Fireflies Drop Series Closer 9-8

Columbia surrenders walk-off single in the ninth

By John Kocsis Jr.

May 14, 2023

COLUMBIA, SC – The Fireflies entered the ninth with an 8-7 lead, but couldn’t hold back the Salem Red Sox, who won 9-8 after Albert Feliz drove a walk-off single to left to upset the Fireflies. Samuel Valerio (BS, 1; L, 1-1) struck out the first batter of the ninth,

COLUMBIA, SC – The Fireflies entered the ninth with an 8-7 lead, but couldn’t hold back the Salem Red Sox, who won 9-8 after Albert Feliz drove a walk-off single to left to upset the Fireflies.

Samuel Valerio (BS, 1; L, 1-1) struck out the first batter of the ninth, but then Allan Castro was able to scurry to first on a wild pitch for the third strike to set the table. He scored on a fielder’s choice to tie the game with one out in the inning. After two walks, Feliz came up to the plate and finished the job for the Red Sox.

The back-and-forth contest had its moments for the Fireflies (19-14) who scored in each inning from the fourth to the eighth, but ultimately fell short. Brett Squires, Roger Leyton and Junior Calderon all drove in a pair of RBI in the game. Calderon had a huge two-out, two RBI single in the fourth to push the Fireflies in front 4-3.

The Fireflies pitching staff had trouble keeping Salem off the board, but Oscar Rayo had the best performance on the mound for the two teams. Columbia’s southpaw spun three innings, punching out four Red Sox and allowing only one run to score. During that time, Columbia added three runs to go up 8-6. Leyton drove in Columbia’s final run with a one out double off the wall in left to provide some cushion for Columbia.

The Fireflies travel to Fredericksburg Tuesday to take on the Nationals. The Fireflies open the series with RHP Steven Zobac (1-0, 0.64 ERA) on the bump and the Nationals have yet to announce their starter.

Columbia returns home Tuesday, May 23 to start a six-game series with the Charleston RiverDogs. The week marks the return of Copa de la Diversíon weekend presented by Southern Recipe Small Batch Pork Rinds, where the Fireflies will become Los Chiccarones de Columbia for the weekend. Friday, the Fireflies will give away a soccer scarf for the first 1,000 fans through the gates thanks to Southern Recipe Small Batch and Saturday, we’ll have a fantastic fireworks display. Tickets are still available at FirefliesTickets.com.