Crawdads Flatten Drive in 12-7 Victory
Hickory, NC- The Crawdads defeated the Greenville Drive 12-7 on Sunday afternoon. They split the series with three wins each. The ‘Dads bats started hot, with Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran roping back-to-back doubles to give the team a 1-0 lead. The inning continued as Blaine Crim singled to move
Hickory, NC- The Crawdads defeated the Greenville Drive 12-7 on Sunday afternoon. They split the series with three wins each.
The ‘Dads bats started hot, with Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran roping back-to-back doubles to give the team a 1-0 lead. The inning continued as Blaine Crim singled to move Duran to third. Trevor Hauver hit a ball to second that the fielder misplayed, allowing the Duran to score. Jonathan Ornelas singled to center which put runners on the corners. Jake Guenther hit a fly ball to right that Crim tagged up on and came home to give the ‘Dads their third run.
The Crawdads worked the Drive for three more runs in the third to take a 6-0 advantage. Ornelas and Guenther singled while Frainyer Chavez was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Smith hit a line drive single to left to bring in the inning’s first run. Duran drove another single to bring in a pair of runs.
Greenville got three runs in the fourth off Crawdads starting pitcher Grant Wolfram to make the score 6-3. Reliever Kevin Gowdy allowed two more in the fifth to make it a one run game.
The ‘Dads kept the pace going, adding three more runs in the fifth. Smith doubled for his third hit of the night to get things going. Foscue doubled to bring Smith around. Crim hit his 20th homerun of the year to score two more for the ‘Dads.
In the sixth the Crawdads picked up two more runs to bring the score to 11-5. Ornelas singled and moved to second on a passed ball. Guenther advanced him to third on a ground ball. Chavez singled in Ornelas for the first run. Isaias Quiroz drew a walk to move Chavez to second. Duran delivered his third hit of the night, bringing in Chavez.
The Crawdads got another run across in the seventh. A single by Trevor Hauver and walks by Ornelas and Guenther loaded the bases. Chavez drew the third straight walk of the inning to bring in a run.
Greenville scored another run off Gowdy in the eighth and one in the ninth, bringing the score to 12-7.
Ornelas picked up three hits on the afternoon to extend his hitting streak to six games. He has collected nine hits in his last three games. The Crawdads combined for 16 hits on the evening.
The Crawdads will hit the road for a week, heading to Greensboro. They will return on Tuesday, August 10thfor a six game homestand against the Rome Braves.