Crawdads Win Third Straight in 24 Hours
Published on May 9, 2009 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
After an all night bus trip from Lake Erie to the Jersey shore, the Hickory Crawdads shook off the 497 mile trip to win their third straight game in a 24 hour span, defeating the Lakewood Blue Claws 5-4 in ten innings.
The three game winning streak matched Hickory's longest such streak of the season and left the Crawdads with a record of 16-13. It is the first time the 'Dads have been three games over .500 this season. With the win, Hickory leap frogs Lakewood (15-13) into fourth place in the tight Northern Division race, with the potential to finish the night tied for second place depending on the outcome of games involving Kannapolis and Greensboro.
The winning run came on a double off the bat of Erik Morrison, which scored David Paisano from second base. Paisano reached base on a lead off walk issued by Lakewood reliever Brian Rosenberg (2-1). Rosenberg then struck out Jason Ogata, but on the strike out, Paisano stole second before scoring on the Harrison double to the gap in left.
Lakewood took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Crawdads' starter Martin Perez, with the help of the legs of Anthony Gose. With one out, Gose was hit by a pitch, then stole second on a botched pickoff attempt by Hickory. After Gose stole third, Travis D'Arnaud hit a ball back to Perez, who caught Gose in a run down between third and home. Gose stayed in the run down long enough to allow D'Arnaud to reach second base. This proved crucial as D'Arnaud was able to score on a two-out single to center by Sebastian Valle.
Both Perez and Blue Claws starting pitcher Heitor Correa were sharp as the two teams combined for only three base runners until the fifth inning.
Hickory took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning with the help of the Blue Claws defense. With one out, Doug Hogan worked a walk and advanced to second base on an errant pickoff throw. With two outs, Edward Martinez reached on a throwing error by SS Troy Hanzawa. Both Hogan and Martinez scored on a triple to the wall by Paisano.
Lakewood reclaimed the lead with two runs of their own in the fifth inning. Hanzawa and Jeremy Hamilton reached on back-to-back singles to open the inning, putting runners at first and third. Hanzawa scored on a fielder's choice by Leandro Castro, who went to second on an infield single by Harold Garcia. After both runners moved up 90-feet on a double steal, D'Arnaud hit a ball to short that Martinez bobbled, allowing Castro to score. However, Martinez recovered in time to throw out Garcia attempting to score from second on the play, ending the inning.
Hickory retook the lead in the 8th inning off reliever Justin DeFratus. Paisano led off the inning with a seeing-eye single to center and moved to second on an Ogata sacrifice. One out later, Paisano scored on a double by Matt West, who scored one batter later on a double by Jared Bolden. However, Lakewood tied the game in the 8th as D'Arnaud hit a solo home run to send the game into extra innings.
Cody Eppley (1-0) earned the win for Hickory allowing only the 8th inning homer in 2.2 innings pitched.
Paisano was the hitting star of the day for Hickory, going 3-for-3 with a triple, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
Hickory returns to action Sunday afternoon at First Energy Park in Lakewood. Game time is at 1:05 pm with Andrew Buchbinder providing the play-by-play on 92.1 FM WMNC and on hickorycrawdads.com.
South Atlantic League Stories from May 9, 2009
- Power slams Suns - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Braves defeat Legends - Lexington Legends
- Gnats end homestand with win - Savannah Sand Gnats
- RiverDogs Blank Tourists, 2-0 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Intimidators falter in sloppy 10-5 loss to Captains - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Crawdads Win Third Straight in 24 Hours - Hickory Crawdads
- In Back and Forth Game, Crawdads Score Last and Win - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Mitchell Sent to Staten Island, Dogs Activate Banuelos - Charleston RiverDogs
- Eigsti Returns To St. Lucie As Valdespin Returns To Savannah - Savannah Sand Gnats
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