A night of firsts was drowned out by a chorus of cracks, four to be exact.
Rays prospects Daniel Pierce, Brendan Summerhill and Cooper Flemming -- all 2025 Draft picks -- all launched their first pro homers to power Single-A Charleston past Fayetteville, 7-4, on Thursday night at Segra Stadium. Pierce added his second long ball in the ninth inning for good measure.
The trio combined to drive in six of the RiverDogs' seven runs, while collecting six hits from the top three spots in the batting order, but even that impressive showing was overshadowed by three swings.
"I think it was really cool that we all got it on the same night ... really cool," Summerhill said. "It had been a little bit of a rough start [for us] but just stay with the process and it turns."
Summerhill (TB No. 20) got the festivities going immediately, jumping on the second pitch of the game and launching it over the right-field fence. Eight pitchers later, Flemming (TB No. 27) connected on his first long ball. Pierce (No. 4), who struck out between his teammates going deep in the first, got in on the action in the third with a roundtripper over the berm in left field.
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Pierce's second jack of the game was an appropriate capper to a night full of firsts. Drafted 14th overall in last year's Draft, the 19-year-old Pierce is a well-rounded hitter but not necessarily a true power threat.
"I hit it well and I knew it had a pretty good chance of getting out of there," said Pierce, who was 2-for-14 in his first four pro games. "I’m just trying to get adapted to what teams are attacking me with. I try to put myself in the pitcher’s head and figure out how they're going to attack."
Summerhill was the 42nd overall pick out of Arizona, and like Pierce, has more of a hit-over-power profile, though he does have extra-base pop. The 22-year-old led the Wildcats in average (.324), OBP (.399) and extra-base hits (32) during his sophomore year in 2024.
Like Pierce, Flemming is in the midst of his pro debut after Tampa selected him with the 53rd pick last year. Off to a better start at the plate than his teammates in the early going, the 19-year-old echoed their sentiments about the special achievement.
"I knew I smoked it," Flemming said. "It was a little low and I wasn’t sure if I hit it high enough, but it was a great feeling. You saw what the other guys did. Summerhill's ball was smoked and [Pierce] hitting two. We're kind of figuring it all out. It's fun. We're building relationships and leaning on each other.
"We'll just continue to learn and grow together."