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SAL1 Hickory Crawdads

'Hoppers top 'Dads in final home game of '09

September 3, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release


HICKORY, N.C. - In their final home game of the 2009 season, the Hickory Crawdads fell to the Greensboro Grasshoppers, 7-3, before 2,009 fans at L.P. Frans Stadium on Thursday evening.

The Grasshoppers (28-38, 64-72) moved ahead quickly against RHP Neil Ramirez (3-6), striking for five runs in the first three innings. The only extra-base hit surrendered by Ramirez during that stretch was a solo homer hit by SS Emilio Ontiveros in the top of the third. Ramirez bounced back by striking out the side in the top of the fourth inning, his final frame of work.

The Crawdads (28-38, 61-74) got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, plating one run against RHP Kyle Kaminska (9-9). DH Vinny DiFazio led off the stanza with a solo bomb just inside the left field foul pole for his fifth homer of the season to cut the Greensboro lead to, 5-1.

Hickory kept chipping away in the bottom of the sixth inning, striking for two more runs against Kaminska. With one away in the inning, CF Aja Barto reached on an error and quickly came home from first on an RBI double hit by RF Eric Fry down the right field line. 3B Matt West then returned the favor with an RBI double of his own, hit to left-center field to plate Fry from second and chase Kaminska from the mound, making it 5-3. RHP Bryan Evans took over on the mound and posted back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the inning.

Greensboro then stretched the lead back to four runs with a pair charged to LHP Yoon-Hee Nam in the top of the seventh. A bases-loaded walk accounted for the first run in the frame and capped Nam's evening. RHP Mark Hamburger took over on the mound, logged a pair of strikeouts and induced a sacrifice fly to get out of the inning with minimal damage done, though the Grasshoppers took a 7-3 lead.

Hamburger dealt scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth as well, but was matched by Evans and RHP Brandon Todd, who combined to toss two scoreless frames to close the 7-3 win for the Grasshoppers. Ramirez was tagged with the loss for Hickory, while Kaminska registered the win for Greensboro.

Crawdads Clippings:

The Crawdads hit the road to Kannapolis to finish the 2009 season with a four-game series against the Intimidators, starting on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Catch all the action live on The Big Dawg 92.1 FM and Hickorycrawdads.com, and be sure to tune in early for Crawdads Countdown, presented by George's On The Lake.

Get Tickets:

Season tickets, group outings and corporate partnerships for the 2010 season are available right now at the Crawdads Front Office or by calling (828) 322-3000. Visit Hickorycrawdads.com to view the Crawdads 2010 regular season schedule.

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South Atlantic League Stories from September 3, 2009


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