Howlers No-Hit Bid Falls Short, Lose to Crawdads

The Hill City Howlers took a no-hitter into the seventh but blew the lead late, losing 4-2 to the Hickory Crawdads on Saturday evening.

Harrison Bodendorf pitched a strong outing, working 5.2 innings while striking out six. He was perfect through his last batter when he issued a walk and was promptly lifted from the game.

He was pitching with the lead from the first inning on as Anthony Martinez opened the scoring with a broken bat single to center field. Yeiferth Castillo lined out to center, driving home another with a sacrifice fly, putting Hill City up 2-0.

That would be as much as they could muster. The lead was held until the seventh when the no-hitter was broken up on a bunt base hit. That runner, Yolfran Castillo, scored later in the inning on a Hector Orsorio single. Daniel Flames grounded out later in the frame, driving home another run to tie the game at two.

In the eighth, Paulino Santana brought home a run on a single to center field. He would score later in the frame as a throwing error by Jonathan Martinez allowed the lead to balloon to two.

The Howlers would bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth as Robert Arias extended his hit streak to nine as the first batter of the inning. Three straight outs would follow, as he was left stranded at third to end the game.

Moises Morales pitched a gem in relief for the Crawdads, striking out six across five innings only allowing two hits.

The Howlers and Crawdads will wrap up their series on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at City Stadium with Hill City attempting to salvage a split of the series. Tickets are available at hchowlers.com.