'Dads Win 5-4 on Second Balk-Off of the Season
June 18, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
Hickory Crawdads celebrate an unlikely victory
(Hickory Crawdads)
Hickory, NC - Few things in life are more exhilarating than watching the home team pick up a walk-off win.
On Wednesday afternoon, however, the Hickory Crawdads took the walk-off to new levels, picking up their second balk-off win, a 5-4 triumph over Delmarva, in front of 2,069 people at LP Frans Stadium.
Much like last night's 6-4 win over the Shorebirds, the Crawdads weren't an offensive juggernaut. They did not get a singular performance that willed the club to victory.
They simply hung around and took advantage of late-inning opportunities.
The Crawdads took an early 1-0 lead in the first, as Antonis Macias plated Yeremy Cabrera with a sac-fly to center. Cabrera opened the game reaching on a throwing error, stealing second and advancing to third on the first of Maxton Martin's two hits on the day.
From there, the Shorebirds kept Hickory off the board, taking a 4-1 into the bottom of the eighth inning.
Kevin Guerrero was the impact bat for Delmarva today, tying the game with a RBI groundout in the second inning, before his second home run of the year gave the Shorebirds (26-39) a 2-1 lead in the fourth.
The Shorebirds out-hit Hickory 7-4 on this Wednesday matinee.
In the eighth, Delmarva stretched their lead to 4-1, a seemingly arduous hill to climb for this particular Wednesday.
Or was it?
In the eighth, the Crawdads drew three walks, loading the bags, needing just a base-hit to draw even.
The Crawdads could only manage a lone run.
Maxton Martin scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 4-2, but the Crawdads could not get the clutch knock.
In the ninth, the Crawdads saw the door of opportunity swing open once more, as Deivy Cruz walked the bases loaded with two outs, giving Rafe Perich a chance to play hero.
Perich responded with a two-run single to left, scoring Martin and Marcos Torres to knot the game up at 4-4.
From there, the Crawdads would walk it off in a not-too-unfamiliar fashion.
With Esteban Mejia at the plate and Macias at first, Cruz would be called for a balk on a 3-1 count to end the game, as the Crawdads claimed victory in a dramatic, if not unexpected way.
Jesus Gamez earned the win for Hickory (33-31), evening his record to 1-1 on the season. The loss for Cruz moved his mark to 0-1.
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 Hickory Crawdads celebrate an unlikely victory |
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