Eight in the Third Seals Fireflies Fate

COLUMBIA, SC – The Fireflies rallied, but couldn’t overcome allowing eight runs in the third inning to the Delmarva Shorebirds as they lost 11-8 Thursday evening at Segra Park.

The breaking point inning for the Fireflies (8-16) was the third inning. After Eric Cerantola twirled a pair of scoreless frames, he handed the ball to Samuel Valerio (L, 0-1), who did not record an out. Valerio allowed five hits and walked a trio of Shorebirds (8-16) before getting the hook, but at that point, the damage was done and the Shorebirds led 8-3.

Columbia got the bats started early, scoring three runs in the first. Darryl Collins singled for the only hit of the frame, but Ryan Long gifted Columbia with three walks, and Enrique Valdez reached on an error to score a pair of those as the Fireflies took a 3-0 lead to the second.

The Fireflies tried to claw away at the Shorebirds’ lead. It all started with an excellent relief appearance from Delvin Capellan, who allowed a single run across five innings out of the pen. That allowed the bats the opportunity to make something happen.

Carter Jensen got the party started in the bottom of the third. The designated hitter hustled for a lead-off triple to start off the frame and Guillermo Quintana doubled him home. Quintana would eventually score on a Joshua Rivera singled to draw the Fireflies within three. Quintana scored four runs for the Fireflies, a career-high for the first baseman.

Jaswel De Los Santos drew a bases loaded walk to cut the lead to 8-6 in the fifth before Columbia and Delmarva traded runs in the sixth. In the bottom of the eighth, Valdez sent a fly to center to score Quintana on the sacrifice and push the score to 9-8.

It wasn’t enough though as Delmarva added a pair of runs in the top of the ninth off Matt Stil and Preston Price (S, 1) closed out the game with two scoreless frames of relief.

The Fireflies continue their series with the Shorebirds tomorrow at Segra Park at 7:05 pm. Southpaw Rylan Kaufman (1-1, 5.40 ERA) gets the nod for Columbia and Delmarva sends RHP Moises Chace (0-1, 4.63 ERA) to the bump.

Wanna play? Tomorrow is Fireflies Games at Segra Park! The Fireflies are good at everything, except the things they can’t do, and they can’t hold t-shirts for you after the first 1,000 fans come through the gates! Gates open at 5 pm, you will want to get to the ballpark quickly to grab yours. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.