Contemplating the Crawdads

...until the bats were found in the 9th inning.

Listened to some of the game on line this morning; unfortunately, work kept getting in the way, so there's not much here. However, a couple of notes that are of interest to me:

1) A big come from behind win for Hickory. This was one of those wins that has the potential to give the offense some momentum... big time.

Hickory entered the 9th inning of the game hitting 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, on the heels of a 1-for-5 the previous night. After Murphy lines a shot for an easy double to open the ninth, but then trips over first base to turn the double into a single, you figured its just time to get out of Kannapolis. But once the wheels began to roll, it seems everyone began to gain confidence.

2) Hopefully the 5 run ninth will turn into a renaissance that revives the power stroke. The 'Dads have no home runs since Mike Bianucci's solo blast in Asheville on April 18th. Further, no one but Bianucci has a homer since Matt West and Doug Hogan went deep at Greenville on April 16.

Granted, the 'Dads have faced a stretch of pitching that is comperable to their own over the past 8 games (Lexington and Kannapolis), but its been the inability to do small things that have hurt most (missed signs on hit and run plays, pickoffs, the failure to move runners from second to third, or third to home with less than 2 outs)

So now, its 4 at home against Lakewood opening on Thursday. The Blue Claws make the long bus trip from Salisbury, MD and their pitching is not nearly as accomplished as Kannapolis, Lexington, etc. Time for the offense to fatten up.

3) Jared Bolden was injured and taken from the field after crashing into a gate in the outfield wall in Kannapolis --- in fact, so hard, the gate opened. No word on any injury or its severity.

4) Finally, I had meant to include this last night, but decided to save for another day. I don't know what Doug Hogan will eventually hit, but his value at maintaining the pitching staff behind the plate cannot be measured.

His trips to the mound have purpose to them; his pitchers aren't afraid to throw breaking balls in the dirt with runners at third, as he will block them. While Leonel De Los Santos has the better arm in combating the opposition's running game, when Hogan's in the game, there's no doubt who's in charge.


~Mark P~