Fireflies Beat Greensboro in Extras Sunday
COLUMBIA, SC (Fireflies) – Tyler Moore muscled a single to center field and plated J.C. Rodriguez in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Fireflies the victory, 3-2, over the Grasshoppers on Sunday night. Columbia took three out of four from Greensboro and earned its third walk-off win of the year.
The game lasted four hours and 22 minutes – the longest contest of the season for the Fireflies. With the score tied, 2-2, Greensboro (25-25, 63-57) called upon Sam Sawczak (L, 0-1) out of the bullpen to pitch the twelfth frame. The lefty allowed consecutive singles to Rodriguez and Dash Winningham. Then Moore fought off an inside fastball and flicked the game-winning single.
All the way back in the fourth inning, Columbia (19-31, 55-65) got on the board first. Patrick Mazeika walked to begin the frame and Eudor Garcia followed with a double to right field. With both runners in scoring position, Grasshoppers’ starter Trevor Richards tossed a wild pitch, which enabled Mazeika to score from third base.
Greensboro stole the home team’s lead in the sixth. Isael Soto smacked a triple to right-center field to break up Chase Ingram’s no-hit bid. Clean-up hitter Angel Reyes pushed a single to right to bring Soto home and even the score at one apiece. It was Aaron Blanton’s turn at the plate and he scorched a run-scoring double to the alley in left-center field. The visitors had the edge, 2-1.
The Fireflies knotted the game up in the bottom of the eighth. Tucker Tharp stroked a single and moved into scoring position after Jeff Kinley’s wild pitch skittered to the backstop. Two batters later, Rodriguez hit a single off of C.J. Robinson’s leg, which advanced Tharp to third base. Dash Winningham flew out to left field, but the fly ball was plenty deep to score Tharp and tie the game.
The bullpen was rock-solid for Columbia. Witt Haggard, Seth Davis, and Johnny Magliozzi (W, 4-4) combined for 5.2 innings of shut-out baseball. The trio altogether allowed just three hits.
Columbia enjoys an off-day on Monday and heads to Asheville for a three-game series starting on Tuesday night. Right-hander Gaby Almonte (2-5, 4.87) starts for the Fireflies and faces Asheville righty Peter Lambert (5-8, 4.11). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
You can listen to the action Tuesday on WGCV 620 AM and 96.3 FM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and the TuneIn Radio app starting at 7:00 p.m.
