A pitcher’s duel came down to a late error that sent the Columbia (S.C.) Fireflies to a 1-0 victory over the Hickory Crawdads on Sunday afternoon in the Carolina League series finale at L.P. Frans Stadium.
The Crawdads (58-49 overall, 25-17 second half) still took four of the six games played last week, but both losses came via shutouts from the Columbia pitching staff.
The lineups from both sides combined for four hits and 10 total baserunners. Hickory did not push a runner past second base, while Columbia (48-58, 12-28) had three. Each side struck out 10 times in a game that took just under two hours.
Hickory’s Ismael Agreda was the star of the afternoon, as the fireballer’s offerings reached up to 100 miles per hour, and he maintained speeds of 97 mph and above through the sixth inning. However, it was his slider that constantly had the Columbia hitters guessing throughout the afternoon. Agreda gave up just one baserunner through six innings, that one coming on a double by Jose Cerice with one out in the fifth.
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Hickory Crawdads starting pitcher Ismael Agreda (20) prepares to fire a pitch to the plate during Sunday afternoon's game at L.P. Frans Stadium.
Pounding the strike zone — 52 strikes out of 75 pitches — Agreda struck out eight with 18 missed bats by the Fireflies.
Columbia countered with a bullpen day, as Henson Leal made just his second start in four seasons.
Leal gave up both hits to Hickory and struck out four over three innings. Fraynel Nova struck out two over two perfect innings before Bryson Dudley had to work around two walks in the sixth.
Wily Villar took over for Agreda in the seventh and also worked around a pair of walks. Kamden Edge sat down Hickory in its portion of the seventh.
The lone run came in the eighth against Jormy Nivar (0-2). Brennon McNair opened the inning with a double to bring up Josi Novas. Novas placed a sacrifice bunt back to Nivar on the mound, but Nivar’s throw was over Pablo Guerrero’s head and allowed McNair to score.
From there, Yenfri Sosa closed out the final two innings to pick up his first save in support of Edge, who took the win (1-0).
Hickory sweeps Saturday doubleheader
The Crawdads lineup got off to a fast start during both ends of a doubleheader and swept Columbia on Saturday night. Hickory cruised to a 6-1 win in game one before completing the sweep with a 4-1 victory in the nightcap.
Yeremy Cabrera went 5-for-8 in the doubleheader. He led off the game with a double and eventually scored from third on a balk.
Cabrera loaded the bases in the fourth. From there, two singles and a passed ball brought in three runs for Hickory.
Kamdyn Perry started the game for Hickory and tossed 3.2 innings before handing the ball over to Michael Trausch (3-0), who retired all seven hitters he faced for the win. William Privette worked around a triple in the seventh to close out the victory.
In the nightcap, Aidan Deakins pitched the first four innings for Hickory. Aneudis Mejia closed out the final three innings on one hit for the win (4-5).
Hickory 8, Columbia 2
The Hickory Crawdads had their biggest home run barrage of the season on Friday night and blasted the Columbia (S.C.) Fireflies 8-2 at L.P. Frans Stadium.
The top three home-run hitters for Hickory contributed, as the team sent Fireflies starting pitcher Kendry Chourio — the No. 11 major league prospect of the Kansas City Royals — to the showers in the fourth with a 6-0 deficit.
Pablo Guerrero got things started in the second with a mammoth, two-run blast to left field for his sixth homer of the season. Maxton Martin lofted a changeup over the fence in right for a two-run shot in the third. It was his 12th of the season.
Yeremy Cabrera finished off Hickory’s scoring in the sixth with a two-run swat to right for his eighth of the season.
