SAL1 Columbia Fireflies

Fireflies Win Thriller, Take Series in Hagerstown

Published on July 13, 2018 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Columbia Fireflies News Release


HAGERSTOWN, MD - Columbia finished off the Suns in a thriller on Friday night. The Fireflies scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning at Municipal Stadium and hung on for a 7-6 series-clinching win over Hagerstown. Columbia took two out of three from the Suns and is now back to .500 (44-44) on the season.

The score was tied at 5-5 when manager Pedro Lopez's club stepped to the plate in the final frame. The bases loaded with one out against Suns reliever Jared Brasher (L, 0-2). Scott Mane's infield single down the third-base line allowed the first run to score and then the visitors took a 7-5 advantage when Zach Rheams was plunked on the right elbow.

Carlos Hernandez (S, 2) closed the door in the bottom of the ninth and clinched his second save of the season. Hernandez's efforts were on the heels of Darwin Ramos's splendid work on the mound. Columbia's reliable reliever logged three scoreless frames from the sixth inning through the eighth (with the game tied in all three frames, no less). Ramos has recorded 12 straight shut-out frames.

Ironically enough, Columbia held three separate leads against Hagerstown (7-14, 34-55) on Friday. Blake Tiberi's two-run home run in the opening inning gave the Fireflies a 2-0 lead, then after the Suns made a small comeback, the team pulled ahead 5-2 in the fifth. Hagerstown could not catch the visiting club when it took its final lead in the ninth.

Edgardo Fermin slashed three hits on Friday, his fifth three-hit game of the year. Tiberi, Matt Winaker, Manea, Gio Alfonzo and Oliver Pascual all logged two-hit games.

Friday's game featured 28 combined hits - nine of which were extra-base hits.

SCORING SUMMARY:

Top 1 - Blake Tiberi bashes a two-run homer (scoring Edgardo Fermin, who singled), his fourth of the season. COL 2, HAG 0

Bottom 1 - With the bases loaded, Yasel Antuna scores when Alex Dunlap bounces into a 5-4-3 double play. COL 2, HAG 1

Bottom 4 - Paul Pannacione plates Dunlap from third base on a sacrifice fly to left field. COL 2, HAG 2

Top 5 -Fermin plates Gio Alfonzo (who tripled) with a single ... Matt Winaker doubles in Fermin ... Scott Manea drills the third extra-base hit of the inning, this time a double, and plates Winaker. COL 5, HAG 2

Bottom 5 - Nick Choruby drives in two with a triple. COL 5, HAG 4

Bottom 6 - Armond Upshaw's bunt single scores Kameron Esthay from third. COL 5, HAG 5

Top 9 -Manea singles in a run with the bases loaded ... with the bags still full, Zach Rheams is hit by a pitch and bring in a run. COL 7, HAG 5

Bottom 9 - Jake Scudder drives in Cole Freeman (who led off the inning with a triple). COL 7, HAG 6

Columbia begins a four-game set with the Lakewood BlueClaws (Philadelphia Phillies) at 7:05 ET on Saturday at FirstEnergy Park. You can listen to the action on FOX Sports Radio 1400 AM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and the iHeartRadio Radio app starting at 6:45 p.m.

Check out the Columbia Fireflies Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 13, 2018


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