RiverDogs swim past Fireflies, 7-1
CHARLESTON, SC (Fireflies) – Ian Strom slashed a pair of hits on Friday, but Columbia dropped the series opener to Charleston, 7-1. The Hopedale, Massachusetts, product accomplished the feat in just his fifth game as a Firefly.
After two innings of play, it looked as if we were bound to see another pitcher’s duel. Both Nick Green (W, 5-6) and Thomas McIlraith (L, 2-1) hurled two clean innings. Charleston (10-5, 44-41) plated three runs, though, in the third, an inning highlighted by Brandon Wagner’s two-run double.
The home team scored again in the fourth. Carlos Vidal doubled and moved to third when Hoy Park laced a single. Moments later, Diego Castillo drove in Vidal from third.
Columbia (6-9, 46-37) would soon find the scoreboard, but it did so after two more RiverDogs runs in the sixth. Trailing 6-0, Brandon Brosher walked with one out in the top of the seventh. Brosher zoomed to second base after Jay Jabs bashed a base hit. Green then misfired with a pitch and both runners moved into scoring position thanks to the wild pitch. Ali Sanchez singled to left field, scoring Brosher – it was Sanchez’s 14th RBI of the year.
Charleston added one more run in the seventh to pull back ahead, 7-1.
Columbia battles its Southern Division rival again on Saturday from Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park starting at 6:05 p.m. Southpaw Blake Taylor (1-7, 3.65) looks for back-to-back wins. Charleston trots out righty Freicer Perez (4-3, 3.03) to the mound.
You can listen to the action on ESPN Columbia 94.9 FM and 1230 AM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and on the TuneIn app starting at 5:45 p.m.
