Hickory holds off Legends, 6-4

(HICKORY, N.C.) Kellin Deglan had three hits, including a two-run homer , as the Hickory Crawdads held on for a 6-4 win over the Lexington Legends in the opener of a three-game series Monday night.

The Crawdads took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a double by Travis Demeritte, a wild pitch and a single by Evan Van Hoosier. They added another run in the second on singles by Lewis Brinson and Jairo Beras and a double by Deglan.

Deglan's two-run homer in the fourth, his third home run of the season, gave Hickory a 4-0 lead.   Back-to-back doubles by Nick Vickerson and Ronald Guzman gave the Crawdads another run in the fifth, and they scored their final run in the sixth on a walk to Deglan, a single by Isiah Kiner-Felefa, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Demerritte.

The Legends, who outhit Hickory 13-12, got on the board in the seventh when Samir Duenez doubled, went to third on a base hit by Mauricio Ramos and came home on a ground out by Dominique Taylor.

The Legends made it close with a ninth-inning rally. Elier Hernandez led off with a single and took second on defensive indifference. Duenez and Ramos struck out, and after a wild pitch sent Hernandez to third, Chad Johnson singled him home. Dominique Taylor's triple scored Johnson, and Taylor scored on a wild pitch to close the gap to two at 6-4, but Ramon Torres flied to left field to end the game.

Hickory starter Frank Lopez (1-1) allowed eight hits but no runs in six innings to get the win. Luis Rico (0-3) was the starting and losing pitcher for Lexington.

The series continues Tuesday night. Game time is 6 p.m.

Attendance 1,313

Box score at http://lexington.legends.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2014_04_21_lexafx_hicafx_1&t=g_box&did=milb&sid=t495

1.313