Crawdads Kickoff Homestand with 6-5 W
Hickory, NC - The Hickory Crawdads jumped out to an early lead only to watch it slip away to the Kannapolis Intimidators Tuesday night, but the 'Dads were still able to salvage the game with an RBI sacrifice fly from Chuck Moorman in the 9th to give the club a 6-5 win at L.P. Frans Stadium.
The Crawdads entered the 8th inning carrying a 5-2 lead they had nurtured since the 4th, but the Intimidators were able to rally for three runs on four hits, a walk, and a costly error to tie the score at 5-5. The 'Dads took a page out of the Kannapolis script with their rally in the 9th however, with a dropped fly ball in left field allowing Luke Tendler to reach and eventually score on an RBI sac fly by Moorman to give the team the 6-5 victory.
Errors proved to be a problem for both clubs on the night, as Hickory committed a season-high four miscues resulting in one unearned run, while Kannapolis' 2 errors gave the Crawdads five unearned tallies.
The scoring began without the help of the defense in the 2nd, when the Intimidators took the lead on an RBI single from Ethan Gross off of 'Dads starting pitcher Nick Gardewine for a 1-0 advantage. The Crawdads responded in the bottom of the inning with an RBI base knock by Eduard Pinto to bring home Jose Trevino and tie the score at 1-1.
Hickory then broke the game open with four runs in the 3rd to take a 5-1 lead. The 'Dads batted around in the frame, using four hits, a walk, and a throwing error by Kannapolis shortstop Ryan Leonards to mount their rally. It began when Jose Cardona hit a ground ball to Leonards at short that should've been the second out of the inning, but a high throw from the defender allowed Cardona to reach second base. One out later, Edwin Garcia brought home Cardona on an RBI single to center to put the Crawdads ahead. Trevino followed with an RBI double while Tendler produced an RBI base knock before a walk from Jairo Beras and an RBI double by Pinto capped off the four-run frame.
The Intimidators scratched a run off their deficit with a two-out, solo home run by Toby Thomas in the 4th to make the score 5-2, a score that would last until the 8th. Kannapolis entered the inning having squandered bases loaded opportunities in the 6th and 7th, but were finally able to break through in the 8th with RBIs from Louie Lechich and Alexander Simon aided by a fielding error by Juremi Profar. The 3-run rally tied the score at 5-5 before Moorman's RBI in the 9th gave the Crawdads the 6-5 lead they would win by.
Trevino finished the night 2-4 with a double, one RBI, and two runs scored, while Pinto went 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI. Moorman ended the contest 0-3 with the game-winning RBI, while Beras' 2-3 performance extended his hitting streak to a league-best 21 straight games.
Hickory reliever Adam Dian (2-0) earned the win with 1.1 perfect innings out of the bullpen, while Kannapolis reliever Zack Erwin (0-1) took the loss despite allowing just one unearned run over 3 innings of work.
The Crawdads (69-43/25-19) and Intimidators (57-56/22-22) will play again Wednesday night in game two of their 3-game series, with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 pm.
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