The West Virginia Power (Pittsburg Pirates) will be coming to Columbia, SC to take on the Columbia Fireflies for a four-game series. The Fireflies last played the Power May 26-29 in Charleston where the Fireflies loss three of four and P.J. Conlon lost his first game of the season.
The Power are looking to overtake the Fireflies once again as they play a four game series at Spirit Communications Park. West Virginia has lost four of five and the Columbia Fireflies four of six, so both team are looking to get on track before the All-Star break in a little over a week from now.
With both offenses struggling and the two teams having pitching staffs that are producing at a high level it’s likely that the four game series will be low scoring. The two teams are very similar when you look at the stats. West Virginia is (30-28)) is hitting (.243) as a team to go along with a (3.50) team ERA. Columbia (29-30) is hitting (.242) as a team and their team ERA is (3.50), so you can see the two teams mirror each other. Both teams even have three players that will be in the SAL All-Star Game June 21st.
The Power has four of the Pirates top 30 prospects on this team with three of them being pitchers. The three pitchers are All-Star selection Mitch Keller (4-3, 1.89) with 64 strikeouts in 57 innings pitched is the 14th rated prospect. The 23rd rated prospect is right-hander Gage Hinsz (5 IP, 6 SO, 2 BB) had his first start for the Power back on June 3rd and the third pitcher on the top prospect list is another righty Dario Agrazal (3-4, 4.00).
The last top 30 prospect is infielder Ke’Bryan Hayes (6 HR & 30 RBI’s) who was also selected to the SAL All-Star Game. Center fielder Tito Polo (.308) who will be joining Keller and Hayes at the All-Star Game is making a case to be on the Pirates top 30 prospect list. Polo has 10 home runs (leading team) and second on the team with 31 RBI. Polo is also hitting (.375) in his last ten games.
The Fireflies need to get off this rollercoaster they’ve been on since late April when they won 8 of 11 games. Since late April they have won 5 of 7 in one stretch and 5 of 6 in another stretch. In the past 12 games the Fireflies have only won four games and have fallen from second place in the Southern Division to 5th place.
Even though Columbia has been disappointed in with their play during the past few games they did get great news when they found out three of their own had been selected to the SAL All-Star Game. Vinny Siena (.287) is second in SAL in walks (42), David Thompson (.286) is team leader in doubles (17) and RBI (42). The remaining All-Star and most consistent player in the SAL has been P.J. Conlon (7-1, 1.21), how Conlon has pitched thus far can be summed up how he pitched in his last outing.
Conlon faced Northern Division leader Hagerstown and pitched 10 innings of shutout baseball giving up only four hits but left with the score tied at one.
With the struggles of the offense the bullpen has been just the opposite thanks to the arms of Seth Davis (2.23), Craig Missigman (3.34), Alex Palsha (2-2, 3.00, 8 Saves), and Tyler Bashlor (2.03). The starting pitching has not had the consistency of the bullpen but have been very good in stretches. Conlon of course has been the most consistent but Kevin Canelon (4-3, 2.83) has had solid starts in his past three games. The guy the Fireflies are hoping will get back to where he was the first month of the season is Chase Ingram. In his first five starts he gave up eight runs but in his last three starts Ingram has given up ten earned runs for an ERA of over twelve.
The Fireflies rotation did take a hit when Andrew Church (2-0, 0.71) was promoted to Advance-A St. Lucie and it’s yet to be determined who will take Church’s spot in the rotation.
Tonight’s game will feature “Purple Night” in honor of singer Prince as the Fireflies players and coaches will be wearing purple jerseys which will be auctioned off during the game with all proceeds going to Palmetto Place Children’s Shelter.
Probable Starters
Thursday June 9th 7:05 West Virginia – RHP Gage Hinsz (0-0, 0.00) vs Columbia – RHP Chase Ingram (3-5, 5.03)
Friday June 10th 7:05 West Virginia – RHP Mitch Keller (4-3, 1.89) vs Columbia – LHP P.J. Conlon (7-1, 1.21)
Saturday June 11th 7:05 West Virginia – TBD vs Columbia – TBD
Sunday June 12th 2:05 West Virginia – TBD vs Columbia – TBD
