innings in relief and allowed six earned runs off five hits and two walks. Ben Kudrna didn't have his best stuff in his start, as he walked a season-high four batters, but the righty did what he had to, to keep the Red Sox off the board. The Kansas native spun three scoreless frames to lower his season ERA to 0.84 and to push his scoreless innings streak to seven.
BROKEN BATS: The bats have struggled in Virginia. Through the first 309 chances, Columbia is hitting .155 and is 9-69 (.130) with runners in scoring position. Coming into the road trip, the Fireflies already owned the worst batting average in Minor League Baseball, a .194 mark. The second-worst batting average in baseball belongs to the Tri-City Dust Devils, who have a .207 average in their first 45 games of the season.
MAKING MY WAY DOWN TOWN: Fireflies outfielder River Town has been hot this series against Salem, notching four hits, including three doubles in his last three games. Since May 27, Town has a hit in six of seven games played, and is 7-28 (.250) with two walks and three RBI across those seven games.
MULTI-HIT COLLINS: Last night, Darryl Collins went 3-4 with a double, recording his second three-hit game of the season. It moved his season batting average from .237-to-.252. It also snapped an 0-8 skid that started the month of June for the outfielder. The Netherlands product paces the team with 11 multi-hit games this season. River Town and Enrique Valdez are second with seven multi-hit games a piece.
WILLIS THE WAYFINDER: After a rough 2021 season, southpaw Marlin Willis has been hitting a groove with the Fireflies in 2022. He struggled a bit to open up the season, spinning an 8.53 ERA in April, but since, has kept things under control. May was the start of something new for the lefty, who punched out 19 hitters in 12.1 innings while workign a 2.92 ERA in six outings. Last night, he kept things rolling to kick-off June with a scoreless frame of relief work against Salem.
KEEP THAT BALL: Catcher Kyle Hayes struggled to start the season in Quad Cities, going 0-13 before getting sent to Columbia. Yesterday, he received his first professional hit in his career 20th at-bat. He also scored two runs.
NEEDS IMPROVEMENT: Following the first 47 games of the 2022 campaign, Columbia ranks 120th in batting average (.195), 120th in fielding percentage (.948) and 94th in ERA (5.25) out of 120 teams in Minor League Baseball. The pitching staff has allowed more total runs (earned and unearned) than 106 other teams this season.
COMING UP: The Fireflies return home Tuesday for a two-week homestand vs Augusta and Carolina. It will be the first time the Mudcats and Fireflies play each other. The homestand will include two Budweiser Thirsty Thursdays, two fireworks shows, Pride Night and Negro League Weekend. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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