Top Storylines
- JC Vanek clobbered his team-leading 12th homer of the season in the eighth inning to erase a three-run deficit and tie the game.
- Coleman Picard pitched his fourth five inning start of the season for the Fireflies. The righty chewed up innings after the bullpen has been taxed in the first three games of the series.
- Michael Braswell spun three scoreless innings to keep the game tied leading into the 11th. It was his longest appearance of the season.
WILSON, N.C. — JC Vanek tied the game in the eighth inning with his 12th homer of the season, but Columbia fell to the Wilson Warbirds 5-4 in 11 innings Friday night at Wilson Ballpark.
With Josh Hammond on second and Sean Gamble on first, Vanek clubbed a 3-0 pitch over the right field wall to tie the game 4-4 and give the Fireflies their first share of the lead of the contest. After that, Michael Braswell kept the Fireflies locked with Wilson. The reliever spun three, one-hit innings and held Wilson off the scoreboard to push the game to the 11th.
In the home half of the 11th, Randy Ramnarace walked three batters to score the game winning run, which led to the Fireflies fifth-straight loss. The losing streak is the team’s longest losing streak this year.
Play-by-Play
Both teams were stymied at the plate in the 10th inning and Columbia was unable to score again in the top of the 11th. Randy Ramnarace (L, 0-6) walked Filippo Di Turi and Jose Anderson to load the bases, before forcing Kyle Jones to ground into a fielder’s choice for the first out. Next, Juan Ortuno walked on four pitches to score the game winning run.
Thomas Conrad (W, 5-3) spun three innings without allowing a hit to earn the victory for Wilson.
The Fireflies trailed 4-1 heading into the top of the eighth inning. Yandel Ricardo drew a lead-off walk and then Sean Gamble laced a one out single to put runners at first and second to set the table for JC Vanek. The first baseman clobbered his team-leading 12th homer of the season to score three runs and tie the game 4-4 late.
Wilson hopped on the scoreboard first Friday night. The Warbirds got a lead-off single from third baseman Juan Ortuno to get things starter, after a Brady Ebel walk, the Warbirds stole two bags and then scored both on back-to-back groundouts to take a 2-0 lead before the end of the frame.
The Fireflies got one back in the top of the third inning. Henry Ramos lined a lead-off single to left, stole second and advanced on a wild pitch to third. That put him in position to come around on a Josh Hammond ground out to cut the Warbirds advantage to 2-1, but Wilson came back firing on all cylinders in the home half. Brailyn Antunez smoked his second homer in as many games beyond the left field fence to push Wilson back in front by a pair.
Despite all that, Coleman Picard was able to spin five innings for the fourth time this season. The starter finished with a season-high 78 pitches and tallied two strikeouts before giving the ball to the bullpen.
Wilson got their next run against the Fireflies bullpen. Jhon Reyes gave up a lead-off double to Handelfry Encarnacion. After that, Rylan Mills reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and came around on a Filippo Di Turi base knock to stretch Wilson’s advantage to 4-1.
On-Deck
Columbia continues their series with the Wilson Warbirds tomorrow at Wilson Ballpark at 7:05 pm. RHP Jose Gutierrez (8-4, 4.23 ERA) gets the ball for Columbia and Wilson counters with RHP Diustin Mayorquin (2-0, 1.42 ERA).
The Fireflies close out their home slate with a 12-game homestand from August 18-30. The two-week stretch is riddled with fun promotions like Synchronized Hippos Night Thursday, August 20, Faith & Family Night with a pre-game Sam Wesley Concert Saturday, August 22, Harry Potter Night with a Mason Wizard Bobblehead giveaway, Saturday, August 29 and Fan Appreciation Night Sunday, August 30. Don’t miss out on the last chance to catch the Fireflies at Segra Park this season. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.