Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes at Charleston
August 18, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster moves affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster.
LHP Chih-Ting Wang has been added to the Columbia Fireflies active roster
RHP Wander Arias has been added to the Columbia Fireflies active roster
There are no corresponding roster moves. Kip Rollings has switched his jersey # to 21. Arias will wear jersey # 22 and Wang will wear jersey # 36.
The Fireflies active roster now sits at 30 with four on the injured list.
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The Columbia Fireflies will play a doubleheader tonight at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Ballpark beginning at 5:05 pm. LHP Emilio Marquez (6-1, 1.53 ERA) will start game one and RHP Heribert Garcia (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will start game two for Columbia. Charleston will offer LHP Ben Brecht (3-2, 3.10 ERA) and LHP Franklin DaCosta (2-0, 1.80 ERA) in the doubleheader.
The Fireflies return home to Segra Park August 31 to start a six-game homestand against the RiverDogs. It will be a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday where all hot dogs, popcorn, fountain sodas and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite will cost only $2. For tickets to the game, visit ColumbiaFireflies.com.
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FIREFLIES DOMINATE IN OPENER AGAINST RIVERDOGS: The Columbia Fireflies came together and topped the RiverDogs 9-3 to open up their series at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Ballpark Tuesday evening. It all started with a stellar start from Luinder Avila (W, 1-0) who allowed only a pair of hits and fanned five in as many innings in his Low-A East debut. The Fireflies closed out the ballgame behind the arms of Luis De Avila who went two scoreless before handing the ball to Dario Peralta, who closed out the ballgame for the Fireflies (43-47). Peralta allowed the only three runs to score, off a two-run homer from Tanner Murray and an RBI single from Beau Brundage in the ninth. Columbia's runs slowly trickled in early in the game, until they were able to pounce for five runs in the top of the seventh. It was an inning that began with four walks from Nomar Rojas and Graeme Stinson, the fourth of which placed the Fireflies in front 4-0. Following that, Herard Gonzalez, Omar Hernandez and Matthew Schmidt all hit singles to push the Fireflies' lead to 8-0 before the end of the frame. The final run of the game scored as Juan Carlos Negret grounded into a double play to score Diego Hernandez.
GARZA'S GANG: Since coming to Columbia, Saul Garza has been absolutely electric at the plate. The infielder is 6-16 with five runs and 5 RBI in the series and has reached base safely in 13 consecutive games dating back to July 25. In that stretch, Garza is slashing .302/.455/.488 with two homers and 11 RBI. The LSU-product has also drawn eight walks and stolen a pair of bases in his August push.
MARQUEE MARQUEZ: Columbia's left-handed pitcher, Emilio Marquez, has been one of the top pitchers in the Low-A East League, and has certainly been the most consistent arm for the Fireflies in 2021. The southpaw has tallied the sixth-most strikeouts in the league (83) in only 59 innings, and has a 0.83 WHIP, which would be lowest amongst qualifying pitchers in the League. Marquez is 10 innings shy of being a qualifying pitcher for the Columbia Fireflies. If he catches up to the mark, he will also have the lowest ERA in the Low-A East League. As it stands, that honor belongs to Joey Estes who has a 2.77 ERA this season.
KILLING THEM WITH SPEED: Tyler Tolbert has been crushing the Fayetteville Woodpeckers during this series. Last night's shortstop has reached base safely 10 times in 20 plate appearances (.500) and has a double, a triple and a grand slam on his way to eight RBI in three games against the Woodpeckers. Tolbert has been on a special streak since July 30, reaching safely in 11 consecutive games. During that time, the speedster owns a .404 on-base percentage, has walked nine times and has five stolen bases. The Mississippi-native has 13 RBI and a pair of homers and triples across that 10-game stretch.
SAVING GRACE: After a tough start to the season, Zack Phillips has turned things around in his last few outings with the Fireflies. He has now only allowed one earned run in his last 13.1 innings (0.68 ERA) to drop his season ERA to 2.05. He began July giving up five runs in four innings. Phillips started the season in Quad Cities where he had a 7.2 inning scoreless streak before he was sent to Columbia.
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