The fourth season of the Columbia Fireflies begins Thursday night with the Charleston Riverdogs in town.
Pedro Lopez is back for his second season manning the dugout and he will do so with five of the New York Mets top 10 prospects on his roster.
Infielders Ronny Mauricio (No. 3), Mark Vientos (No. 4) and Shervyen Newton (No. 7) and impressive pitchers Simeon Woods-Richardson (No. 8) and Thomas Szapucki (No. 10) all find themselves among the ten highest-rated Mets prospects entering this season, as ranked by Baseball America.
Columbia’s 2019 roster features two former SEC players. Pitcher Andrew Mitchell and infielder Brian Sharp starred at Auburn and Missouri respectively. Sharp played in the Palmetto State’s capital less than a year ago – the 26th-round draft pick smashed a home run against the University of South Carolina in a series from May 11-13, 2018. The former Tiger finished that three-game set with five hits and three RBI.