Fireflies Rally Late to Win 9-6

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Fireflies rallied late again, as they scored in their final four innings at the plate to beat Delmarva 9-6 Sunday night at Segra Park.

Columbia took their first lead late in the game thanks to a three-run seventh. Henry Ramos cued a double down the left field line to start the frame. After that, Josh Hammond laid down a sacrifice bunt that catcher Juan Ortega errantly threw into left field. That scored Ramos and allowed Hammond to reach scoring position. Next, Yandel Ricardo laid down a sacrifice bunt that Ortega again threw wild to first. The play scored Hammond to give Columbia their first lead of the game, 6-5 and it allowed Ricardo to advance to third with no one out. Stone Russell drove him home with a sacrifice fly to right field to give Columbia some insurance before the end of the inning.

In the eighth, Henry Ramos drilled a solo homer with two outs to right field to give the Fireflies an 8-5 advantage. The homer was Ramos’ fourth of the season. Columbia’s outfielder finished the game 2-3 with a double, homer and a walk.

Andy Basora (W, 2-3) finished the game for Columbia. The righty worked 2.1 hitless innings and stranded a pair of inherited runners when he entered with two outs in the seventh as Columbia trailed 5-4.

The Fireflies tied the game back up in the sixth inning. Stone Russell legged out an infield single with one out to get the Fireflies first hit of the game. After that, Sean Gamble drew a walk and JC Vanek dribbled an RBI single through to cut Delmarva’s lead to 4-2. Later in the inning, Sean Gamble and Vanek executed a double steal to make it a one-run contest. Then Gabriel Silva laced a double down the left field line to plate Vanek to tie the game 4-4.

Delmarva drove ahead in the top of the seventh. Yeri Perez walked DJ Layton and Jordan Sanchez to start the frame. With one out, Jaiden Lo Re collected his third single of the game to score Layton and retake the lead 5-4 for the Shorebirds.

The Shorebirds kicked off the game with a pair of runs. DJ Layton doubled off the right field wall to start the game, then moved to third on a pop-up single from Jordan Sanchez. Jaiden Lo Re drew a walk to load the bases. After that, Miguel Rodriguez lifted a sacrifice fly to right to plate Layton to break things open. Then Raylin Ramos singled to third to bring around Sanchez to make it 2-0 prior to the end of the first inning.

In the third inning, Delmarva added one more. Jaiden Lo Re singled and stole second before Miguel Rodriguez lined a double to left to plate Lo Re and give the Shorebirds a 3-0 advantage.

Shane Van Dam settled in near the end of his outing. Columbia’s starter finished the game with four innings and three runs against him. He retired the final five batters he faced before handing the ball to Luis Valdez in the top of the fifth.

The Fireflies got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning. Sean Gamble drew a lead-off walk and advanced to third on a throwing error during a back-pick from catcher Juan Ortega. Later in the inning, Angel Ramirez slapped a sacrifice fly to center to cut Delmarva’s lead to 3-1.

Delmarva got the run back in the top of the sixth. Raylin Ramos smacked a double to right-center to start the inning, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a Juan Ortega sacrifice fly to make it a 4-1 game.

Esteban Mejia spun 4.1 hitless innings in his second start of the week for the Shorebirds. The righty’s fastball reached 101 MPH and he fanned a pair of Fireflies. He walked three and hit two batters by pitches as he gave up one run before turning things over to the bullpen.

Columbia kicks off their final series of the first half Tuesday against the Hickory Crawdads at L.P. Frans Stadium at 7:00 pm. Both teams have yet to name their starters for the series.

The Fireflies return home for 12 games in 13 days from June 30-July 12. The team will celebrate America’s 250th birthday with the biggest fireworks show of the year, Saturday, July 4 and will continue with fireworks and a patriotic theme all weekend thanks to SC 250. The next weekend, the club is throwing it back to the 90s for the return of the Capital City Bombers thanks to Cassell Brothers Home Services. Join the team for a bobble plane giveaway Friday, July 10 and a drone show Saturday, July 11. Buy your tickets now at FirefliesTickets.com.