Columbia Falls to Sharks

COLUMBIA SC - The Columbia Blowfish (2-9, 14-25) started off this one in exciting fashion. Apparently, the Wilmington Sharks (4-5, 18-19) had other ideas about the outcome.

The Blowfish lost 13-5 to the Sharks on Guaranteed Win Night Monday at Capital City Stadium. All thirteen runs scored in the game by Wilmington were unearned, and most came as part of an eleven-run third inning.

Columbia started off the scoring when Branfy Arias (Tusculum) walked with one out in the bottom of the second. Arias noticed that the pitcher, Matt Talley (Citadel 1-1) was still pitching from the wind-up, and took off for second, as he slid in without a throw. Arias was not done though, as he immediately took off for third on the very next pitch, sliding in ahead of the throw from catcher Nate Horton (Presbyterian). Arias finished off the trifecta with a steal of home with barely a tag attempt from Horton, which marked the fourth time this season the Fish have stolen home.

"If he is going to pitch from the windup with Branfy on base, he is going to get stolen on," Head Coach Lee Gronkiewicz said in his typical post-game interview. "Branfy has great speed and was getting great jumps. That's why he is one away from the record."

The record Coach Gronkiewicz was referring to is the career stolen base record in the CPL, from which Arias is actually two away from.

The game then turned ugly quickly. The Sharks tagged starter Tucker Hawley (Alabama, 0-2) for 8 runs in that second inning, although none of them were earned. The inning started with a double off the bat of Gregg Fujii (Virginia Commonwealth), who advanced on a sacrifice bunt. With Fujii standing on third and one out, Justin Robey (Francis Marion) grounded to third in his first at-bat in Captial City Stadium this year for what looked to surely be out number two. Chase Vergason's (Florida Atlantic) throw, however, pulled Brison Celek (South Carolina) off the bag. Fujii stayed at third on the play, although he would score soon enough. After a pop-up in the infield for out number two, the flood gates burst open.

A walk to Aaron Miller (Gardner-Webb) loaded the bases, then singles by Joe Rapp (Louisiana-Monroe) and Nate Horton (Presbyterian) plated runs. Horton's single was hit to deep second base, and was one of five infield singles on the inning. After he had surrendered the lead, Coach Gronkiewicz went out to talk to his starter Hawley.

"That's where it is important to pick up the pieces. Our defense wasn't that bad, but I talked to [Hawley] about picking up his teammates, and he just wasn't able to do so."

The damage on the inning was far more than the Fish could have imagined.  The tally after the inning ended looked like this: 11 runs, none of them earned, on 10 hits and two walks. The inning, mercifully, ended when Horton grounded out to the new pitcher, Patrick Sullivan (South Carolina). The Sharks sent 16 men to the plate in the inning, with all but two hitters batting twice in the inning.

From there, Talley was on cruise control. He pitched seven innings on the evening, scattering just three hits and two walks among three strikeouts. He allowed three runs on the night, but only two of them were earned. Patrick Szczerba (Florida Southern) and Blaze Tart (UNC-Wilmington) both came on to pitch an inning of relief. Tart allowed two runs to score, although both of them were unearned off of an error in left field.  

One of the few mistakes that Talley did make came in the fifth inning, to the first batter of the inning. He left a fastball up in the zone to DH David Greene (Citadel), and he crushed the ball over the 25 foot wall in right centerfield for his second homerun of the season. The only other run he allowed came when Taylor Black (Kentucky) reached on catcher's interference, then stole second and third. The throw to third skipped into left field, and Black easily scored on the play.

NOTES: Columbia stole seven bases on the evening, bringing them to a total of 129. That total is the fifth most all-time by a team in a single season, and is two behind the total of 131 posted by the 2005 Fayetteville SwampDogs. The Blowfish are currently 15 away from the record of 144, set by Peninsula in 2009... Although all 11 runs in the second were unearned, Columbia commit just two errors in the inning... Because team lost on Guaranteed Win Night, everyone in attendance will be admitted free to the next home game... Matt Williams (Liberty) made his 2010 CPL debut with the team, playing second base, and was 1-3 with a walk in the lead-off spot... The Blowfish are off Wednesday for a "Mental Health Day" according to Coach Gronkiewicz before returning home to take on the Morehead City Marlins on Wednesday at 7:05. It will be Wet Wednesday, meaning 12 oz beers and sodas will be just 1 dollar. All college students will be admitted free with student ID.