Fireflies Swept Out Of Columbia

Monday, June 27, 2016

Fireflies Swept Out Of Columbia

Augusta Green Jackets @ Columbia Fireflies

June 26, 2016

Matt Solter @ Tyler Badamo

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Augusta	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	4	9	0
Columbia	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	1

W: Kaden (5-2, 3.86 ERA); L: Haggard (0-3, 3.12 ERA); Save: Alvarado (1)

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Tyler Badamo (3.92 ERA) – 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 2B, 1 HR, 9 TB, 1 BB, 3 K (3 K/Sw), 1 GIDP, 5 GB: 7 FB: 3 LD: 2 PU, 82 Pitches (54 Strikes), 11 Swinging, 10 Called, 13.4% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 15.4 Pitches/IP, 22 BF

Witt Haggard (L, 0-3, 3.12 ERA) – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 TB, 1 BB, 2 GB: 2 FB, 19 Pitches (13 Strikes), 4 Called, 19 Pitches/IP, 6 BF

Seth Davis (2.37 ERA) – 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 TB, 1 K (0 K/Sw), 3 GB: 2 PU, 24 Pitches (15 Strikes), 3 Swinging, 3 Called, 12.5% SwStr, 25% Whiff/Swing, 14.4 Pitches/IP, 8 BF

Alex Palsha (2.84 ERA) – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 TB, 2 K (2 K/Sw), 2 LD, 14 Pitches (10 Strikes), 3 Swinging, 5 Called, 21.4% SwStr, 60% Whiff/Swing, 14 Pitches/IP, 4 BF

Batters

RF - Kevin Kaczmarski - 1-4, 1 K, 3.25 Pitches/PA

1B - Dash Winningham - 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K, 5.9% SwStr, 16.7% Whiff/Swing, 4.25 Pitches/PA

SS - Milton Ramos - 1-3, 1 BB, 1 K, 9.1% SwStr, 28.6% Whiff/Swing, 5.5 Pitches/PA

LF - Vicente Lupo - 1-1, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 1 SB, 17.4% SwStr, 44.4% Whiff/Swing, 5.75 Pitches/PA

Recapish

A sunny afternoon in Columbia turned dark quick for the Fireflies, as they lost their lead, their starting pitcher, and then their fourth straight game to Augusta. Heading to the 6^th up 2-1, Tyler Badamo allowed a solo blast to Miguel Gomez to give up the lead. He then tweaked his back reaching for a high chopper hit by the very next batter, which led to his early exit. The Green Jackets then jumped ahead for good against the Fireflies pen in the 7^th.

Badamo was in trouble during the 1^st inning, but got some defensive help while limiting Augusta to just one run. With runners on the corners and one out, Dylan Davis launched one towards the right center field gap that likely would’ve knocked in both runs had Kevin Kaczmarski not made a great jumping catch at the wall. He faced a little more trouble in the 2^nd, but kept Augusta off the board and then mostly cruised until his unexpected departure.

The Fireflies were able to get little going on offense after they took their early 2-1 lead. Their last hit came leading off the 5^th, although they’d draw 3 walks over the final 4 innings, so they weren’t completely without baserunners…

With the Cola offense doing nothing, this game came down to what happened in the top of the 7^th. Augusta loaded the bases with nobody out against Witt Haggard, but he was able to retire one batter before handing the ball off to Seth Davis. Davis got a pop out from the first batter he faced, and a grounder from the next, but a Milton Ramos error opened the door for the final two runs of the game.

I break down the scoring details with highlights, and have included some top defense plays and strikeout pitches below as well, so enjoy! With this series in their rearview mirror, the Fireflies left for Hickory, North Carolina to start their series with the Crawdads. Columbia turns to Gaby Almonte (1-1, 3.09 ERA) in Monday’s opener, with the team still looking for their first win of the second half.

MiLB.tv Scoring Highlights

With Joe Tuschak on 1B and one out in the 2^nd, Milton Ramos reached on a screamer that Augusta first baseman Junior Arias couldn’t handle. Patrick Mazeika followed with a walk to load the bases for red-hot Vicente Lupo, and Lupo came through with a hit into RF. Unfortunately the runners help up for a moment, so only one run came home, and that was the only run Columbia could get out of the scoring threat.

Dash Winningham launched his third homer of the year to deep RF in the 3^rd. He’s closing in on his 2015 PA total, and he put up 12 in Rookie ball last year, but Dash has improved his contact rate and patience at the plate in his full-season debut – player development isn’t linear.

Kevin Kaczmarski added a 5^th inning single.

Miguel Gomez had a huge series against the Fireflies – 9-19, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 2 SB – and tied the game with a no-doubter off Badamo shortly before he left in the 6^th. Dude is 23 and has a 9% strikeout rate in the SAL – promote this man!