The streak eventually came to an end on July 21st. Erick Pena was the real star of June for the Fireflies. The longest tenured hitter on the team earned Carolina League Player of the Week honors for his performance in the series against Myrtle Beach June 10-16. In six games against the Pelicans, the big bopper hit .333 with five extra-base hits (including a homer) and six RBI, while also earning four walks and swiping three bases. Pena kept swinging the bat well upon returning to Segra Park the next week. The Dominican slugger tied the franchise’s all-time home run record, previously held by Dash Winningham, on June 18, 2024 with his 25th long ball in a Fireflies uniform. Pena wasted no time claiming sole possession of the record. The next day, the lefty sent another ball into the bleachers for his 26th career home run as a Columbia Firefly, fully taking the record as his own. Blake Mitchell has also shown a propensity for pop this season. He has slugged 18 round-trippers in 2024, the second-most homers in a single season by a Fireflies hitter. Only Juan Carlos Negret hit more in one year, mashing 23 long balls during 2021’s shortened season. Mitchell’s 18 homers are currently the second-highest among all Single-A hitters this season. JULY In July, the Fireflies showed an ability to come through in the clutch. In a six-game series against the Lynchburg Hillcats, Columbia earned three separate walk-off wins, two of them coming in back-to-back games. July 25, Austin Charles roped a single with the bases loaded to tie the score. On the play, Blake Mitchell advanced to third and forced a throwing error that allowed him to move forward an extra 90 feet to score the game’s winning run. A day later, the Fireflies walked it off again. This time, Erick Torres delivered the fatal blow with a game-winning double in the 11th inning. The win sealed Columbia’s first instance of back-to-back walk-off wins since August 24 and 25, 2022 vs Salem. The Fireflies walked-off Lynchburg again July 28 for their third walk-off win in four days. With a tie game in the bottom of the tenth, Brennan McNair laced a single to score Derlin Figueroa, sealing the win and the series victory against the Hillcats. Columbia also had two walk-off wins before July…a 6-5 win against Myrtle Beach in April thanks to a wild pitch that allowed Erick Torres to score, and a 5-4 win in 11 innings against Salem on May 10, made possible by a two-run sacrifice fly from Austin Charles. The sacrifice fly completed a three-run comeback in extra innings. The Fireflies added another walk-off winner in August, where Erick Torres scored the winning run on a wild pitch, again. This time to solidify a 2-1 victory against Kannapolis. AUGUST If hitting and a flare for the dramatic were the main themes of July, pitching was the biggest factor in August for the Columbia Fireflies. Columbia’s pitching staff threw shutouts on four separate occasions in August against four different teams. Fireflies hurlers recorded eight shutouts in total in 2024. One in July, one in June and two in April. Jonatan Bernal won Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for the second time in his Fireflies career. The righty dominated in his lone start the week of August 12-18, spinning seven scoreless innings in a 9-0 win against Myrtle Beach. Bernal allowed two hits, two walks and struck out six in a stellar outing. The bullpen was also stupendous in August, but the bullpen has been a key cog in Columbia’s winning recipe all season. Columbia relievers have combined for a 3.02 ERA in 524 innings pitched through August 31, the second-lowest bullpen ERA in all of the Minor Leagues. In 2024, the Fireflies’ pen sports a record of 44-21 with 34 saves and a 39-6 record when leading after six innings. Elvis Novas, Ismael Michel and Jarold Rosado all hold sub- 2.00 ERAs as relievers. Doug Kirkland and Josh Hansell both have sub-3.00 ERAs. The 2023 campaign was the franchise’s first winning season since its 2016 arrival in Columbia and featured a record of 66-65. Columbia could accomplish consecutive winning seasons for the first time and its winningest season in Columbia in one year in 2024.
27
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online