Giovanny Alfonzo bashed his second home run of the season on Sunday in Rome, but the Fireflies stumbled in the series finale to the Braves, 5-3. The Fireflies are off on Monday and return to action at Spirit Communications Park on Tuesday.
Raphael Gladu has been arguably the best hitter in the South Atlantic League since May 9. That’s when the outfielder’s hit streak began. Gladu stretched it to 18 straight games with a pair of doubles on Saturday in Columbia’s 3-1 loss to Rome at State Mutual Stadium.
It seems as though every game between and Columbia and Charleston in 2018 is tense, competitive and close.
The Fireflies surged past the Power and won 6-5 in front of 6,809 fans (second-largest crowd of the season) on Wednesday at Spirit Communications Park.
Fortunately for the Fireflies, 19-year-old Edgardo Fermin strolled to the plate in the two most tense moments in Tuesday’s game against West Virginia.
Columbia played in its seventh one-run game in its last nine, but came out on the losing end on Monday.
Joe Cavallaro had a confidence and swagger on the mound Friday that Charleston’s hitters could not match. The righty fanned a new career-high nine batters and led Columbia to a 3-1 victory. The Fireflies have taken the first two games of the series and won three straight.
The Fireflies stole a victory right out of Charleston’s grasp on Thursday night at Joe Riley Park. Columbia turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead – which wound up being the final score – in the eighth inning to clinch a come-from-behind win. The Fireflies are now three games above .500 for the first time in 10 days.
Monday’s tilt at Spirit Communications Park proved to be quite the barn-burner with premier pitching. Columbia’s David Peterson allowed just two hits over seven innings but surrendered a first-inning run to the pesky Shorebirds.
Columbia and Delmarva revealed just how prolific its offenses were early on Saturday night. The clubs totaled 14 runs in the first three innings but the Shorebirds wound up winning the series opener, 8-7, at Spirit Communications Park. Scott Manea collected three hits and extended his on-base streak to 16 straight games.
