Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 4.18 at Kannapolis
April 18, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies kick-off their weekend with a 7 pm game against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers at Atrium Health Ballpark. RHP Tanner Jones (0-1, 7.71 ERA) takes the hill for Columbia and Kannapolis counters with RHP Gabriel Rodriguez (0-0, 4.50 ERA).
Columbia closes out the month of April at Segra Park with some can't-miss promotions! The team is home from April 22-May 4 and will host USC Night presented by E.F. Martin April 24, Faith and Family Night presented by United Way of the Midlands April 26, Bluey at the Ballpark presented by South Carolina Department of Social Services May 3 and Star Wars Night presented by Founders Credit Union May 4. Buy your tickets now at FirefliesTickets.com.
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COLUMBIA WINS 7-5 IN EXTRAS THURSDAY NIGHT: The Fireflies rallied late to beat the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers with an infield single 7-5 in 10 innings at Atrium Health Ballpark Thursday night. Roni Cabrera played the hero role in extras. He entered the game as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded and two outs. Cabrera legged out an infield single that allowed pinch runner Giulliano Allende and Colton Becker to motor around, putting Columbia in front 7-5. Dash Albus (W, 1-1) was lights out from the pen. He entered in the ninth with one out and a runner on third. After inducing a strikeout from Ryan Burrowes, he got Nathan Archer to fly out to push the game to extras. He worked a scoreless 10th to secure the win for Columbia-and a share of first place in the South Division.
SPEED, I AM SPEED: Asbel Gonzalez swiped two more bases Thursday, adding to his Carolina League leading total. The center fielder has 17 stolen bases. The next closest base stealer is Tommy Hawke, who has 11 steals for the Hillcats in the 2025 season. After Tuesday, Gonzalez also leads all of Minor League Baseball in steals. The next closest is Jacksonville's Jakob Marsee, who has 14 steals in 17 games. If that weren't enough, Gonzalez is also riding the team's longest hitting streak, an eight-game stretch that began April 8. On the run, he is 17-33 (.515) with 12 stolen bases and seven runs scored.
BULLISH ON THE PEN: Last week, the Fireflies bullpen was on a tear. After tallying an ERA over seven over the Opening Weeknd against the Augusta GreenJackets, relievers have allowed only 12 earned runs in 49.2 innings since April 8. That's good for a 2.19 ERA in more than 5.1 innings per game over the Fireflies last seven contests. Thursday, Columbia continued that roll as the bullpen surrendered only one earned run over 6.1 innings.
RIPPING RONI: Last night, Roni Cabrera got a bases loaded, pinch hit opportunity against Kannapolis. He legged out an infield single that scored a pair of runs, propelling the Fireflies to a 7-5 win in 10 innings. In Cabrera's last two games, he now has six RBI, giving him seven on the season.
WE'RE ONLY GETTING STARTED: Ramon Ramirez had his second multi-hit game of the season Sunday--this time with a pair of homers. The righty became the second Fireflies player to notch six RBI in a game after hitting a grand slam and a two-run homer in the first three innings against Charleston. He joined Derlin Figueroa who accomplished the feat the previous Sunday at Augusta. Ramirez kept the train rolling with a 3-5 outing Wednesday. He leads the Carolina League with four homers and is tied for second in the circuit with 14 RBI. Ramirez has the for the second-longest extra-base hit streak in the Carolina League, as he has tallied an extra-base hit in four consecutive contests. His OPS is 1.913 on the run.
NO PROBLEM WITH INHERITANCE: Yesterday, Elvis Novas, Fraynel Nova and Dash Albus stranded all four inherited runners on the basepaths. So far this season, Columbia's pen has stranded 17 of 20 (85%) runners they've inherited from the previous pitcher.
BATS BUSINESS IS BOOMING: Columbia is second in the Carolina League in batting average (.267) and stolen bases (39) through their first 12 games. The Fireflies are also the only team in the league with less than 100 strikeouts.
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