Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes 7.9 at Charleston
July 9, 2024 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster moves affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster:
RHP Ethan Bosacker has been promoted to the Quad Cities River Bandits active roster
RHP Henson Leal has been added to the Fireflies active roster
Leal will wear jersey #21. RHP Nicholas Regalado is switching his jersey to #11.
The Fireflies active roster now sits at 30.
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The Fireflies kick-off a series with the Charleston RiverDogs tonight at The Joe at 7:05 pm. RHP Logan Martin (1-2, 3.66 ERA) takes the ball for Columbia and Charleston counters with RHP Engert Garcia (2-4, 3.64 ERA).
The Fireflies return home Friday, July 19 for the start of Dino Weekend! Join us as we have a Mason Triceratops Bobblehead giveaway July 19, Jurassic World Night July 20 and we'll bring back Ed's Dinosaurs real life interactive dinosaurs Sunday, July 21. Buy your tickets now at ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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FIREFLIES SUSPENDED AFTER THREE IN AUGUSTA: While trailing 6-0 in the top of the fourth inning Saturday at SRP Park, the Columbia Fireflies and Augusta GreenJackets game was suspended due to rain. The game will be completed as part of a doubleheader at SRP Park Tuesday, August 27. The GreenJackets got on the board in the first inning. Will Verdung doubled to score Isaiah Drake to break the scoreless tie. In the second, Leiker Figueroa launched a sacrifice fly off Mauricio Veliz to increase Augusta's lead to 2-0. The big blow came in the third. Noah Williams launched his first homer of the season, a grand slam, beyond the right field fence to make Columbia's deficit 6-0.
GOING STREAKING: Catcher Dionmy Salon is riding a hot streak for Columbia. He is on his longest hitting streak of the season, a 10-game stretch that began June 9 and is the second-longest active hitting streak in the Carolina League. He trails Esteban Gonzalez who has hit in 13-consecutive games for the Lynchburg Hillcats. Salon is 13-30 (.433) on the run and has five RBI. Salon has increased his batting average from .165 to .232 during the strech which encapsulates over one quarter of his games played this season. Columbia's backstop has also scored a run in three-straight games, which is the longest active streak for a Fireflies player.
KICKING WITH KIRKLAND: In Doug Kirkland's last eight outings, he has allowed just one earned run spanning 14.1 innings of work (0.63 ERA). In that time, he has 17 punchouts and his opponents are hitting .119 against him. In his first full professional season, Kirkland is 3-3 with a 2.60 ERA. He has an outlandish 37 strikeouts in 27.2 innings and opponents are hitting just .176 against him this season.
I CAN SEE THE FUTURE: Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced their All-Star Future's game rosters, which contained a pair of former Fireflies player. RHP Ben Kudrna was Kansas City's second rounder in 2021 and after spinning a 3.48 ERA in 17 starts in 2022, he was named the Columbia Fireflies Pitcher of the Year by the Royals. Gavin Cross was also named to the roster. The outfielder was selected in the first round of the 2022 draft out of Virginia Tech and reached base safely in his final 22 games with the Fireflies that same season.
THIS IS 40: Thursday night, Austin Charles drove in a pair of RBI, giving him 40 on the young season. In 2023 only three Fireflies finished the season with 40 or more RBI: Brett Squires (69), Lizandro Rodriguez (44) and Daniel Vazquez (43). 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.
MUCH-NEEDED BREAK: The Fireflies got back-to-back days off prior to the trip to Charleston and following this week, the team will enjoy the four-day All-Star Break. After finishing second in the South Division in the first half of the 2024 campaign, the Fireflies are half a game back of the RiverDogs for first place in the South Division in the second half. Following the six-game set, Columbia has 46 games remaining in the season to knock on the door of the franchise's first playoff berth.
JUMPING OUT IN JULY: The Fireflies bats have been hot through the first five games of the month. As a whole, the team is hitting .242 and has six players batting over .300 on the month (Rodriguez, Lucas, Mitchell, Salon, Um and Charles).
Carolina League Stories from July 9, 2024
- RiverDogs Stretch Win Streak to Seven with 8-0 Shutout of Columbia - Charleston RiverDogs
- Early Lead Vanishes as Woodpeckers Walked-off by GreenJackets - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
- Drake Plays Hero as GreenJackets Walk-off Woodpeckers - Augusta GreenJackets
- Fireflies Blanked in Charleston - Columbia Fireflies
- Pelicans Snap Losing Streak, Beat Cannon Ballers 1-0 in Series Opener - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Sykora Dominates but FredNats Lose 2-1 - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Eighth Inning Rally Propels Mudcats to Victory - Carolina Mudcats
- Shorebirds Fend off Hillcats in Series Opener - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Hillcats Taken Down by Shorebirds, 5-1 - Lynchburg Hillcats
- RiverDogs to Honor All-Lowcountry Baseball and Softball Teams - Charleston RiverDogs
- MiLB's Newest Team, the Malmö Oat Milkers, to Play in Fredericksburg - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes 7.9 at Charleston - Columbia Fireflies
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