HICKORY, NC (May 24, 2019) — The Crawdads’ bats broke loose on Friday night as they defeated the Lexington Legends 11-6.
The Legends scored the first of the game, stringing together a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly in the first inning.
The ‘Dads stormed back in the bottom half of the inning to take an 8-1 lead. Miguel Aparacio singled and Curtis Terry was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. Both advanced on a wild pitch. Sherten Apostel walked to load the bases for Pedro Gonzalez. Gonzalez drew a walk, scoring Aparicio. Matt Whatley singled to bring in Terry for the inning’s second run. Almonte followed up with a two-run single. A walk by Tyler Depreta-Johnson loaded the bases once again for the Crawdads. Frainyer Chavez, who had led off the inning, walked to score another run. Miguel Aparicio tripled clear the bases and push the score to 8-1.
The Legends got a run across in the fifth inning, making the score 8-2.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Crawdads responded with a pair of runs. Frainyer Chavez got things started with a double. Miguel Aparicio drove a ball to right to bring his RBI total for the evening to five. The homer was his third hit of the night, after a single and triple earlier in the game, bringing him a double shy of the cycle.
Lexington added a run in the seventh and three in the eighth but still trailed the Crawdads 10-6.
The Crawdads extended their lead back to five with a run in bottom of the eighth. Pedro Gonzalez hit a two out single to center. Matt Whatley doubled to right to bring Gonzalez home.
The homestand continues tomorrow night as the ‘Dads begin a four-game series against the Greensboro Grasshoppers. The popular mascot group the ZOOperstars! will be at the Frans to entertain fans with their antics. Following the game there will be post-game autographs from Crawdads players. The first pitch will be at 6:30pm and gates open at 5:30pm.