Fireflies Week in Review: Tebow has up-and-down week at the plate
A look back at how the Columbia Fireflies fared this week and a look at what is ahead:
How they fared: Columbia went 5-2 this week and is 29-25 on the season. The Fireflies haven’t been five games over .500 since starting the season 5-0.
Columbia is 4 ½ games behind first-place Greenville in the South Atlantic League’s South Division.
Tebow at the plate: A multi-hit game and his four-strikeout performance highlighted Tim Tebow’s week with the Fireflies.
Tebow’s best game came Tuesday with a two-hit game against Augusta, which included a double. It was his third multi-hit game since May 24 and eighth on the season.
Tebow recorded his first four-strikeout game in the minors when he fanned four times in the 8-7 win Friday over Hagerstown.
He concluded his week Sunday by going 0-for-2 with a pair of walks, one which forced in a run in the 5-3 win over Hagerstown.
That was only Tebow’s second RBI in the past 12 games and brings his total to 16 on the season. He went 5-for-26 and hit safely in four of his seven games this week. On the year, Tebow is hitting .216 with three homers.
Fans pour into Hagerstown to see Tebow, Fireflies: The draw of Tebow and the Fireflies provided a huge boost to Hagerstown’s attendance.
The Fireflies’ four-game series with the Suns drew 22,578 fans, an average of 5,644 a night and included two crowds of more than 6,000 people.
Before the four-game series with Columbia, Hagerstown’s attendance was 20,833 in 23 home games this year.
All-Star rosters released this week: The South Atlantic League will release rosters for this year’s all-star game Tuesday.
The game will be played June 20 at Spirit Communications Park. A celebrity softball game and SAL home-run derby will take place June 19.
Paez making case for promotion: Michael Paez is making a strong case not only to be in the South Atlantic League All-Star game but to be promoted in the future.
The former Coastal Carolina standout became the first Fireflies player with a four-hit game this season Sunday and had the go-ahead two-run homer in the win over the Suns.
Paez went 12-for-26 on the week with a homer and four RBIs. For the year, he is hitting .306 with six homers and 33 RBIs and is tied for the league-lead with 19 doubles.
Szapucki makes Fireflies debut: Highly-touted Mets pitching prospect Thomas Szapucki made his debut for Columbia on Sunday.
Szapucki started, went 4 1/3 innings and gave up three earned runs on six hits while striking out three and walking three. MiLB.com ranks the left-hander as the Mets’ fourth-best prospect, and he is No. 60 on Fox Sports Keith Law’s Top 100 minor league prospects.
Fireflies use long ball: Columbia hit six homers in the four-game series with Hagerstown. Coming into the series, the Fireflies had only 23 homers in 50 games.
This week’s schedule: The Fireflies return home for an eight-game homestand beginning Tuesday against Lexington. Wednesday’s game will be a 12:05 p.m. start and Saturday’s matchup against Charleston will be a doubleheader (two seven-inning games) beginning at 5:05 p.m.
This story was originally published June 4, 2017 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Fireflies Week in Review: Tebow has up-and-down week at the plate."