Columbia Drops Pitcher’s Duel 2-1 in 12 Innings

Zebulon, NC – The Columbia Fireflies found themselves in a pitcher’s duel Wednesday night at Five County Stadium. Despite no-hitting the Carolina Mudcats through five innings, the Fireflies ended up on the short end, losing 2-1 in 12 innings.

Ben Hernandez (L, 0-1) came out to start the 12^th inning for Columbia. Jhonny Perdomo mishandled a chopper hit to second to start the inning to move the placed runner, Cooper Pratt, to third base. The next batter, Juan Baez shot a base knock up the middle to plate Pratt and end the marathon.

In the top half of the inning, Daniel Vazquez tried to score from second on a one out single from Austin Charles to center field, but was gunned down by Yophery Rodriguez to keep the game tied 1-1.

Luis Polanco handled the first two extra innings masterfully. The righty punched out an incredible five Mudcats and duplicated a pair of donuts from the Mudcats to extend the game into the 12^th inning.

After having the lead-off hitter bunt the runner from second to third to lead off both extra frames, the Fireflies second and third hitters of the inning struck out to end the spare innings without scoring a run.

Felix Arronde was incredible Wednesday. The righty went five innings before he allowed his first hit and finished the game with a quality start. Arronde went six frames, a single run off a hit and two walks while punching out 10 Mudcats batters. Arronde is the first Fireflies player with 10 or more strikeouts since Frank Mozzicato struckout a franchise-best 13 hitters April 18, 2023.

Arronde handed the ball off to the bullpen amid a 1-1 tie. Doug Kirkland was the first reliever of the night. The righty spun a pair of hitless innings with three punchouts to keep the tie rolling into the ninth frame. Jarold Rosado was able to produce another zero on the score column in the bottom of the ninth to send the club to extra innings.

Carolina got on the board in the sixth. David Garcia was hit by a pitch to start-off the inning, then a walk and a single set the table. An Arronde wild pitch allowed Garcia to come around and tie the game 1-1 as both teams went to their bullpen.

Columbia’s bats got started quickly in the game. Lead-off hitter, Erick Torres, was hit by a pitch before coming around on a Derlin Figueroa single to give Columbia a 1-0 lead before Carolina could come to the plate for the first time.

The Fireflies continue their series with the Carolina Mudcats tomorrow night at Five County Stadium at 6:30 pm. LHP Hunter Patteson (1-1, 1.62 ERA) gets the ball for Columbia and Carolina counters with RHP Jesus Rivero (2-1, 4.11 ERA).

Columbia returns home for 12 games in 13 days beginning May 7. The Fireflies welcome The Salem Red Sox and the Charleston RiverDogs to Segra Park during the run ending May 19. The club has tons of fun promotions on tap, including Star Wars Night May 11 and a Frank Mozzicato Bobblehead Giveaway May 10. Buy your tickets today at ColumbiaFireflies.com.