4-Run 8th Catapults Crawdads to 6-3 Win
Salisbury, MD - One night after the Hickory Crawdads were unable to finish off their late rally the club came through with a late comeback Wednesday night, as the 'Dads scored four runs in the 8th to erase a one-run deficit and come away with a 6-3 win over the Delmarva Shorebirds at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
The Crawdads entered the decisive frame trailing the 'Birds 3-2 before the Hickory hitters brought home four runs on three hits, one walk, and a hit batter to take their first lead of the night at 6-3. The offensive surge gave the 'Dads 10 hits on the night, marking the 12th consecutive game the hot-hitting club has produced at least 9 hits. The comeback also gave the Crawdads the series win over the Shorebirds, two games to one.
Delmarva jumped out to an early advantage with back-to-back home runs in the 2nd, as Ronarsy Ledesma crushed a 444 foot, 2-run blast off the scoreboard in left-center before Guillermo Salas lined the next pitch over the fence in left for a solo blast to put the 'Birds up 3-0.
The 'Dads responded with two runs in the top of the 3rd to cut their deficit to 3-2. Consecutive singles by Carlos Arroyo and Chuck Moorman followed by a walk from Jose Cardona loaded the bases with nobody out. Juremi Profar brought in the first run with an RBI single to left before a double play groundout by Eduard Pinto scored Moorman for the inning's second tally.
The score would remain the same until the 8th, with Hickory reliever Joe Filomeno tossing 2.2 scoreless innings to keep the Crawdads within a run. The 'Dads 8th inning rally began with a walk from Profar and a single by Pinto before Jose Trevino tied the score with an RBI base knock to left. Edwin Garcia followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to left to bring home Pinto and put Hickory ahead. The final two tallies came in on an RBI single from Arroyo and a double steal in which Arroyo swiped second and Xavier Turner stole home.
The Crawdads bullpen would finish off the contest from there, as Chris Dula pitched a perfect 8th and Scott Williams closed out the win with a scoreless 9th to give Hickory the 6-3 victory.
Filomeno (1-1) earned the win for the 'Dads while Williams picked up his 6th save of the year. Delmarva reliever Tanner Scott (0-1) took the loss after giving up three runs on three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts over two innings pitched.
Garcia and Arroyo both led the Hickory attack, with Garcia going 2-3 with an RBI while Arroyo finished 2-4 with an RBI. Jairo Beras also posted a multi-hit game with a 2-4 night including a double, which stretched his club-best hit streak to 16 straight games.
The Crawdads (66-41/22-17) will now head to Lakewood, NJ to start a 4-game series against the BlueClaws. First pitch Thursday night is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
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