Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes 8.29 vs Delmarva
August 29, 2023 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster moves affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster:
RHP Shane Panzini has been promoted to the Quad Cities River Bandits active roster
RHP Marcus Olivarez has been promoted to the Quad Cities River Bandits active roster
RHP Logan Martin has been promoted to the Fireflies active roster from the ACL Royals
RHP Felix Arronde has been promoted to the Fireflies active roster from the ACL Royals
RHP Chase Isbell has been promoted to the Fireflies active roster from the ACL Royals
Martin will wear jersey #23. Arronde will wear jersey #15. Isbell will wear jersey #36.
The Fireflies active roster now sits at 30.
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Columbia kicks-off their final homestand of the season vs the Delmarva Shorebirds this evening at Segra Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Logan Martin (Debut) takes the hill for Columbia and Delmarva counters with LHP Deivy Cruz (8-4, 3.57 ERA).
Tonight is a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday where fans can purchase $2 hot dogs, popcorn, fountain sodas and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.
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FIREFLIES BLAST PAST MUDCATS 9-0: The Fireflies fired on all cylinders, tallying 17 hits and three homers in their 12th shutout of the season and their first since July 22 as they beat the Carolina Mudcats 9-0 Columbia started the scoring with a thump in the first inning. Spencer Nivens and Brett Squires set the table with back-to-back two outs singles. Next, Austin Charles started the scoring with a flair single to bring Nivens home before Trevor Werner cleared the bases with his fourth homer of the series. The Fireflies brought a 4-0 lead to the bottom of the first. In the fifth inning, the Fireflies bats came back out to play. Carson Roccaforte singled to move his on-base streak to 16 games and then stole a pair of bases before coming around on a throwing error from catcher Blayberg Diaz. Next, Brett Squires smoked his 12th homer of the season beyond the left field wall to bring Columbia's lead to 6-0.
HOT START: Carson Roccaforte started his Carolina League career on an eight-game hitting streak. Even though the hitting streak ended last Friday against Myrtle Beach, Roccaforte has reached base safely in each of his first 16 games in the circuit. The lefty is 17-60 with 14 walks and has put together a .437 on-base percentage while swiping eight bases and driving in nine RBI.
CAREER MILESTONES FOR RAYO: Last night, Oscar Rayo notched another quality start. The lefty is 21 years old and already in his third season in professional ball. Across those three seasons, the southpaw has now thrown 125 innings. In 131 frames he is 7-3 with a 3.02 ERA. He has held opponents to a respectable .241 average while keeping his walk rate low to earn an elite 1.11 WHIP. If that weren't enough, he also has 138 punchouts or 9.48 per nine innings pitched.
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: Tonight, Columbia is playing their 120th game of the 131 games they have scheduled to play. The club has one road trip remaining, as they'll play six against Myrtle Beach. They will also play six more games remaining at Segra Park this year. They'll play six games against the Delmarva Shorebirds from August 29-September 3 to close out their home schedule. With 13 games remaining, the Fireflies trail the Charleston RiverDogs by nine games in the South Division second-half standings.
WERNING OPPONENTS: Trevor Werner has demolished the baseball in the first five games against Carolina. Sunday in the fifth, Werner smashed his fifth homer of the series and he has gone 11-24 with two doubles so far this week. It's hard to believe the hot stretch actually started well before this series began, Werner is riding a 11-game hitting streak right now. On the run, Werner is 17-44 (.386) with five homers and 18 RBI in just 11 games dating back to August 14. His streak is the longest Fireflies hitting streak since Javier Vaz had an 11-game hitting streak to finish the 2022 season. Hot on his heels, Daniel Vazquez is also riding a eight-game hitting streak, which is the 19-year-old's longest hitting streak of the season and his second streak of six or more games.
DUCKS ON THE POND: The Fireflies bats have found their way against the Carolina Mudcats the last few nights. Friday, the club had a season-best 17 hits in a 12-4 win over the Mudcats. Saturday, the team added another 10 hits in a loss. Over the two games 17 of Columbia's 18 hitters in the starting lineup notched a hit, with Omar Hernandez's 0-4 outing last night the lone zero on the board for the Fireflies.
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