Late Rally Not Enough in 'Dads 3-1 Loss

Hickory, NC - The Hickory Crawdads made a late push offensively Saturday night to breakup a shutout and bring the tying run to the plate against the visiting Legends. The 'Dads rally would fall short of tying the game however, as Hickory fell to Lexington 3-1 at L.P. Frans Stadium.

The Crawdads entered the final inning facing their second straight shutout at the hands of the Legends, as the 'Dads were held off the board on four hits over the first eight frames. A leadoff walk by Frandy De La Rosa and a two-out, RBI double from Ricky Valencia got Hickory on the board and brought the potential tying run to the plate, but Lexington reliever Matt Ditman squelched the rally there with a strikeout of Yeyson Yrizarri to end the game.

The 'Dads entered the ninth still in the game due another solid performance by the Crawdads pitching staff. Starter Christian Torres began the night with three scoreless frames before the Legends used a double by Ben Johnson, a single from Tanner Stanley, and an RBI groundout off the bat of D.J. Burt to take a 1-0 lead in the third. Lexington expanded their advantage to 3-0 in the sixth, as Burt led off the inning with a single before Chase Vallot lofted a 2-run home run to left off of Hickory reliever Peter Fairbanks.

The score remained the same until the ninth, when the Crawdads scored their first run of the series but ultimately fell short of a comeback resulting in the 3-1 defeat.

Torres (2-3) took the hard-luck loss for the 'Dads with one run allowed on three hits and two strikeouts over five innings pitched. Legends starter A.J. Puckett (2-3) earned the win after tossing five scoreless frames on two hits and four strikeouts, while Ditman (5) recorded the save for working around the ninth inning run to end the game.

De La Rosa paced the Hickory hitters with a 1-3 game including a double, a walk, and a run scored, while Valencia finished 1-4 with a double and an RBI.

The Crawdads (34-34/72-66) will look to bounce back in game three of their season ending 4-game against the Legends (27-41/52-85) Sunday night, with first pitch scheduled for 5:00 pm.

 

###