Columbia Fireflies @ Charleston RiverDogs
April 9, 2016
Teams
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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R
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H
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E
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|
Columbia
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3
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0
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0
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0
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1
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1
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3
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0
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1
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9
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9
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1
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|
Charleston
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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1
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W: McIlraith (1-0,
0.00 ERA); L: Rogers (0-1, 5.40 ERA)
The Highlights:
Pitchers
Today: W 9-0, McIlraith (0.00 ERA) – 6 IP, 2 BB, 6 K, 72
Pitches (46 Strikes), 10 GO
Alex Palsha (10.13 ERA) – 2 IP, 4 K, 2 FO
Johnny Magliozzi (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 3 K
Batters
RF – Kevin Kaczmarski – 3-5, 3 R, 2B (1), SO
1B – Dash Winningham – 1-3, 2 R, BB, HBP
3B – David Thompson – 1-4, R, HR (1), 4 RBI (5)
DH – Jeffrey Diehl – 2-3, R, BB, HBP, SO
LF – Joe Tuschak – 1-4, RBI (1), BB, GIDP
C – Jose Garcia – 1-4, BB, SO
Recap
A
wild first week of Mets minor league baseball continued Saturday evening, and
it made history for Columbia. After losing in walkoff fashion during their
first two games, the Fireflies made sure they couldn’t suffer the same fate
tonight by no-hitting the Charleston RiverDogs on the road. Thomas McIlraith
was making his first SAL start, and he did most of the heavy lifting over 6
innings of work before Alex Palsha and Johnny Magliozzi worked the last 3,
combining to strikeout the final 5 Charleston batters. David Thompson also made
Fireflies history Saturday, launching the franchises first homerun on a moon
shot to left center field. While the defense mostly had an easy day behind
McIlraith and the Fireflies pitching, the no-hitter never would’ve happened
without an absolutely stunning catch in CF from Ivan Wilson (see below).
McIlraith
was a blast to watch, because he came out firing strikes and working quickly.
He describes his stuff here,
and you can preview it below, but as you can tell from the stat line, it was a
groundball fest while he was on the mound. Both walks issued were to the first
batter of the inning, and he’d immediately settle back down after pitching from
the stretch. A few pitches got away from him throughout the start, but he
otherwise showed great command. He didn’t induce a swinging strike in the 1st
inning, but then the RiverDogs batters whiffed upon 11 of his final 55 pitches.
I
go into the offensive highlights below, but this Fireflies lineup is deep for
the SAL, and made the Charleston pitchers pay Saturday. The lefty Thompson hit
his homerun off of was maxing out in the upper 80’s with his fastball, but he
still crushed that ball. Ivan Wilson would’ve had 1-2 infield hits with a
normal 3B in the field, but the RiverDogs have a shortstop playing 3B right
now.
After
a long top of the 7th inning, manager Jose Leger chose to bring in
Alex Palsha from the start of the frame. Palsha struggled with command in his
first appearance, which led to the first walkoff win for Charleston, but he was
very sharp in this appearance. He struck out a pair of batters in each frame,
and induced a couple of lazy fly balls otherwise.
Magliozzi was the other reliever
involved in the first walkoff loss, and he was the one who threw the ball away
Thursday, so this must’ve been especially redeeming for him. It’s hard to not
look great striking out the side, and you could tell the adrenaline had Mags
pumped up for the moment, which made it especially fun to watch. Whether you
want to point to the pitching or the hitting, the RiverDogs batters were not
taking good AB’s by the end of the game, and Palsha and Mags took advantage of
that. Per Magliozzi, Palsha didn't even know it was a nono opportunity when he entered the game! Magliozzi said that he was aware though, and that he treated it like a save situation, which is pretty awesome.
This series wraps up Sunday
afternoon at 5:05 PM, with Kevin Canelon scheduled to make his SAL debut and
the Fireflies looking both to get back to .500, and to put together their first
win streak.
Scoring Highlights
Kevin
Kaczmarski picked up his first hit of the year on an infield single hit to Hoy
Jun Park. After Siena walked and Dash flew out to LF, David Thompson came
through with the first homerun in Fireflies history.
Dash
Winningham added a single in the 3rd inning.
 |
| Scary moment for Dash before the hit |
Kaczmarski
picked up his second single of the game in the 5th inning, went to
2B on a fielding error, to 3B on a passed ball, and then scored on a sac fly.
Jeff
Diehl picked up his second single of the game with one out in the 6th
inning. After Joe Tuschak walked, Jose Garcia reached on an infield single to
load the bases. Milton Ramos couldn’t come through with a hit, but he still
picked up his 4th RBI on a fielder’s choice groundout.
Kaczmarski
led off the 7th with a double sliced down the LF line. A walk and
HBP would load the bases with nobody out, but David Thompson could only bring
home one run with a fielder’s choice. Siena would then come home on a wild
pitch, and Tuschak capped the scoring with an RBI single lined into CF.
They
added a run in the 9th, though threatened for much more. The first 3
reached on consecutive walks, but the Fireflies lone run came on a Thompson
GIDP.
Defensive Highlights
Ivan
Wilson made the catch of the year to keep the no-hitter going relatively early.
David
Thompson was tested often at 3B, but nothing too difficult. Milton Ramos had a solid day on groundballs, but made a high throw on a potential double play ball for his second error.
The RiverDogs third baseman Aguilar has robbed Ivan Wilson of a few hits already this year.
Pitcher Coverage
Thomas McIlraith
Table 1 – McIlraith pitch stats by inning
1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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5th
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6th
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Total
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Total
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9
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8
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15
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12
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17
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11
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72
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Strikes
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6
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6
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7
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8
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10
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9
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46
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Swinging*
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0
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0
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4
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0
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3
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4
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11
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*15.3% Swinging strike rate
12/19 First-pitch strikes
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| K1 |
 |
| K2 |
 |
| K3 |
 |
| K4 |
 |
| K5 |
 |
| K6 |
 |
| First pitch |
Alex Palsha
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| K1 |
 |
| K2 |
 |
| K3 |
 |
| K4 |
Johnny Magliozzi
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| K2 |
 |
| K3 ends the game |
NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting telescope in emergency mode. https://t.co/5PNEuMfPKH pic.twitter.com/3rZSguRvjd— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) April 9, 2016
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