Game 22 Recap: The Better Game

The Fireflies entered the series with Kannapolis at 12-9, but only averaging just over 3700 fans per game. Meanwhile on the opposite end of downtown Columbia were the South Carolina Gamecocks, who average nearly twice that. Technically, the first year Fireflies play a higher level of baseball. About half of the players even at a major program like USC never reach Class A. Meanwhile, every Firefly obviously has reached Class A. So why does USC get so much better attendance? Partly that is because of a winning tradition started by Ray Tanner. But Chad Holbrook's teams since Tanner left to become AD in 2012 haven't been that nationally prominent. However, Holbrook's teams so far this year have for the most part beaten the teams they should beat, which is all you need to energize the Gamecock fan base. And that sets up pivotal series like this one against Florida, ranked first by most college baseball polls. And while I love the Fireflies, I love championship-level baseball even more. And while the Fireflies are professional and have better prospects than even the SEC, MiLB isn't exactly championship-oriented. I wanted to see at least one Gamecock-Gator game, originally intending it to be Sunday. But with the weather looking bad for Sunday, I went Friday instead hoping that it would be the better game in the Midlands.

Meanwhile the Fireflies would start this series against the Kannapolis Intimidators. The Fireflies would be one down on the roster with Tucker Tharp injured after taking a pitch to the face the previous game (Dominican Emmanuel Zabala was called up later in the weekend to replace Tharp). But the rotation would remain the same, with Kevin Canelon really needing a good start. And his offense helped him out a lot, as a lot of sloppy play by the Intimidators would net the Fireflies four runs in the second inning. Jeff Diehl would hit his Fireflies-leading third home run the next inning to make it 5-0 Fireflies after 3. Canelon in the 4th however would run into Spirit Communications Park's famous triples as Kannapolis cut the lead to 5-2. But the stadium's triple legacy would help the Fireflies in the bottom half as Vicente Lupo got one to make it 6-2 after 4.

But as we have learned recently, it's not how you start but how you finish. Canelon would last six innings in what was probably his best so far, followed by three solid innings by Craig Missigman and Nicco Blank out of the bullpen. They were further helped by a big 7th inning as a 2 run double by professional baseball's leader in RBIs David Thompson, and another run made it 9-2 Fireflies and that score would hold as the Fireflies moved to 13-9.

Meanwhile, the Gamecocks would start out ahead 3-0 but played too conservative, which as we have found out is not how to win close games as home runs by a more aggressive Florida team meant that USC lost 5-4. So, which game was really the better game?

Here is the updated Firefly all-time player standings. Unfortunately Vinny Siena went 0 for 4 in this game, not reaching base for the first time all season.

Player	Position	TB	R	RBI	BB/HBP	SB	CS	0 for 1	SO	Outs	K	R	ER	H	BB/HBP	W	S	L	Score
David Thompson	3B	42	20	27	10	1	0	55	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	355
P.J. Conlon	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	71	18	3	3	24	2	3	0	0	343
Vinny Siena	2B	37	21	8	21	1	1	44	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	290
Chase Ingram	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	66	28	8	6	21	5	2	0	1	279
Joe Shaw	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	48	21	5	5	16	3	2	0	1	209
Kevin Canelon	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	63	21	9	9	20	7	1	0	1	182
Seth Davis	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	42	12	6	4	11	9	1	1	1	169
Tyler Bashlor	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	27	12	2	2	5	6	0	2	0	168
Alex Palsha	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	19	6	5	7	6	1	1	1	159
Thomas McIlraith	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	60	18	12	10	17	11	1	0	1	151
Ivan Wilson	CF	29	12	7	8	2	2	52	23	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	147
Jeff Diehl	DH	23	9	10	11	0	0	41	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	142
Johnny Magliozzi	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	6	4	4	8	2	1	2	0	142
Dash Winningham	1B	24	9	10	9	0	0	50	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	135
J.C. Rodriguez	DH	21	9	10	7	3	0	54	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	130
Joe Tuschak	LF	25	7	11	6	0	1	45	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	126
Tucker Tharp	RF	19	8	5	2	2	1	29	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	110
Tyler Badamo	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	53	10	10	10	23	3	1	0	1	86
Nicco Blank	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	5	1	1	2	3	0	0	0	81
Vicente Lupo	LF	11	5	5	5	0	1	17	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	70
Craig Missigman	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	37	15	8	8	12	10	0	0	0	60
Milton Ramos	SS	14	6	9	5	0	0	44	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	57
Kevin Kaczmarski	RF	14	10	3	7	0	2	41	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	52
Christian Montgomery	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	27	12	9	6	8	7	0	0	0	50
Tyler Moore	C	11	6	3	3	0	1	36	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	24
Jose Garcia	C	6	3	1	3	0	0	14	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	23
Natanael Ramos	C	4	1	1	2	0	0	10	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13
Witt Haggard	P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2	3	3	3	3	0	0	2	-58