The Greenville (S.C.) Drive closed a five game-series against the Crawdads with a fourth win in an off-and-on drizzle Monday afternoon at L.P. Frans Stadium.
The Drive won the final regular season South Atlantic League game of the season for both teams, 11-4, and whacked 55 hits and outscored the Crawdads 38-17 in the series.
Hickory (79-58, 39-30 second half), headed to the playoffs via winning the first-half Northern Division title, ended up tied with Greensboro for the second-half crown.
Greensboro won the second half Northern title because of a better head-to-head record against Hickory. The Grasshoppers and Crawdads played three times in the second half and Greensboro won twice.
The first round of the SAL playoffs – Hickory against Greensboro – begins Wednesday in Greensboro. Game 2 is Friday at 7 p.m. at L.P. Frans Stadium and a third game, if needed, will be at Frans on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Southern Division series also begins on Wednesday, with Savannah (Ga.) at Augusta (Ga.).
The best-of-five SAL championship series starts Sept. 12 at Hickory or Greensboro.
While Hickory manager Bill Richardson had hoped for a better showing to close the regular season, he understood his team had nothing to play for, having clinched their playoff spot in June.
He expects the Crawdads will be sharper once the long-awaited playoffs begin.
“Boy, that’s always the question. Is there a proverbial switch?” said Richardson. “Some guys got some rest. I wish we could have finished a little stronger there, but you can’t read too much into these games.
“These guys are going to leave it on the field again in the playoffs.”
On Monday, the Drive pummeled Crawdads starting pitcher Nick Tepesch (7-5) for 10 runs over four innings. Diminutive second baseman Sean Coyle supplied the big bat, knocking seven runs with three hits, including two home runs.
In the first inning, Greenville’s first three hitters singled, the third coming on Coyle’s RBI hit to score Feliz Sanchez from third. One out later, Drew Hedman drove home Matty Johnson with a sacrifice fly.
Two innings later, James Kang hit a soft fly ball to left for a single. That was followed by a swinging bunt by Sanchez that hugged the third base line and stayed fair. With a stiff wind blowing out to left, Coyle came up one out later and belted a three-run homer to put the Drive up 5-0.
Hickory cut into the lead with a run in the third. Tomas Telis (3-for-5) doubled and scored on a single by Christian Villanueva.
But the Drive put the game away in the next inning with five more runs.
Greenville loaded the bases on an error by shortstop Jonathan Roof, a walk, and a bloop single. Sanchez drove in two runs with a single to right, then Coyle completed the onslaught with his second three-run homer to left.
“Today, I was able to relax and see the ball”, said Coyle, who is 5-foot-8. “I didn’t try to do too much with it and just let my hands work.”
Greenville’s final run came in the fifth on a home run by David Renfroe.
The Crawdads put spaced out 14 hits against starter Miguel Celestino (10-6) and reliever Tyler Wilson but managed only single runs in the fourth and fifth off Celestino and one in the ninth off Wilson, who was credited with his second save in a four-inning stint.
Jhonny Gomez singled in Kevin Torres in the fourth and Josh Richmond doubled in Villanueva in the fifth. Villanueva singled in a run in the ninth.
After the game, Greenville (78-62, 40-30) retreated to the clubhouse to its own playoff fate in the Southern Division.
The Drive didn’t get in, being eliminated when Lexington (Ky.) swept a doubleheader from Savannah and Augusta beat Rome (Ga.). That set up a three-way tie for first in the second-half Southern Division standings, with
Augusta getting the playoff spot by percentage points.
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