HICKORY, NC (May 23, 2019) — A three run rally in the eighth inning wasn’t enough for the ‘Dads as they fell to the Lexington Legends 4-3 on Thursday night.
The Legends got on the board early, scoring a run in the first inning. They added two more runs off Crawdads starting pitcher Tyree Thompson. Thompson finished the afternoon with three earned runs allowed in 4.1 innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Abdiel Mendoza came into the game in relief of Thompson. The Legends scored a run in the seventh to push the score to 4-0. Mendoza struck out 5, walked none and gave up just 2 hits in his 3.2 innings of work.
The ‘Dads mounted a two-out rally in the eighth. Frainyer Chavez walked and Miguel Aparicio was hit by a pitch to put two runners on for Sherten Apostel. Apostel delivered an RBI single up the middle to cut the deficit to the three. Melvin Novoa followed up with hit up the middle that the second baseman struggled to field, allowing Aparicio to score. Pedro Gonzalez hit a bloop single to shallow center, bringing Apostel around to score and make the score 4-3.
The four-game series against Lexington wraps up tomorrow night as the ‘Dads throw it back to the British Invasion. The evening will feature music from the era and themed on-field contests such as the “I Want to Hold Your Hand” Contest where teams have to pass a hula hoop down a line without letting go of their partners hands and the “Twist and Shout” dance-off. Following the game, the ‘Dads will shoot off fireworks thanks to Eyemart Express and WHKY 1290AM and 102.3FM.