Gutierrez Gives ‘Dads Walk-Off Win

Hickory NC- The Crawdads walked-it-off against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws in the tenth inning of Wednesday’s matchup, winning 1-0 on a two-out single by Anthony Gutierrez.

Gutierrez scored Jayce Easley in the bottom of the 10th inning with an infield single to earn the Hickory Crawdads their first win of 2024, a 1-0 over Jersey Shore.

The Education Day game was delayed at the start due to rain that rolled through the Unifour throughout the overnight hours. Once the game started, pitching dominated the contest as both teams yielded only seven hits while combining to strike out 22 batters.

Luis Ramirez made his second appearance of the season and first start of the year and was stellar, pitching 4.2 ultra-efficient innings, allowing just four hits while striking two.

However, it was the bullpen that proved even more dominant, tossing 5.1 innings of no-hit baseball to go with six punchouts to hold the Blue Claws lineup at bay.

Equally stingy was the Jersey Shore pitching staff, surrendering just 3 hits over 9.2 innings, while allowing the single unearned in extra frames.

In the 10th inning rally, Jayce Easley came on to run for Tucker Mitchell and was stationed at second base to begin the frame as the designated runner. With two outs, Gutierrez rolled a ball by the second base bag that was flagged down by Bryan Rincon who fired to first but a hustling Gutierrez was called safe at the bag. Easley got the green light rounding third and raced home with the game's lone run.

Skylar Hales earned the win for Hickory, upping his record to 1-0, while Danny Wilkinson absorbed the tough-luck loss, falling to 0-1 in the new year.

The Crawdads continue the Opening Week festivities with a Thursday night tilt against the Blue Claws with a first pitch slated for 7pm. It is Duos Day, Thirsty Thursday by Focus News, and Peoples Bank Thursday.