The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (25-32) concluded the six-game homestand on Sunday evening against the Columbia Fireflies (27-30) from Segra Stadium. Aubrey Smith was on the mound for Fayetteville against Kendry Chourio of Columbia.
At the top of the first inning, Columbia had runners on second and third base when Sean Gamble hit a three-run home run to right field to put the Fireflies up 3-0. It was his third home run of the season. With two outs, a groundout by Hyungchan Um ended the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Anthony Huezo was on second base when Fayetteville third baseman Xavier Neyens hit a two-run home run to center field, cutting the deficit to 3-2. It was his eighth home run of the season. With two outs, Camilo Diaz struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
At the top of the second inning, Columbia had runners on second and third base when Henry Ramos hit a three-run home run to right field for a 6-2 lead. It was his third home run of the season. With two outs, a flyout by Yandel Ricardo ended the inning.
At the top of the third inning, Columbia had a runner on first base when Sean Gamble hit an RBI double to center field, scoring Jhosmmel Zue for a 7-2 lead. It was Gamble’s fourth RBI of the day. With two outs, a lineout by J.C. Vanek ended the inning.
Moving to the top of the fifth inning, Fayetteville starter Aubrey Smith put a runner on second base with one out when he was replaced by Ryan Mathiesen. A wild pitch moved Jhosmmel Zue to third base. Mathiesen walked Hyungchan Um. A double steal took place when Um stole second base, and Zue stole home plate for an 8-2 lead. With two outs, a groundout by Stone Russell ended the inning. Aubrey Smith went 4.1 innings, allowing eight hits, eight runs, and three strikeouts, throwing 82 pitches, of which 53 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Columbia had runners on the corners when Yandel Ricardo hit an RBI single to left field, scoring Henry Ramos for a 9-2 lead. With two outs, a flyout by Jhosmmel Zue ended the inning. Ryan Mathiesen went 1.2 innings, allowing three hits, one run, one walk, and one strikeout, throwing 43 pitches, of which 27 were strikes.
Adam Shoemaker pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the seventh inning. Columbia had a runner on second base when Stone Russell hit an RBI double to center field, scoring Sean Gamble for a 10-2 lead. Later, Henry Ramos hit a two-run RBI single to center field, scoring Stone Russell and J.C. Vanek for a 12-2 lead. With two outs, Shoemaker struck out Josh Hammond to retire the side. Shoemaker allowed three hits, three runs, one walk, and two strikeouts, throwing 28 pitches, of which 16 were strikes.
Leomar Rosario pitched for Fayetteville at the top of the eighth inning. Columbia loaded the bases when Hyungchan Um hit a grand slam to center field for a 16-2 lead. It’s Um’s fourth home run of the season. With two outs, a pop-out by Henry Ramos ended the inning. Rosario went two innings, allowing four hits, four runs, two walks, and three strikeouts, throwing 49 pitches, of which 27 were strikes.
The Woodpeckers would go on to lose the series finale to the Fireflies by the final score of 16-2. Fayetteville finished the evening with nine hits, committed one error, went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, and left nine men on base. The loss went to Fayetteville starter Aubrey Smith (1-4), and the win went to Columbia starter Kendry Chourio (3-0).
The Woodpeckers hit the road to Carilion Clinic Field on Tuesday to begin a six-game series against the Salem RidgeYaks at 6:35 pm on the MLB App.
