HobbsDailyReport.com
LAKEWOOD, N.J. – Darick Hall’s two doubles – with the last sparking a three-run eighth inning – carried Lakewood (N.J.) past the visiting Hickory Crawdads 4-1 on Sunday.
Hall doubled in a run in the bottom of the first inning for a 1-all tie eventually broken in the eighth inning when Hall doubled in two runs.
A crowd of 6,189 watched a South Atlantic League (SAL) baseball game that ended the first half of the season for both teams, with Lakewood finishing second in the Northern Division (40-30) and Hickory (27-43) finishing last in the division.
Greenville (S.C.) won the first-half Southern Division title after beating Rome (Ga.) 4-3 on the road on Sunday.
The SAL All-Star break is Monday and Tuesday in Columbia, S.C., and second-half schedules begin on Thursday. The game is Tuesday night.
The Crawdads have one player on the Northern Division roster, catcher Ricardo Valencio, after their other pick – outfielder Yanio Perez – was promoted to the Class A Advanced Down Easter River Ducks in Kinston after the selections were announced.
Lakewood’s pitching played a key role on Sunday, scattering eight hits, but getting outs when needed.
Ranger Suarez, the BlueClaws’ starter, went 5 2/3 innings. He gave up seven hits, one run (earned), walked two and struck out three. Reliever Trevor Bettencourt (3-1) got the win, going 3 1/.3 innings. He gave up one unearned run and struck out three.
Hickory grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Blaine Prescott (3-for-4, two doubles) doubled with one out and scored on a single by Leody Taveras. That was the only time the Crawdads were successful with a runner in scoring position (1-for-9).
In the bottom of the first inning, the BlueClaws tied it when Arquimedes Gamboa, who went 2-for-4, singled and stole second before scoring on Hall’s two-out double.
There was no more scoring until the eighth inning, which started with a single by Gamboa. After Crawdads manager Spike Owen was ejected, Raul Rivas walked and Hickory changed pitchers, bringing in Reid Anderson to replace Jack Lemoine.
After a sacrifice bunt, Hall doubled in two runs to make it 3-1 and another run scored on a hit by Henri Lartigue.
Anderson took a loss, going three innings and giving up two hits, two runs (both earned) with two walks and two strikeouts.
For Sunday’s complete box, click on the link below.
More Crawdads coverage is available via Mark Parker at his personal blog, crawdadsbeat.com.
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2017_06_18_hicafx_lwdafx_1&t=g_box&did=milb&sid=t448