Royals' elite catching depth was the difference in Carolina League Championship win

After the Kansas City Royals' Low-A affiliate, the Columbia Fireflies, found themselves with their backs up against the wall in the Carolina League Championship Series, many thought it would be up to their top pitching prospect, David Shields, to right the ship.

Shields didn't have a terrible night by any means. However, surrendering three earned runs off seven hits while striking out four, isn't exactly the game changing night the Fireflies had in mind.

Instead though, the difference came down to the performance of a pair of catching prospects, which has quickly become one of KC's deepest individual positions.

Ramon Ramirez and Hyungchan Um were both in the lineup on Tuesday and combined for five RBI, which if your doing the math at home, made all the difference in the 15-10 thriller.

Royals catching depth pushes Columbia Fireflies to Game 2 victory in Carolina League Championship Series

While the catching headlines have revolved around their top two prospects, current big leaguer Carter Jensen and the youthful Blake Mitchell, there's more than just two names that have made this position so strong for them.

But on Tuesday night, Ramirez and Um got some well-deserved time in the spotlight. Ramirez went 2-for-3 with with two runs scored, three RBI and a pair of walks. Um would go 1-for-2 with two RBI, one walk and a sac fly.

Ramirez has always been in and amongst the team's top-ranked prospects, currently sitting ninth in the system according to MLB Pipeline. This season in Low-A, he hit for a .244 AVG, .781 OPS and 119 wRC+.

Tuesday's performance, along with a respectable one hit and one walk outing on Sunday, only strengthened the argument as to why he's one of Kansas City's prized prospect talents.

Um on the other hand, hadn't been as strong this season and was a casualty of late season prospect re-ranks, falling out of the MLB Pipeline's current Royals Top 30 rankings. This was due to a .225 AVG and .661 OPS. Despite all that though, he did manage to be in and around an average hitter with a 95 wRC+ in Columbia.

And Tuesday showed why the 21-year-old had some prospect buzz around his name at one point, especially following the strong Sunday he had as well, where he went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

The two of them will look to make it a trio of great games when the Fireflies play for all the marbles on Wednesday in the third and decisive game of the Championship Series taking place at Columbia's home field at of Segra Park. First pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m. CT.