Fireflies Notch Second No-Hitter in Franchise History in Doubleheader Sweep
Published on August 5, 2026 under Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
Columbia Fireflies pitcher Jhon Reyes
(Columbia Fireflies)
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Michael Lombardi and Jhon Reyes combined to spin Columbia's second no-hitter in franchise history to cap off a doubleheader sweep of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Wednesday night at Segra Park. Columbia took game one 3-1 and won game two 5-0.
Lombardi spun 4.2 innings and struck out eight. Only three batters reached off Lombardi, two were walked and one reached on a wild pitch strikeout. After that, Reyes came in and faced the minimum over 2.1 innings. He struck out two to close out Columbia's first no-hitter in 10 years, three months and 27 days. Thomas McIlrath, Alex Palsha and Johnny Magliozzi earned the team's first no-hitter in their third game as a franchise April 9, 2016 at The Joe in Charleston.
The Fireflies pitching staff has now held the Myrtle Beach Pelicans to one run over the first 16 innings of the series.
Game One
The Fireflies bullpen provided six innings of one-run baseball to provide a game one victory 3-1 over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in game one.
The Fireflies drove ahead in the bottom of the sixth. Henry Ramos and Josh Hammond scratched across back-to-back singles to set the table. After a sacrifice bunt from Yandel Ricardo, Sean Gamble lifted a two-run double to the right field corner to plate a pair off David Bracho (L, 2-4) and give Columbia a 3-1 lead.
Columbia got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. Yandel Ricardo legged out an infield single to kick-off the frame. After that, he moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a second wild pitch to break the scoreless tie.
Both starters were knocked out of the game by Mother Nature after the suspension of game one in the bottom of the third inning Tuesday. Shane Van Dam spun three innings and worked around three hits to keep the Pelicans off the board. He also tallied three strikeouts before his early exit from the game.
Myrtle Beach got their gift in the top of the sixth inning. Caden Sorrell singled and then scored on a pair of wild pitches from Jesus Oliveira (W, 1-0) to tie the game 1-1.
After that, Oliveira cracked down. The righty allowed one of two inherited runners from Yeri Perez to score and then twirled 2.2 scoreless innings in relief. He struck out five to maintain a two-run lead for Columbia.
Finally, Andy Basora (S, 5) was able to come out to earn his team-leading fifth save of the 2026 season with a scoreless ninth.
Game Two
Pitching was the star of the show in game two. The Fireflies staff worked a 21 out no-hitter behind Michael Lombardi and Jhon Reyes. Lombardi earned the first 14 outs and Reyes got the final seven. The two combined for 10 strikeouts to 24 total batters faced.
With Lombardi's eight strikeouts, he's now tied with Jose Butto for the fifth-most in a single-season in franchise history. Butto had 109 strikeouts across the 2019 season.
The Fireflies jumped out to score a pair in the bottom of the first inning. Camden Johnson singled in his first pro at-bat and advanced to third on a single from Josh Hammond. With runners on the corners, Yandel Ricardo grounded out 4-3 to plate Johnson to break the scoreless tie. Later, Sean Gamble reached on a throwing error from the pitcher, Emilio Ramos (L, 1-4) to plate Hammond and give Columbia the 2-0 advantage.
The bats were able to add on in the third inning. Yandel Ricardo walked prior to three-straight singles from Sean Gamble, Jhosmmel Zue and JC Vanek that scored the former three to push Columbia to a 5-0 lead.
On-Deck
Columbia continues their series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans tomorrow night at 7:05 pm. RHP Ryan McDonagh (2-3, 4.45 ERA) takes the bump for Columbia and Myrtle Beach counters with RHP Daniel Avitia (2-3, 4.41 ERA).
Tomorrow is a CVETS Dog Days of Summer. Fans can take their dogs to the game with them-the best part, pups are free with the purchase of a lawn ticket for the accompanying human. Reserve your seat today at FirefliesTickets.com.
Images from this story
 Columbia Fireflies pitcher Jhon Reyes |
Carolina League Stories from August 5, 2026
- Pelicans Swept by Fireflies in De-Facto Doubleheader - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Santana Homers in Crawdads Loss - Hickory Crawdads
- Fireflies Notch Second No-Hitter in Franchise History in Doubleheader Sweep - Columbia Fireflies
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