Crawdads cut down Legends with 10-3 win
August 20, 2011 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
HICKORY, NC - After rain delayed the first pitch for an hour and 18 minutes, the 1st-Half Northern Division Champion Hickory Crawdads cruised to the 10-3 win against the Lexington Legends, before 2,552 fans at L.P. Frans Stadium on Saturday evening. CF Jake Skole helped pace the offense with a triple, a home run and a double, just missing what would have been the first cycle in Crawdads history by a single.
The Legends (52-72, 17-37) struck first in the first, facing LHP Kevin Johnson. RF Domingo Santana bounced into a fielder's choice, reaching first base on the play with two outs on the board. DH Telvin Nash brought Santana in with an RBI double, putting the Legends in the 1-0 lead early.
The Crawdads (71-52, 31-24) wasted no time in responding, plating a pair in the bottom of the first against RHP Tanner Bushue (L, 6-6). SS Jurickson Profar got all the way to second base on a missed catch error charged to Santana to start the inning. Profar then took third on a ground out, before DH Tomas Telis drove a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Profar and tying the game. 3B Christian Villanueva extended the inning with a double, followed by CF Jake Skole's RBI triple to make it 2-1.
Hickory swung away for three more runs in the bottom of the second inning. C Kellin Deglan worked a one-out walk and moved to third on a base hit by LF Jhonny Gomez. After a strikeout, 2B Odubel Herrera drove in Deglan with an RBI single to left field, which was misplayed by LF Ruben Sosa, enabling Gomez to score as well and Herrera to take second base. Telis struck again with an RBI single, bringing in Herrera and putting Hickory in the 5-1 advantage.
The Crawdads increased the power with back-to-back home runs to start the bottom of the fifth. Villanueva belted the inning's first pitch over the left-field wall, before Skole stepped up and smoked a solo shot over the right-field fence to stretch the lead to 7-1.
After RHP Cody Buckel (W, 7-3) posted scoreless innings in the third through the fifth frames, the Legends scored two tallies in the top of the sixth, Buckel's final inning of work. With two on and two down, Sosa drove a two-run double to bring Lexington within four runs, 7-3.
Hickory responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, stretching the lead right back out. With Telis at first base and one away, Skole struck for his third RBI, plating Telis with a double to left-center field. Skole scored later in the inning on a wild pitch from LHP Alex Sogard, giving the 'Dads the 9-3 lead.
The Crawdads tacked on a final insurance run in the bottom of the eighth against RHP Juan Minaya. Profar worked a walk to start the inning and raced to second on a ground out. Telis singled again, moving Profar to third base. Villanueva then drove an RBI sacrifice fly to right field that scored Profar for the 10-3 lead. The fly ball was dropped by Santana for another missed catch error, enabling Villanueva to reach base safely with Telis moving to second, setting Skole up for the chance at the cycle. Missing only the single, Skole drove a sharp ground ball up the middle, but 2B Delino DeShields, Jr. made a diving stop and flipped the ball from his knees to second for the force out and fielder's choice, robbing Skole of the base hit and from becoming the first-ever Crawdad to hit for the cycle.
RHP Jose Monegro (S, 1) put the finishing touches on his three-inning save with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, closing the 10-3 win for Hickory.
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