Crawdads finish June with 9 wins in 10 games

As the weather has heated up, so have the Hickory Crawdads.

Entering the month of July, the Crawdads were 9-1 since the second half of the Single-A Carolina League season started on June 19, giving them the best second-half record in the entire 12-team league. Not only that, but Hickory was 43-31 overall ahead of Wednesday’s late road game against the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans, the top mark among South Division squads and the second-best mark in the Carolina League.

The Pelicans also hosted the Crawdads on Thursday and Friday before additional matchups today (Saturday, July 4) at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 6:35 p.m., while Hickory’s final series before enjoying four consecutive off days (July 13-16) that coincide with Major League Baseball’s All-Star break will consist of six road games against the Augusta (Ga.) GreenJackets from July 7-12.

Here’s how Hickory fared during the final five games it played in June, with the Crawdads having faced the Hill City (Va.) Howlers in four of those contests before ending the month with a victory over the Pelicans …

THURSDAY, JUNE 25

Hickory 13, Hill City 1

Curley Martha’s pinch-hit grand slam highlighted a nine-run outburst by the Crawdads in the bottom of the eighth inning of a game that saw the hosts total seven hits and 14 walks en route to scoring at least 13 runs for the third time in 2026.

Marcos Torres had two doubles and two walks for Hickory, and he also scored four runs and stole four bases. In addition, Angel Arredondo had a single, two RBIs, a run scored, and a team-high four walks to go with a double, an RBI, two runs scored, and two walks from Sebastian Baquera as well as a single, two RBIs, and a walk from Jack Collins and a single, an RBI, a run scored, and two walks from Marco Argudin.

Paulino Santana (RBI, two runs, two walks) and Yolfran Castillo (walk) had the remaining walks for the Crawdads, while relievers Jake Jekielek (2 IP, 3 K) and Luimy Munoz (2 IP, 2 K) earned their first win and third save, respectively.

FRIDAY, JUNE 26

Hickory 7, Hill City 1 (seven innings)

The Crawdads scored five runs in the opening inning and two in the second on their way to a rain-shortened win over the Howlers, with Hickory receiving a three-run home run from Deward Tovar, a two-run homer from Castillo, and singles from Daniel Flames (two RBIs, run), Baquera (run), and Arredondo.

The Crawdads also got a team-high three walks from Argudin, who scored a run and registered their only stolen base as well. Furthermore, JD McReynolds (4-2) was the winning pitcher thanks to 1 2/3 innings of scoreless, hitless relief with one strikeout and three walks.

SATURDAY, JUNE 27

Hickory 12, Hill City 4

The Crawdads and Howlers each had 16 hits, with Hickory scoring all of its runs from the fourth inning on, including three runs apiece in the sixth, seventh, and eighth frames.

Flames (three singles, two RBIs, two runs, SB), Argudin (two doubles, RBI, two runs), Martha (two singles, RBI, run), Castillo (double, single, RBI, run), Baquera (two singles, RBI), and Torres (two singles, two runs, two SB) led the Crawdads’ offense with multi-hit performances, while Arredondo (single, RBI, two runs), Luis Marquez (single, RBI, two runs), and Santana (double) had their other hits.

Reliever Geury Rodriguez (2 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 K) earned the win to improve to 4-2.

SUNDAY, JUNE 28

Hill City 9, Hickory 4

The Crawdads suffered their first loss of the season’s second half despite getting three hits from Braylin Morel (two-run homer, two singles, three RBIs, run) and one hit apiece from five other players.

Martha finished with a single, an RBI, and two runs scored, while Marquez (triple, run), Castillo (double, SB), Santana (single), and Collins (single) also recorded hits.

TUESDAY, JUNE 30

Hickory 6, Myrtle Beach 3

Four Crawdads pitchers limited the Pelicans to two hits, with starter Alejandro Chiquillo (1-1) collecting the win following five innings of scoreless, hitless ball with six strikeouts and one walk before Aneudis Mejia (IP, H, K), Jekielek (1 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 BB, K), and Munoz (1 2/3 IP, H, 2 K) all saw time in relief.

Santana had a three-run homer and an RBI single, Baquera tallied a pair of singles, and Tovar hit a two-run homer to help Hickory double up Myrtle Beach.