HobbsDailyReport.com
LAKEWOOD, N.J. – The BlueClaws’ clutch hitting on Saturday night pinched the Hickory Crawdads.
After Raul Rivas’ run-scoring triple in the ninth inning forced a South Atlantic League (SAL) game before 6,760 to extra innings, Lakewood (N.J.) won 2-1 when Arquimedes Gamboa delivered a two-out RBI hit in the 10th inning.
The win moved Lakewood (39-30) into a tie with Kannapolis atop the SAL Northern Division standings.
Lakewood faces Hickory again Sunday at 1:05 p.m. and Kannapolis, which fell 6-1 on Saturday at home against West Virginia, plays the Power on Sunday at 2:05 p.m.
Sunday ends the first-half of the SAL season with the All-Star Game scheduled on Tuesday in Columbia, S.C.
CODY
On Saturday night, Hickory (27-42, last place in the Northern Division) gained a 1-0 lead in the first inning and then rode Kyle Cody’s pitching (eight innings, one hit, one walk, eight strikeouts) all the way to the ninth inning.
Leody Taveras singled and stole second base in the opening inning for the Crawdads, advanced on a single by Carlos Garay and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Kowalczyk.
Facing reliever Nick Dignaccio in the ninth inning, Lakewood tied it at 1 when Gamboa singled and scored on Rivas’ triple.
In the 10th inning, with Kaleb Fontenot pitching for Hickory, the BlueClaws won it with David Martinelli on via single, a single by Luke Williams and a game-winning hit by Gamboa, who had two of the BlueClaws’ six hits.
Garay led Hickory, which had seven hits, with two.
Fontenot (2-2) took the loss, allowing three hits and three runs (one earned) over two innings.
Will Hibbs, the third Lakewood pitcher used, threw two innings and gained a win in relief of starter Sixto Sanchez, who threw strikes of 47 of his 56 pitches. He gave up five hits and one run (earned) in five innings.
For the complete box from Saturday’s game, click on the link below.
More coverage of the Crawdads is available via Mark Parker at his personal blog about the team – crawdadsbeat.com.
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2017_06_17_hicafx_lwdafx_1&t=g_box&did=milb&sid=t448