Salem Red Sox Walks-Off Columbia Fireflies 6-5 (5-9-23)
By: Joey Raymond
Headline Photo Credit: Joey Raymond-LMS Network
Pregame…
SALEM, VA–It’s the series opener between the Columbia Fireflies and the Salem Red Sox. The two teams come into this series with two very different stories on the season so far. The Fireflies are a team with an emphasis on “fire” as they are in first place in their division. The Fireflies are 17-10 and winners of 7 of the last 10. The Sox are in fifth out of a possible six teams with a 12-14 record and losers of 7 out of the last 10. You could say that these teams have had polar opposite seasons so far. This brings us to tonight, The Fireflies will try to continue their momentum as the Red Sox try to right the ship and rattle off some important wins.
Game Recap…
Columbia keeps their fire streak going early by scoring quickly in the first inning. Levi Usher walks, Omar Hernandez singles, and ultimately after a double play and a single from Brett Squires they pull in a run. The top half of the inning ended after a close play at the plater where Squires gets thrown out on a bullet from Miguel Bleis. The Red Sox don’t score in their half of the inning, which brings back the red-hot offense from Columbia. The Fireflies scored again in the top of the second when Brennon McNair walks, steals second, and then moves to third on a throwing error from catcher Yoberto Mejicano. Then after a walk to David Hollie, he tries to steal second and is successful all the while McNair scores from third on the play.
The Red Sox do answer back in the bottom of the third inning. They score after Miguel Bleis triples, then Cutter Coffey hits a single to drive him in. The Red Sox get the next set of scoring after that, though it doesn’t come until the fifth inning. In the fifth inning, the Sox grab 3 runs bringing the score to 4 to 2. This comes off of 3 singles, followed by a sacrifice fly. After that the Sox scored again after a throwing error from shortstop Daniel Vazquez, allowing the third and final run of the inning to score.
The Fireflies would try to mount a comeback though scoring a third run in the top of the sixth inning. This comes after a Daniel Vazquez double, a stolen base and eventually coming around to score. After that, the Fireflies scored again in the top of the seventh inning. Brennon McNair singles and comes around to score after a wild pitch and a ground out bring him around to score. The Red Sox rebutted the run in the top of the seventh by getting a run of their own in the bottom of the seventh. After some walks, errors, and a stolen base, the Red Sox grab a run to get the lead 5 to 4.
.The ninth inning consists of some dramatics. The Columbia Fireflies make it interesting by tying the game up in the top half of the inning. Brennon McNair scores the tying run after walking earlier in the inning. Levi Usher knocked him in after hitting a grounder to second base after McNair moved over to third on a wild pitch earlier in the inning. The Red Sox manage to get the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth after a single and two walks. Luis Ravelo comes to the plate and works a tough walk and walks off the game. The Red Sox win off of a walk-off walk, winning 6 to 5.
What’s Next…
The Red Sox and the Columbia Fireflies play a six-game series so Red Sox fans will have 5 more days of baseball to watch. They’ll play through Sunday, before the off day on Monday. The Red Sox move to 13-14 on the season and the Fireflies move to 17-11 and as of the writing of this article, both are still in the same position on the standings. The Red Sox will try to make some movement and momentum forward and work their way up the standings.
