HobbsDailyReport.com
PRESCOTT
HICKORY – Hickory added a game to its South Atlantic League (SAL) Northern Division baseball lead on Tuesday night.
Beating Hagerstown (Md.) 9-4 before 1,325 at L.P. Frans Stadium, the Crawdads opened a three-game lead on the Suns, who are now tied for second place with Greensboro and West Virginia.
Hickory meets Hagerstown on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. and again on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
The Crawdads are 58-63 overall and 31-20 in the Northern Division second-half standings, with Hagerstown (27-22), Greensboro (27-22) and West Virginia (28-23) all three games back.
Greensboro won 12-11 over Delmarva (Md.) on Tuesday night, and West Virginia nipped Lexington (Ky.) 3-2.
CURRENT HOMESTAND
Wednesday, 7 p.m.: Hagerstown, Md.
Thursday, 7 p.m.: Hagerstown, Md.
The Crawdads collected 14 hits and used a five-run fourth inning to win the series opener over the Suns (65-53 overall).
Blaine Prescott went 4-for-5 to lead Hickory (double, home run) and drove in two runs and Leody Taveras had two hits (double, home run) and drove in three runs. Alex Kowalczyk added two hits.
Hickory’s Reiver Sanmartin (3-0) was the winning pitcher, throwing six innings. He gave up 10 hits, four runs (all earned), walked none and struck out six and 65 of his 85 pitchers were for strikes.
Hagerstown got two runs in the first and two in the fourth inning. The Suns’ hitting leaders were Blake Perkins (3-for-4), Jake Noll with two hits – one a home run – and Nick Banks and Anderson Franco each with two hits.
Noll had a two-out, two-run home run, his 16th of the season, in the first inning.
Taveras hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning, his eighth of the season, and Prescott hit a solo shot in the sixth inning for Hickory (his ninth of the year).
Taveras’ home run came in the fourth inning after Anderson Tejeda singled and scored on a double by Tanner Gardner and after Prescott drove in a run after Eric Jenkins had singled to tie it at 4-all.
Brigham Hill (0-1) took the loss for the Suns, going 3 2/3 innings. He gave up nine hits, seven runs (six earned) with two walks and one strikeout.
Hickory is battling to win a division second-half title and earn a spot in the SAL playoffs. Kannapolis and Lakewood (N.J.) share the Northern Division first-half title.
For Tuesday’s boxscore, click the link below.
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2017_08_15_hagafx_hicafx_1&t=g_box&did=milb&sid=t448