Panzini, Arias Cage ‘Cats in 2-1 Victory

COLUMBIA, SC – The Columbia Fireflies pitching staff shut down the Lynchburg Hillcats in a 2-1 extra innings victory at Bank of the James Stadium Wednesday night.

After Carter Jensen was placed on second in the top of the 10th inning, Rubendy Jaquez reached on a throwing error from pitcher Trey Benton (L, 1-1) that allowed Jensen to come around from second to break the stalemate.

Shane Panzini had an incredible debut for Columbia (12-29). Of the three high school draftees who have made their first professional start in the last week, Panzini has gone the longest, spinning four one-hit innings while wringing up four hitters in the process. The righty did not walk any batters or allow any runs.

The solid pitching didn’t stop there. Wander Arias (W, 2-1) cruised through four scoreless innings in relief to keep the shutout intact. He ended up giving up a single run to Lynchburg (22-18) in the ninth after Isaiah Greene led off the ninth with a triple. Greene scored off a Jake Fox sacrifice fly to right field.

Luis Barroso (S, 4) worked a scoreless tenth frame, without allowing a hit to keep the Hillcats at bay.

Columbia entered the game 0-15 in 2022 in games where they scored two or fewer runs.

Today, the Fireflies played from in-front, thanks to Erick Peña’s fourth homer of the season, a solo shot in the top of the second inning that broke the scoreless tie at Bank of the James Stadium.

The Fireflies continue their series with the Hillcats tomorrow at Bank of the James Stadium at 6:30 pm. RHP Luinder Avila (3-3, 4.67 ERA) gets the ball for Columbia and RHP Trenton Denholm (1-2, 6.58 ERA) will counter for Lynchburg.

Columbia returns home for a two-week homestand June 7-19 that includes two Budweiser Thirsty Thursdays, two Freebie Fridays, two firework shows and the return of Negro League Weekend! Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.