Fireflies Take Rubber Match With Suns

Hagerstown Suns @ Columbia Fireflies

April 11, 2018

Nick Raquet @ Tony Dibrell

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Hagerstown	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0		3	7	0
Columbia	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	X		8	10	0

W: Payne (1-0, 1.80 ERA); L: Acevedo (0-1, 12.60 ERA)

Boxscore

The Stats:

Pitchers

Tony Dibrell (2.70 ERA) – 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 7 K: 3 BB, 91 Pitches (59 Strikes), 6 GO: 2 FO

Nicolas Debora (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K: 2 BB, 21 Pitches (12 Strikes), 1 GO: 1 FO

Joshua Payne (W, 1-0, 1.80 ERA) – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K, 13 Pitches (9 StrikeS), 1 GO

Trey Cobb (0.00 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 K: 1 BB, 25 Pitches (14 Strikes), 1 GO

Dibrell

Batters

SS – Edgardo Fermin – 2-4, 2 R, BB, SO, CS

2B – Blake Tiberi – 0-3, R, BB, 2 K

LF – Matt Winaker – 2-4, R, RBI

1B – Jeremy Vasquez – 1-4, R, 2B, RBI, K

3B – Rigoberto Terrazas – 1-4, R, RBI, K

CF – Raphael Gladu – 1-4, RBI, K

DH – Walter Rasquin – 1-3, R, 3B, 3 RBI, BB, SB, K

RF – Jay Jabs – 0-3, HBP

C – Dan Rizzie – 2-4, R, RBI

Recapish

            The Columbia Fireflies finished their opening homestand with an 8-3 win over the Hagerstown Suns to take the rubber match of their three-game series. The win also means the Fireflies finished their first home stand above .500 at 4-3. For a second straight outing, Cola starter Tony Dibrell set a career high in both IP (6) and strikeouts (7), although the game would be decided after he left. After both offenses exploded once apiece over the first two games of this series, the two teams found themselves in a low scoring battle Wednesday, with the Suns taking a 3-2 lead into the 8^th. The Fireflies had managed just four hits entering the 8^th, but they exploded for six runs on six hits to take control of this game and earn a win.

             Dibrell has had a lot more success early this season then he did after being assigned to the Brooklyn pen last year, but he’s still vulnerable to occasional control problems. He walked two with two outs in the 1^st but was able to escape the jam unscored upon. Overall, Dibrell threw less than 50% strikes in the 1^st, but he settled in nicely after that and threw 72% strikes the rest of the way.

Pre-game fist bumps

            The Fireflies gave Dibrell an early lead with a 1^st inning run. Edgardo Fermin started the frame with a single, went to third on a Matt Winaker single, and then came home on a groundout to make it 1-0.

Fermin

Winaker

            After those back-to-back walks, Dibrell set down 9 in a row with four strikeouts and appeared to be cruising through this game. However, he allowed a leadoff single in the 5^th and then issued another walk, which opened the door for a big inning from the Suns. Cole Freeman connected on a two-run double for Hagerstown and then the talented Juan Soto tripled Freeman home to make this a 3-1 game. Dibrell did add a pair of strikeouts to his tally in the frame, but he was suddenly in line for a loss. Dibrell wrapped up his night with a scoreless, striking out Joey Harris before heading back to the dugout for the final time.

K #1

K #2

Fermin at shortstop

K #3

K #4

Freeman

K #5

Soto

K #6

K #7

            After allowing that 1^st inning run, Suns starter Nick Raquet settled in nicely himself, allowing no more hits over his final five innings of work. Dibrell yielded to Nicolas Debora in the 7^th and Debora worked around a pair of walks (one intentional) to keep this a 3-1 game. Debora struck out Yasel Antuna during the frame.

K

Tiberi got spiked in the frame

            The Fireflies bats finally woke up against Suns reliever Carlos Acevedo in the 7^th. Jeremy Vasquez got the frame started with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and then came home on a Raphael Gladu RBI single to make this a 3-2 game.

Vasquez

Gladu

            Joshua Payne kept the momentum going for Columbia with a perfect 8^th. Payne struck out Nick Banks and Aldrem Corredor back-to-back to end the frame, which kept the team pumped up ahead of their big rally.

Fermin at shortstop

K #1

K #2

            Dan Rizzie sparked the big 8^th inning with a leadoff single to left field. Rizzie went to second on a Fermin single, up to third on a Blake Tiberi walk, and then came home on a Matt Winaker single to the wall – everyone had to hold up in case it was caught. Rigoberto Terrazas put the Fireflies on top with an RBI single two batters later and then Walter Rasquin provided the biggest hit of the night when he cleared the bases with a three-run triple. Rasquin came home on Rizzie’s second hit of the inning to cap the scoring, and the Fireflies ended the frame up 8-3.

Rizzie

Fermin's bad bunt worked out

Winaker

Terrazas just snuck it in under the center fielder's glove

Rasquin was pumped up at third

Rizzie again

            A five-run lead was more than enough for Cola closer Trey Cobb, who worked a scoreless 9^th to wrap things up. Cobb struck out Armond Upshaw during the frame and stranded the bases loaded to maintain that five-run advantage.

K

The final out

            Looking ahead, the Fireflies go on the road to Asheville for a weekend series. The Tourists don’t have MiLB.tv coverage, so I won’t be able to cover any Fireflies games until Monday, when they travel to Greenville to face the Drive. Joe Cavallaro is scheduled to make his second start of the year in the opener Thursday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM.

Pitcher Coverage

Table 1 – Dibrell pitch stats by inning

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Total
Total	24	11	15	10	18	13	91
Strikes	11	7	10	8	13	10	59
Swinging*	1	2	1	3	4	3	14

*15.4% Swinging strike rate

Scientists at #CFN and @UNM synthesized molecular “roller-wheels” that boost the performance of solar cells ☀️ https://t.co/WqG91irmHM pic.twitter.com/Xc0F3bPE3I

— Brookhaven Lab (@BrookhavenLab) April 12, 2018