Winningham Sinks Crawdads in Ninth Inning

HICKORY, NC - Dash Winningham was already having an excellent road trip at the plate. The first baseman delivered the big hit in the ninth-inning on Sunday and helped the Fireflies take down the Crawdads, 4-3. Winningham drilled a base hit with two outs and plated the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth. Columbia won the series two games to one, and ended its road trip with a 3-3 mark.
J.J. Franco belted a double off of Jake Lemoine (L, 3-3) down the right-field line with two outs in the last inning. Winningham singled up the middle and put the visitors ahead by one. Winningham reached base 15 times (nine hits, six walks) during the six-game road trip.
Matt Blackham (S, 7) nailed it down with a one-two-three bottom of the ninth. Not to be forgotten, Taylor Henry (W, 4-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to keep the game tied before the ninth-inning heroics.
Quinn Brodey's presence was felt again at L.P. Frans Stadium. In the first inning, the outfielder ripped a two-run triple down the right-field line. This was on the heels of Brodey's debut on Saturday, when he socked a home run and drove in four runs.
It didn't take long for the home team to tie the score. Jose Carlos Medina issued a leadoff single to Blaine Prescott and then a double to the number one ranked Rangers prospect, Leody Taveras. Taveras recorded his 49^th RBI of the season. Later in the inning, Alex Kowalczyk ripped a two-bagger and drove Taveras in.
The team's traded runs in the fourth and fifth frames. First, Columbia (67-64) took a 3-2 lead in the fourth. Brodey started the inning with a single and moved to second when Dan Rizzie walked. Reiver Sanmartin balked one batter later which pushed both runners into scoring position. Jay Jabs plated Brodey after he crushed a base hit into right field.
Taveras began the fifth with a single. A passed ball allowed him to move to second. Anderson Tejeda blasted a base hit and Taveras came home and scored. The game was tied up again, this time with the score, 3-3.
Medina was solid again in his third start as a Firefly. The lefty lasted 5.1 innings and surrendered just two earned runs. Medina's ERA is 1.04 over three starts.
The Fireflies are off on Monday and return to action on Tuesday night. Columbia hosts the Asheville Tourists for the final home series of the season. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Spirit Communications Park.
You can watch the action on MiLB.tv starting at 7:00 p.m. or listen in on ESPN Columbia 94.9 FM and 1230 AM, ColumbiaFireflies.com and the TuneIn Radio app at 6:45 p.m.