'Dads fall in Home Opener; 4,412 fans fill L.P. Frans!
April 17, 2010 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
HICKORY, N.C. - L.P. Frans Stadium was packed by 4,412 fans, as the Hickory Crawdads fell to the Kannapolis Intimidators, 8-4, in the 2010 Home Opener on Friday night.
The Intimidators (3-6) struck first with a pair of runs against Crawdads starter RHP Matt Thompson in the top of the second inning. The 'Dads, though, responded right away and tied it in the bottom of the inning.
C Vinny DiFazio drew a one-out walk, and was followed by consecutive singles from 3B Matt West and 1B Mike Ortiz to load the bases with just one away in the frame. LF Cristian Santana then was hit by a pitch, forcing in Hickory's first run, before 2B Edwin Garcia tied it on an RBI grounder to second that scored West from third.
After Kannapolis took a 3-2 lead with a run in the top of the third, the Crawdads (4-5) again came back to tie it with a tally in bottom of the fourth. DiFazio started the inning with another walk and quickly came in on an RBI double by West to left field, knotting it at 3-3.
However, the Intimidators kept the pressure on against the Crawdads bullpen, striking for one run against RHP Hector Nelo (0-1) in the sixth and three (two earned) against LHP Chad Bell in the seventh. The Crawdads had an offensive spark when LF Cristian Santana hit a towering solo shot out to left to begin the bottom of the seventh and make it just a 7-4 deficit, but Kannapolis answered with a lead-off homer of their own in the top of the eighth against RHP Kyle Ocampo to account for the 8-4 final score.
Ocampo only surrendered the solo homer and struck out four in the final 2.1 frames. Nelo was tagged with the loss for Hickory, while starter RHP Cameron Bayne (1-1) registered the win for Kannapolis.
Click here for the official box score.
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