Martin Drills Walk-Off Home Run to Cap off Rally
June 8, 2025 - Carolina League (CarL)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
Hickory Crawdads celecrate Maxton Martin's three-run, walk-off homer
(Hickory Crawdads)
Hickory, NC - Maxton Martin's three-run homer in the ninth capped a four-run ninth-inning rally as the Hickory Crawdads earned a dramatic 9-7 win over Columbia Sunday afternoon at LP Frans Stadium.
The win for Hickory earned a split against Columbia, keeping Hickory 1.5 games back of Kannapolis, who won in walk-off fashion Sunday against Myrtle Beach.
Gabriel Silva had a big day for the Fireflies, hitting two home runs and driving in three on the day. All of Silva's home runs this season have been hit this weekend against the Crawdads.
Columbia owned a pair of four-run leads in the contest. The first lead occurred in the third inning as the Fireflies put four on the board against Hickory starter Dalton Pence.
The 'Dads would rally for a pair of runs in the fourth, tacking on a run in the fifth as Hector Osorio left the yard to trim the Columbia lead to 4-3.
In the sixth, Josi Novas hit a two-run shot to right off Aneudis Mejia to stretch the Columbia advantage back to 6-3.
Silva's second blast in the seventh moved the lead back to four runs at 7-3, with time running out on the Crawdads.
In the seventh, Martin and Yeremy Cabrera collected an RBI each, making the score 7-5.
Jake Jekielek pitched two scoreless frames to give Hickory a chance to steal a win away from the Fireflies.
In the ninth, Osorio singled to left and reached second as Daniel Flames singled to right. Chandler Pollard reached on a bunt single to load the bases for Martin.
Columbia brought on Wednesday's winning pitcher, Julio Rosario, to hold onto the lead.
However, Rosario balked home Osorio before throwing a pitch to cut the lead to a single run at 7-6.
On the very next pitch, Martin sent LP Frans Stadium into pandemonium, crushing the first offering beyond all four tiers of the right field wall to walk it off for the Crawdads.
Upon reaching home, Martin was mobbed by his teammates, dousing the outfielder with every flavor of sports drink from the dugout.
Jekielek claimed the win for Hickory (29-27), pushing his record to 4-2, while Elvis Novas took the loss for Columbia, going to 1-1.
With the win, the Crawdads leapfrog Columbia, remaining 1.5 games back of the Cannon Ballers and .5 games behind Augusta, who lost to Fayetteville by a 3-1 score.
Other things of note for the Crawdads this week:
Maxton Martin collected double-figure hits (13) in a home series for the second time this season. However, his 6 RBI effort on Thursday earned Martin double-figures in RBI (14) for the week. Martin leads the Carolina League in doubles (18), extra-base hits (27) and is second in total bases (101).
And speaking of Martin...Sunday's walk-off homer was the most dramatic finish to a game this year, as the Crawdads overcame their second consecutive 7-3 deficit to win in comeback fashion. Martin's three-run tater sent the Frans into a tizzy, as the Richland, WA native smashed his second homer of the week.
Antonis Macias has had quite a stretch since moving to the three-spot in the order. The Carolina League leader in walks (42) has bumped his on-base percentage to .414, placing him in fifth place, as of June 7th.
Yeremy Cabrera has seen a recent uptick on the base paths lately. The Crawdads centerfielder is in the top 10 in on-base percentage for all Carolina League players, reaching at a .374 clip.
Marcos Torres picked up a five-hit game on Thursday, claiming four singles and a double. The outfielder from Venezuela raised his average 46 points in the process.
Speaking of big nights, the Crawdads had season highs of 18 runs and 19 hits on that Thursday, going from ninth to fourth in the Carolina League in team batting average.
This week's schedule in the South Division has Columbia hosting Kannapolis and Augusta going to Charleston. Five teams in the division are separated by three games. (KAN, AUG 1.0GB, HKY 1.5GB, COL 2.0GB, CSC 3.0GB)
After the standard Monday off, the Crawdads travel to Myrtle Beach for a six-game series against the Chicago Cubs Class-A affiliate.
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 Hickory Crawdads celecrate Maxton Martin's three-run, walk-off homer |
Carolina League Stories from June 8, 2025
- Martin Drills Walk-Off Home Run to Cap off Rally - Hickory Crawdads
- Carolina's Early Runs Snap RiverDogs' Win Streak - Charleston RiverDogs
- Cannon Ballers Walk off Pelicans 5-4, Clinch Series - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
- Ninth-Inning Comeback Seals Victory for Lynchburg in Series Finale, 6-5 - Salem Red Sox
- Silva's Two Homer Game Not Enough to Win Finale - Columbia Fireflies
- FredNats Come Back for Sunday Victory, Series Win - Fredericksburg Nationals
- Shorebirds Fall to Fred Nats in Series Finale - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Mudcats Beat Charleston to Snap Skid - Carolina Mudcats
- Columbia Fireflies: Homestand Preview: June 10-15 - Columbia Fireflies
- Columbia Fireflies Game Notes at Hickory 6.8 - Columbia Fireflies
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