CarL Columbia Fireflies

Columbia Fireflies Roster Moves and Game Notes August 16

Published on August 16, 2022 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release


The Kansas City Royals have made the following roster move affecting the Columbia Fireflies active roster:

OF Erick Peña has been placed on the development list

There is no corresponding move. The Fireflies active roster now sits at 29 with two on the development list and one on the injured list.

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Columbia kicks off a series with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers tonight at Segra Park at 7:05 pm. RHP Jonatan Bernal (1-5, 5.02 ERA) earns his first start in the Royals system tonight, while Kannapolis counters with southpaw Jonah Scolaro (0-1, 3.38 ERA).

Tonight is a Miller Lite $2 Tuesday at Segra Park. Fans can purchase hot dogs, popcorn, fountain sodas and 12 oz cans of Miller Lite for just $2 all night long. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.

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CROSS HOMER PUSHES FIREFLIES TO VICTORY: The Fireflies outlasted Myrtle Beach in a 5-4 win at TicketReturn.com Field Sunday evening. The win allowed Columbia to take four of six from Myrtle Beach, winning their second series of the season. Gavin Cross smashed a two-run blast in the top of the fifth to plate Javier Vaz and give Columbia a 4-3 lead. It was the first rounder's first homerun in the neon and navy. Cross finished the day 3-5 with two singles beating the shift, that homer and three RBI. The next inning, Javier Vaz grounded into a force out with the bases loaded, scoring carter Jensen to give the Fireflies some much-needed insurance and a 5-3 lead. Liam Spence tagged Luinder Avila with a three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning to give Myrtle Beach a 3-2 lead. It was Spence's second homer of the season. Both runners on the base paths were walked aboard with no outs.

JUMP STARTING JENSEN: Backstop Carter Jensen has been on a tear this series vs Myrtle Beach. Wednesday, Columbia's catcher went 3-4 with two doubles and a homer. On the series, he is now 5-8 with three doubles and a home run. He has scored two runs and has two RBI in the two games so far.

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 14-18 record (.438) and are three games back of first place.

ONE-RUN FUN: The Fireflies have won four-consecutive games against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and all four games have been decided by a single run. In fact, only one of the six games last series have been decided by more than one run, a 7-4 loss to the Pelicans Wednesday. On the season, the Fireflies have a 20-15 record in one-run contests.

BOLSTERED BULLPEN: After Wander Arias and Matt Stil twirled 6.1 one-run innings Friday night, Marlin Willis and Ben Wereski kept the streak alive with 4.1 scoreless frames. Then Sunday, the bullpen used four pitchers to string together seven innings all while giving up only a single run. Since Thursday, the bullpen has allowed two runs in 17.2 innings of work (1.02 ERA). Had the Fireflies lost all three of those games, they'd be in fifth place in the division and 4.5 games out of first rather than in second and three games away from clinching the first playoff berth in franchise history.

FRESH BATS MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Cayden Wallace and Gavin Cross joined the Fireflies while they were on the road in Myrtle Beach, and the two helped Columbia win a few games and ultimately their second series of the 2022 campaign. The outfielder and third baseman combined to go 9-28 (.321 average) with eight RBI on the series. The Fireflies scored 21 runs across the week and the other bats combined to go 37-166 at the dish (.222).

IT REMINDS ME OF THE HUNT: Columbia is in second place in the South Division second-half standings, three games back of the Charleston RiverDogs with 24 games remaining in the season. This week, the RiverDogs are playing seven games against the Augusta GreenJackets, who have won 10 of their last 12 games.

Check out the Columbia Fireflies Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from August 16, 2022


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