Crawdads continue winning ways after 4-day break

Mother Nature is the only thing that has slowed down the Hickory Crawdads as of late, as Tuesday’s 1-0 home win over the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans was their sixth victory in a row but was sandwiched between a pair of games that were affected by rain.

Hickory also defeated the visiting Wilson Warbirds by a 7-5 score on July 17 and by a 5-4 final on July 18 before the finale of the three-game series on July 19 was suspended with the Crawdads trailing 6-0 with two outs in the top of the first inning and will be completed as part of a doubleheader when Hickory visits the Warbirds on Aug. 25. In addition, Wednesday’s contest was postponed to Friday, when it was scheduled to be made up as part of a twin bill at L.P. Frans Stadium.

Entering Thursday’s late game against the Pelicans, the Crawdads were 52-36 overall and 18-6 in the second half of the Single-A Carolina League season, four games ahead of the Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets for the top spot in the league’s second-half standings. And after facing Myrtle Beach twice more on Friday, Hickory also hosts its South Division foes tonight (Saturday, July 25) at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. before visiting the Delmarva (Md.) Shorebirds for six games beginning on July 28 at 7:05 p.m.

In their most recent win on Tuesday, three Crawdads pitchers combined for a one-hitter as starter Aidan Deakins (6 IP, H, BB, 9 K) earned the win to improve to 7-0 on the season, Jake Jekielek struck out two and hit a batter in two innings of relief, and Wily Villar (2 K) retired all three batters he faced en route to notching his third save. Meanwhile, the game’s only run came when Hickory’s Deward Tovar singled, advanced to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a groundout from Sebastian Baquera, and scored on a single from Yolfran Castillo in the bottom of the fifth.

Hickory had previously pounded out 10 hits on July 17 in its first game after four consecutive off days (July 13-16) that coincided with Major League Baseball’s All-Star break, getting two hits apiece from Castillo (two singles, two RBIs, run, SB), Jay McQueen (two singles, two runs), and Pablo Guerrero (two singles). And the winning pitcher was Luimy Munoz (3-0), who threw two innings of scoreless, hitless relief with four strikeouts and one walk to end the game.

Finally, in their one-run win on July 18, the Crawdads recorded seven hits — Paulino Santana (two singles, two RBIs), Guerrero (solo home run, single, RBI, two runs), and Tovar (double, single, run) each finished with two hits — and Louis Marinaro (4-2) was the winning pitcher thanks to two innings of scoreless, hitless relief with three strikeouts and one walk.