Trend continues

The only thing that has been consistent about Hickory in the second half has been its inconsistency.

The trend continued Wednesday in a doubleheader as Hickory gained a split with Augusta, winning the second game 5-0 after dropping the first game 7-1 in South Atlantic League play at L.P. Frans Stadium.

"The second game, our pitching was a lot better and our offense showed up," said Hickory manager Hector Ortiz. "We played like two completely different teams from one game to the other."

Hickory (51-50, 18-14 second half) was out hit 12-4 in the first game, and turned the table out hitting the GreenJackets 6-5 in Game 2 to split the four-game series 2-all.

The Crawdads' split coupled with Kannapolis' win over Rome keeps Hickory one game-back of the first-place Intimidators in the North Division.

Hickory closes out the season with a four-game series at Kannapolis Sept. 4-7.

In the second half, Hickory's season has been like a roller coaster.

The Crawdads have had winning streaks of two, five, three, four, two and one game twice.

On the flip side, Hickory has had losing streaks of three (twice), one (twice), four and two games.

Needing to win the second half division title to make the playoffs, every series takes on major importance.

"There are a lot of people fighting for first place and the playoff position," said Ortiz. "We can not afford to lose a series. It's very important if we want to stay in the pack we win series and keep ourselves in the middle of the pack and see what happens."

Entering Wednesday's game, Hickory was tied with West Virginia and Lakewood for second while Delmarva and Lake County were two and 2 1/2 games back respectively.

The wild card in the scenario is Lakewood, which won the first half title.

If Lakewood wins the second half, the team with the next best record in the Northern Division will be the wild card entry for the four-team playoff.

Hickory opens a four-game series at Lakewood starting Friday at 7:05 p.m.

In the second game Wednesday, right-hander Wilfredo Boscan (5-6) picked up his first win since June 13 at West Virginia by limiting Augusta to five hits in six innings. Boscan walked none and struck out two.

In his previous nine start, Boscan was 1-3 with five no decisions.

Offensively, Hickory got an unexpected power production from Matt West and Cristian Santana.

The two combined for three hits, four runs, five RBIs and combined was 3-for-5.

West had one hit, including a home run, two runs and two RBIs.

Santana was 2-for-3 with two home runs, two runs and three RBIs.

West entered the season with four home runs in 327 at bats, and Santana entered with a .186 average and eight home runs in 199 at bats.

Santana gave Boscan and the Crawdads all they need with a two-out solo home run in the second to center field for a 1-0 lead.

West connected for a two-run home run in the fourth to make the score 3-0, and Santana rounded out the scoring with a two-run home run in the sixth.

After totaling just two extra base hits in the first game (9 innings), Hickory came out swinging in the second with three of its first four hits being extra bases – two home runs and one double.

The second game was a seven-inning game, played as a second part of a regular-scheduled doubleheader.

In the first game, Augusta (54-58, 19-14) picked up where it left off in the completion of the first game, which was suspended in the top of the fourth inning from Tuesday.

Leading 4-1 when the game was resumed, the GreenJackets added one more in the fourth and one in the fifth and seventh innings.

Four Augusta pitchers limited Hickory to four hits, striking out nine and walking two.

Once again runners left in scoring position hurt the Crawdads as they were 0-8 for the game, and in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, Hickory stranded three runners in scoring position and was 0-5 during that stretch.

Andres James, Jared Bolden, Erik Morrison, Doug Hogan and Eric Fry were 0-1 with runners in scoring position in that stretch.

Offensively, Augusta finished with 12 hits, and four of its first seven hits were for extra bases – two doubles and two home runs.

Six players got a hit for Augusta, five with multiple hits.

The top four in the GreenJackets lineup accounted for eight hits, with three getting multiple hits.
Augusta scored in five of its nine at bats.