Johnson Provides Magical Walk-Off in Front of Sell-Out Crowd

Top Storylines

• Jose Gutierrez doesn’t allow an earned run in his start, which kept the Fireflies close enough to rally late in the game.

• The Fireflies scored four-straight runs late to rally from down 3-0 to eventually send the game into extra innings. Connor Rasmussen had a lead-off triple in the seventh and came around to score the first run. He also had a two-run double in the eighth to give Columbia a 4-3 lead.

• Camden Johnson provided the magic on Harry Potter night for the Fireflies. He came up with on away and the bases loaded in the 11th and bounced a single through the right side to score Daniel Lopez and Jhonayker Ugarte to push the Fireflies to a 6-5 win. It was the team’s fourth walk-off winner of the season.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Camden Johnson provided the magic in front of a sell-out crowd at Segra Park for Harry Potter Night. The infielder hit a walk-off single to right field to score Daniel Lopez and Jhonayker Ugarte to provide the Fireflies with a 6-5 win over the RiverDogs in 11 innings. It was the Fireflies fourth walk-off winner of the season and the first since August 7 vs Myrtle Beach.

The walk-off win wouldn’t have been possible without a late rally, the Fireflies scored four unanswered runs in the final third of the game. Connor Rasmussen hit a lead-off single in the third and came around on a base knock from Tyson Moran to get Columbia on the board. The next inning, Rasmussen capped off the scoring with a two-run double to right to plate Roni Cabrera and Moran to push the Fireflies to their first lead of the game, 4-3.

The game started with a fantastic pitcher’s duel. Jose Gutierrez battled through 5.2 innings without allowing an earned run and Aidan Cremarosa provided five scoreless innings for the RiverDogs before both teams went to the bullpen.

Play-by-Play

Charleston got on the board in the fifth inning thanks in part to a fielding error from the Fireflies. Slater de Brun drew a lead-off walk against Jose Gutierrez. After that, Grady Emerson dribbled one to second and Connor Rasmussen couldn’t come up with the play. The next batter, Cooper Flemming drove a triple down the line to score the former two to give the RiverDogs a 2-0 advantage.

Gutierrez finished the night with 5.2 innings of three-hit baseball. He allowed two, unearned runs and scattered four strikeouts before passing the ball to Columbia’s bullpen.

The righty had a tough act to follow as Charleston’s starter, Aidan Cremarosa worked five innings of one hit baseball with seven strikeouts to boot as he kept Columbia off the scoreboard Saturday.

As the bullpen entered, JD Gonzalez and Slater de Brun hit back-to-back singles to open up the seventh against Justin LeGuernic. The southpaw hit Cooper Flemming to load the bases and then tossed a wild slider to the backstop to score Gonzalez and extend Charleston’s lead to 3-0. After that, Leguernic was able to tighten up with a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning with no further damage.

Columbia got on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Connor Rasmussen pulled a triple to right-center to kick-off the frame then came around on a Ricson Gonzalez base knock to cut Charleston’s lead to 3-1.

On-Deck

Columbia closes out their home slate vs the Charleston RiverDogs tomorrow night at Segra Park at 5:05 pm. LHP Darwin Rodriguez (5-7, 3.95 ERA) toes the rubber for Columbia and Charleston counters with RHP Luke Jackson (0-0, 2.66 ERA).

Tomorrow is Fan Appreciation Night at Segra Park. The team will host a raffle with in-game prizes each inning for fans in attendance. Post-game there will be a full-team autograph session presented by E.F. Martin, kids can run the bases thanks to Bang Back Pinball Lounge and the team will host one last fireworks show. Reserve your seat at FirefliesTickets.com.