Fireflies Surrender Five in 10th to Fall 8-4

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Fireflies surrendered seven unanswered after the seventh inning and fell 8-4 to the Salem RidgeYaks in 10 innings Sunday afternoon at Segra Park.

The big blow came in the 10th. Luis Valdez (L, 0-1) allowed a lead-off two-run blast to Starlyn Nunez to score placed runner Givian Sirvania to push the RidgeYaks to a 5-3 advantage. After a pair of two-out singles, Ilan Fernandez clobbered his second round-tripper of the game to make it 8-3 RidgeYaks.

Jhosmmel Zue dribbled a one-out single through the right side of the infield to score Hyungchan Um to cut Salem’s lead to 8-4, but Columbia’s rally stopped there.

Salem tied the game in the top of the ninth inning. Brandon Herbold (BS, 1) hit Avinson Pinto with a pitch to start the inning, then Andruw Musett doubled to score him to cut Columbia’s lead to 3-2. Later, Ilan Fernandez hit a one out single to score Musett to tie the game and force extras.

Coleman Picard kept Salem off balance out of the bullpen. The righty spun five, one-run innings as he tied his career-best in innings pitched.

The Fireflies broke through in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ivan Sosa mashed his eighth homer of the season to kick-off the frame and give Columbia a 1-0 lead. Later, Yandel Ricardo singled and came around on a Hyungchan Um double to make it 2-0 Fireflies.

Roni Cabrera added on with his seventh round-tripper of the season the next inning. Then Salem joined the homer parade in the top of the seventh. Ilan Fernandez clubbed his second of the season over the homerun porch in left to cut Columbia’s advantage to 3-1.

Ryan McDonagh rebounded from a tough start Tuesday to keep Salem off the board through three innings Sunday. The righty punched out four and worked around two hits and two walks before passing the ball to the bullpen.

He battled with Salem’s starter, Jose Bello. Bello spun four innings and worked around six hits, two walks and a hit batter to keep Columbia off the board. Tanner O’Donnell got tagged for the loss after he gave up three runs over two frames.

The Fireflies head to Charleston after the All-Star break to kick-off a three-game series with the Charleston RiverDogs Friday at 7:05 pm. Both teams have not named their starters for the series.

Columbia returns home July 21-26 to play the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers at Segra Park. The club will host their first-ever True Crime Mystery Night Thursday, July 23, giveaway an ugly Christmas Sweater Jersey to the first 1,000 in attendance July 24 and host Dino Night presented by SC Department of Environmental Services July 25. Buy your tickets now at FirefliesTickets.com.