Game 9 Recap: Gotta Have Control

Just a few notes here on the third Fireflies home game I attended, and second ever at Spirit Communications Park. It's obviously not quite as exciting as it was before when we were awaiting our team to start, and that could be seen in the stands too. Plenty of empty seats last night, especially as you got towards the end of the seating area (and I'm not talking about the Palmetto Pavilion, which is only for corporate outings and was nearly deserted last night). Attendance officially was 4,724, which for most Class A parks is a solid number generally. But this was the second ever game at home and on a Fireworks Friday! The stadium was far from empty, but also far from full. And I'm perfectly fine with that, and it suits me as far as getting to enjoy the ballpark. But it does give ammunition to those who say Minor League Baseball won't succeed in Columbia.

I parked about a half hour later (two hours before first pitch and 30 minutes before gates opened) than on Thursday, though the parking attendant was still late. There were few fans right when I arrived, but a steady stream came in after I did. I was in the "Scout Seats" this time, appropriate since most casual fans think I am a scout (meanwhile P.J. Conlon and a team scout had to move around the seating a bowl a lot to find a space to do real scouting). It's a pretty good view with a table that comes in handy too. I'm not sure it's worth $14 to do all the time, but it's a better deal than say the box seats in Charleston that cost $20. Overall it was nice to see a more low key environment, and just Take Me Out to the Ballgame at the stretch rather than God Bless America as well.

The Fireflies got started well with a doubles by David Thompson and Joe Tuschak to go up 1-0 after 2. Thompson remains solid and steady, while Tuschak is doing the best he can to hang on after being drafted out of high school five years ago. Meanwhile Thomas McIlraith was trying to keep going after an outstanding first start last week in Charleston. McIlraith, known as the guy "who threw the no-hitter" (which was actually combined with Alex Palsha and Johnny Magliozzi), was mentioned by fans around me as a guy who will probably be moving up fast. But while the Drive had a hard time hitting him, McIlraith beat himself with a lot of wild pitching. A couple walks and a wild pitch allowed the Drive to move Trent Kemp around the bases to tie the game at 1-1 in the 3rd.

McIlraith had to throw strikes to after getting behind to Josh Ockimey in the 4th, but threw a bad pitch which Ockimey drove into the edge of the Palmetto Pavilion in right field for the first home run in Spirit Communications Park history and put Greenville up 2-1 in the 4th. In case you wanted to know for future trivia, it is Josh Ockimey who is the first home run hitter in Spirit Communications Park history. Too bad it wasn't a Fireflies hitter. A kid was able to run in from the berm and scoop up the ball, and was very excited. Some fans in the main seating bowl wanted him to throw the ball back, but that wasn't realistic. I'm not sure if the kid knew of the historical significance of the ball he picked up, or was just happy to get a ball.

After McIlraith ran his pitch count up with balls and walked Joseph Monge for his 4th walk (not including another hit batter and another wild pitch), he was taken out for Christian Montgomery. Montgomery, like Tuschak, was drafted five years ago and needs to prove he still belongs in professional baseball. But Montgomery, despite being a hard thrower, does not seem to have it. His ERA is over 10 after he walked a couple batters and then gave up the first ever home run over the left field wall in stadium history to Trent Kemp. Montgomery was then pulled with the Fireflies down 6-1. Craig Missigman also took a while to settle in after that, and after 2B J.C. Rodriguez was only able to launch a ball straight up in the air that he slid to stop Greenville had pulled away with an 8-1 lead.

Despite getting handily beaten, there were a few bright spots for the Fireflies. Ivan Wilson went 2 for 3 with a double, stolen base, and a walk. After a poor start, Wilson's probably doing better than a few other Firefly hitters, notably prospect Milton Ramos who after a good first night in Charleston seems to be limited as a purely defensive shortstop. Wilson was by far this night's best Firefly, getting a two run 7th inning going to make Greenville's final victory margin 8-3. New Firefly Nicco Blank started the 9th with a walk, but turned a double play to keep his ERA perfect early.

So with Blank added, we now have 27 Fireflies all-time in our stats:

Player	Position	TB	R	RBI	BB/HBP	SB	CS	0 for 1	SO	Outs	K	R	ER	H	BB/HBP	W	S	L	Score
Chase Ingram	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	15	2	2	9	2	1	0	0	154
David Thompson	3B	19	7	9	5	0	0	21	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	140
Thomas McIlraith	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	8	3	3	2	7	1	0	1	138
Johnny Magliozzi	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	5	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	120
P.J. Conlon	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	5	2	2	12	2	1	0	0	119
Joe Shaw	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	8	2	2	5	0	1	0	0	99
Tyler Badamo	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	2	1	1	5	0	1	0	0	91
Vinny Siena	2B	12	7	2	8	0	0	17	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	89
Tyler Bashlor	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	5	0	0	2	1	0	1	0	77
Seth Davis	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	7	2	2	4	4	0	0	0	74
Alex Palsha	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	9	4	3	3	4	0	1	1	55
Craig Missigman	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	7	3	3	4	6	0	0	0	38
Joe Tuschak	LF	8	2	4	2	0	1	15	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	38
Kevin Kaczmarski	RF	10	5	3	4	0	1	26	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	36
Ivan Wilson	CF	11	2	4	3	1	2	25	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	34
Dash Winningham	1B	8	6	2	3	0	0	26	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	33
Kevin Canelon	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	6	2	2	5	2	0	0	0	27
Jeff Diehl	DH	4	2	1	4	0	0	13	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	15
Nicco Blank	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	12
J.C. Rodriguez	DH	3	1	2	4	1	0	20	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8
Vicente Lupo	LF	2	1	1	1	0	0	6	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7
Jose Garcia	C	3	1	1	2	0	0	10	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Milton Ramos	SS	4	2	4	1	0	0	20	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Tyler Moore	C	3	2	1	2	0	1	14	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Tucker Tharp	RF	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-4
Christian Montgomery	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	4	6	5	4	5	0	0	0	-43
Witt Haggard	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2	3	3	3	3	0	0	2	-58