Hickory falls in 13, is eliminated in SAL Finals

The Hickory Crawdads lost 3-1 in 13 innings to Lexington last night, putting an end to their dreams of a championship, as they were eliminated in the South Atlantic League Finals, 3 games to 1.

Jesus Linarez was tapped to start in place of Abdiel Mendoza, who was a late scratch, and struck out 2 while allowing 2 hits in 4.1 IP. Hever Bueno struck out 4 and walked 1 in 1.2 IP in relief of him, but allowed the 1 regulation run that Lexington scored. Kelvin Gonzalez threw 3 scoreless innings, striking out 3, before turning things over to Tyree Thompson. Thompson kept Lexington off the board in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings, but with two out in the 13th, he allowed a two run home run that gave Lexington the victory in walk-off fashion.

Hickory’s bats were shut down most of the day, with the only hits being singles by Tyreque Reed and Miguel Aparicio, and a solo home run by Pedro Gonzalez. Reed, Gonzalez and Matt Whatley also drew walks.

Its a disappointing ending for the Crawdads, but it shouldn’t detract from what was a great season, both in regards to wins and losses and as it relates to player development. Congrats to the Hickory folks on an outstanding 2019 campaign.