Late Rally Lifts Hickory Past Wilson
HICKORY, N.C. – The Hickory Crawdads scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally past the Wilson Warbirds 7-5 on Friday night in the series opener at LP Frans Stadium. With the game knotted at five in the last of the eighth inning, Hickory (16-6 second half,
HICKORY, N.C. – The Hickory Crawdads scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally past the Wilson Warbirds 7-5 on Friday night in the series opener at LP Frans Stadium.
With the game knotted at five in the last of the eighth inning, Hickory (16-6 second half, 50-36 overall) broke the tie after the first three batters of the inning reached base against Enderson Mercado (L, 4-6). Sebastian Baquera would break the tie by reaching on a fielder’s choice to give the Crawdads a 6-5 advantage.
Later in the frame, another groundout led to a run when Yolfran Castillo reached to extend the lead to 7-5.
Wilson (11-10 second half, 47-40 overall) went in order in the ninth inning as Luimy Munoz (W, 3-0) covered the final two innings out of the bullpen to earn the victory.
Friday’s game did provide several offensive fireworks for Wilson as Brady Ebel clubbed a pair of home runs and Filippo Di Turi also went deep, however the Warbirds were unable to hold the lead.
The series continues Saturday night at 7:00 when Wilson gives the ball to right-hander Jarrette Bonet (6-4, 5.03) while Hickory expects to counter with right-hander Jormy Nivar (4-0, 2.86).