FredNats drop series opener to Columbia, 6-4

The FredNats took an early lead, but could not hold on as Columbia won the teams’ series opener, 6-4, on Tuesday.

After a scoreless first inning, Elijah Green opened the second for the Nats, the Low-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, with a bloop single. Branden Boissere then turned on a 2-1 pitch and crushed a no-doubt home run into right field to give the Freddies a 2-0 lead.

Daylen Lile smoked a leadoff single in the home half of the third and stole second base. With two outs, Branden Boissiere delivered once again with an RBI infield single to push the FredNat lead to 3-0. Armando Cruz singled after Boissiere, before Roismar Quintana tacked on another run to make it 4-0 Fredericksburg after three innings.

Cole Henry, who started for Fredericksburg in a rehab appearance, was electric in his three innings of work. The righty faced one over the minimum, while striking out five Fireflies in a dominant outing.

Luke Young got the Nats through the fifth inning with the four run lead, but in the sixth Dionmy Salon doubled and Roger Leyton singled to put runners on the corners with no one out. Jean Ramirez then worked a walk to load the bases.

Fortunately, Young was able to get Omar Hernandez to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play, but Salon scored Columbia’s first run of the game. Lizandro Rodriguez then drove another run in on a sharply hit ball to Branden Boissiere that was ruled an E3, as the Fireflies cut the deficit in half, at 4-2.

Columbia was able to manufacture another run in the seventh, on an infield single and subsequent E6 to pull within one run.

Jean Ramirez singled off of Christian Ciuffetelli to begin the eighth inning, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. With one out, Lizandro Rodriguez deposited a 3-1 offering over the right field wall for a two-run blast to put Columbia in the lead.

The Fireflies added one more run in the ninth, as they shut the door on Fredericksburg in a 6-4 victory.

Ciufetelli took the loss for the Nats, as Chazz Martinez picked up the win and Cooper McKeehan locked down his fourth save.

In Game 2 of the series, Jake Bennett opposes Ben Kudrna in a 12:05 start.