Columbia Fireflies Game Notes 4.20 at Kannapolis
April 20, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Columbia Fireflies News Release
The Fireflies wrap-up their series with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers this afternoon at 1:30 pm at Atrium Health Ballpark. RHP Hiro Wyatt (1-0, 0.00 ERA) climbs the hill for Columbia and Kannapolis counters wtih LHP Nick Pinto (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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FIREFLIES HIT A PAIR OF HOMERS IN 14-4 LOSS: The Fireflies bats hit a pair of homers early, but it wasn't enough to counter Kannapolis in a 14-4 loss at Atrium Health Ballpark Saturday evening. Kannapolis scored runs in every inning except the seventh. Elvis Novas was able to get through the inning without allowing a base runner before turning the ball over to Nick Conte for the eighth inning. The Cannon Ballers struck gold in the home half of the first. Caleb Bonemer started the inning with a walk. Then Ronny Hernandez singled to put runners on first and second with no outs. After a pair of ground outs, Bonemer came around to tie the game with two outs. Nick McLain muscled a single to right to break the tie and score Hernandez. Next, Jordan Sprinkle kept the inning alive with a walk so Nathan Archer could slap another RBI single to right to give Kannapolis a 3-1 lead heading into the second.
SPEED, I AM SPEED: Asbel Gonzalez swiped one more base Saturday, adding to his MiLB leading total. The center fielder has 20 stolen bases. The next closest is Lynchburg's Tommy Hawke, who has 15 steals. If that weren't enough, Gonzalez is also riding the team's longest hitting streak, a 10-game stretch that began April 8. On the run, he is 19-40 (.475) with 15 stolen bases and nine runs scored. It is the Fireflies longest hitting streak since Derlin Figueroa hit safely in 13-consecutive games from May 12-26, 2024.
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 15 RBI. The catcher's five-game extra-base hit streak, which is tied for the third-longest extra-base hit streak in franchise history, ended with an 0-4 outing Saturday. Gavin Cross (8/14-8/20/22) and Trevor Werner (8/17-8/23/23) are tied for the record with a six-game streak. Ramirez is hitting .450 on the run with 2 doubles, all four of his homers and 13 RBI. His OPS is 1.670 over the five games.
NO PROBLEM WITH INHERITANCE: Yesterday, Dionmy Salon stranded the only three inherited runners that the bullpen saw. So far this season, Columbia's pen has stranded 22 of 25 runners (88%) they've inherited from the previous pitcher.
BATS BUSINESS IS BOOMING: Columbia is second in the Carolina League in batting average (.263) and is first in stolen bases (47). The Fireflies also have the second-fewest strikeouts in the Carolina League (109). They trail the RiverDogs who have only punched out 106 times this season.
LOVING LEAL: Henson Leal is back for his second season in the Soda City. The righty had a 4.87 ERA in 12 games for Columbia at the end of the 2024 season. This year, he has thrived in his role, spinning 10 innings across five games to the tune of a 0.90 ERA. Leal is holding opponents to a .128 average and has only issued a pair of free passes this year. The righty hasn't had a save opportunity yet this year, but he did earn his first hold of 2025 thanks to 2.1 hitless innings in relief Friday evening.
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