SAL1 Hickory Crawdads

Crawdads Clinch 1st-Half Championship, Beat 'Dogs 5-3

Published on June 18, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release


HICKORY, NC - The Hickory Crawdads clinched the 1st-Half Northern Division Championship and a 2011 SAL Playoff berth with a 5-3 victory against the Charleston RiverDogs before 1,991 fans at L.P. Frans Stadium on Saturday. The Crawdads victory, combined with the Kannapolis Intimidators beating the Greensboro Grasshoppers, 1-0, in 12 innings on Saturday, clinched the title for Hickory. It marks the first time since 2002 that the 'Dads have won the first half division championship, and only the second time in Crawdads history.

Charleston (25-44) got on the board first against RHP Nick Tepesch and the Crawdads (40-27) in the top of the first inning. With two on and two down, LF Rob Segedin and C Gary Sanchez knocked back-to-back RBI singles to put Charleston up, 2-0.

Tepesch dealt four scoreless frames after that, while Charleston RHP Mikey O'Brien and reliever LHP Kramer Sneed retired 18 of the 19 Crawdads that they combined to face through the first six innings.

After the RiverDogs added a third run on an RBI double by 3B J.R. Murphy in the seventh, the Crawdads began chipping away in the bottom of the frame against O'Brien. With two outs and the bases empty, 3B Christian Villanueva kept the inning alive with a walk. DH Andrew Clark belted the Crawdads on the board with a two-run homer over the right field wall, cutting the deficit to just 3-2.

Hickory completed the comeback and took their first lead of the game with three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against RHP Kelvin Perez (L, 0-4). LF Jake Skole led off with a single, before moving all the way to third on a two-base error committed by SS Jose Mojica on a 1B Jhonny Gomez grounder. Gomez was retired at second on the play, but it moved the game-tying run in Skole just ninety feet away from coming home. CF Teodoro Martinez brought in Skole with an RBI double down the left-field line, tying it up at 3-3. Martinez then charged home on an RBI triple by SS Jurickson Profar, who scored next on an RBI grounder by 2B Odubel Herrera, putting the Crawdads in the 5-3 lead.

RHP Ryan Rodebaugh (S, 10) took the mound and slammed the door with a scoreless ninth inning to close the 5-3 win for the Crawdads. RHP Joe Van Meter (W, 5-0) previously dealt a scoreless eighth and registered the win for Hickory.

Crawdads Clippings:

The Crawdads close the first half of the season against the Charleston RiverDogs on Sunday at 5 p.m. for Craw"DADS" Day! All dads will get a FREE ticket to Sunday's game, with a pre-game father-child catch on the field from 4 - 4:30 p.m. It is also Prostate Cancer Awareness Day.

Get Tickets:

Individual tickets, corporate partnerships, group outings and ticket plans for the 2011 season are available right now at the Crawdads Front Office or by calling (828) 322-3000. You can even purchase and print your tickets from the comfort of your home on Hickorycrawdads.com.

Check out the Hickory Crawdads Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 18, 2011


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