Carolina Held to Three Hits in 9-0 Loss to Fireflies

Columbia 9 @ Carolina 0_
August 30, 2022 | Venue : Five County Stadium | First pitch : 7:01 PM | Att : 607 | T : 2:23_

COL: 3 1 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 9 11 0
CAR: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4

WP: Jonatan Bernal (1 - 1) LP: Logan Henderson (0 - 1)

ZEBULON – Pablo Garabitos turned in his fourth straight scoreless appearance and Robert Moore assisted on three double plays while going 1-for-4 with a double, but the Carolina Mudcats were shut out for the tenth time this season while falling to the Columbia Fireflies 9-0 on Tuesday night at Five County Stadium.

Carolina (30-25, 64-57) immediately fell into a 3-0 hole after starter Logan Henderson allowed three runs and two hits in the first. The three run Columbia (31-23, 49-71) first began with a Javier Vaz leadoff double and continued with consecutive one-out walks to both Gavin Cross and Carter Jensen. Those two walks loaded the bases and were the first two walks issued by Henderson (0-1) in his first five games in the minors. A wild pitch lost by Henderson forced in the first run of the game while RBI single from Cayden Wallace drove in the second. A double steal later in the first would plate the third run as the Fireflies took the early 3-0 lead. Henderson eventually returned for the second and went on to give up a RBI single to Vaz while seeing Columbia take a 4-0 lead.

Reliever Fernando Olguin followed Henderson with a scoreless third, but gave up the Cross grand slam in the fourth before leaving the game with four runs allowed on four hits over two innings. He started the fourth with a strikeout, but also threw a wild pitch while seeing the leadoff man reach. He then walked two straight before giving up the grand slam.

Columbia later added one last run in the fifth when newly inserted reliever Yerlin Rodriguez allowed a run-scoring hit to Omar Hernandez. That lone fifth inning run would be all that Rodriguez allowed in his outing as he worked through three innings with a run, three walks, three hits and two strikeouts. Garabitos then finished the game with two scoreless innings, a walk and two strikeouts. The scoreless appearance was his fourth straight.

Columbia’s Jonatan Bernal earned the victory after holding Carolina scoreless over a career-high seven innings. Bernal (1-1) also struck out three and scattered three hits in his gem of an outing. The shutout victory was Columbia’s second straight as they also won 2-0 against the Salem Red Sox on Sunday, August 28 in Columbia.

The loss, combined with a Fredericksburg Nationals victory, dropped the Mudcats to 4.5 games back of the first place FredNats in the Carolina League North second half standings. Only 11 games remain this season with five left at home and six away at Myrtle Beach.

*HOME RUNS:
*Columbia: Cross (5, 4th inning off Olguin, 3 on, 0 out).

*TOP PERFORMERS - BATTERS:
*Moore, SS (Carolina): 1-for-4, 0 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Brown Jr., DH (Carolina): 1-for-3, 0 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Cross, CF (Columbia): 2-for-4, 2 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Vaz, LF (Columbia): 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Wallace, 3B (Columbia): 2-for-4, 0 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Quintana, 1B (Columbia): 2-for-5, 0 R, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Rodriguez, L, 2B (Columbia): 1-for-4, 2 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI

*TOP PERFORMERS - PITCHERS:
*Rodriguez (Carolina): 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO
Garabitos (Carolina): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
Bernal (W, 1-1) (Columbia): 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
McMillon (Columbia): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO

SCORING:
Fireflies 1st (Fireflies 3, Mudcats 0) -- Javier Vaz doubles to left-center field. Throwing error by Logan Henderson on the pickoff attempt. Omar Hernandez strikes out swinging. Gavin Cross walks. Carter Jensen walks, Gavin Cross to 2nd. Wild pitch by Logan Henderson, Javier Vaz scores; Gavin Cross to 3rd; Carter Jensen to 2nd. Cayden Wallace singles to left-center field, Gavin Cross scores; Carter Jensen to 3rd. Guillermo Quintana pops out to Jadher Areinamo. Cayden Wallace steals 2nd base, Carter Jensen steals home, Cayden Wallace advances to 3rd on throwing error by Robert Moore. Daniel Vazquez strikes out swinging.
(3 Runs, 2 Hits, 2 Errors, 1 LOB)

Fireflies 2nd (Fireflies 4, Mudcats 0) -- Lizandro Rodriguez singles to center field. Throwing error by Logan Henderson on the pickoff attempt. Gary Camarillo hit by pitch. Wild pitch by Logan Henderson, Lizandro Rodriguez to 3rd;Gary Camarillo out at 2nd, Jose Sibrian to Robert Moore. Javier Vaz singles to left-center field, Lizandro Rodriguez scores. Omar Hernandez flies out to Hendry Mendez. Gavin Cross flies out to Jace Avina.
(1 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Errors, 1 LOB)

Fireflies 4th (Fireflies 8, Mudcats 0) -- Gary Camarillo strikes out swinging, Gary Camarillo to 1st;wild pitch by Fernando Olguin. Wild pitch by Fernando Olguin, Gary Camarillo to 2nd. Javier Vaz walks. Omar Hernandez walks, Gary Camarillo to 3rd; Javier Vaz to 2nd. Gavin Cross hits a grand slam to center field on a 2-1 pitch, Gary Camarillo scores; Javier Vaz scores; Omar Hernandez scores. Carter Jensen lines out to Luis Castillo. Cayden Wallace flies out to Hendry Mendez. Guillermo Quintana hits a ground rule double to right field. Daniel Vazquez struck out looking.
(4 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)

Fireflies 5th (Fireflies 9, Mudcats 0) -- Pitcher Change: Yerlin Rodriguez replaces Fernando Olguin. Lizandro Rodriguez walks. Gary Camarillo strikes out swinging. Javier Vaz grounds out, Jesus Chirinos to Yerlin Rodriguez, Lizandro Rodriguez to 2nd. Omar Hernandez singles to right-center field, Lizandro Rodriguez scores. Gavin Cross singles to center field, Omar Hernandez to 3rd; Gavin Cross to 2nd. Carter Jensen lines out to Robert Moore.
(1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors, 2 LOB)