Bratt and Bats Lead 'Dads to Third Straight Win

Hickory, NC- Mitch Bratt picked up his third win of the season with five competent innings as the Hickory Crawdads upended the Greenville Drive 9-4 on Thursday night at LP Frans Stadium.

Bratt was supported this evening by a quartet of players that catalyzed a ten hit attack, scoring two runs in four separate innings. Anthony Gutierrez collected three hits for Hickory (23-31) including a triple and two RBI. The triple was Gutierrez' second of the week, while the two runs driven home gives him ten on the season.

Konner Piotto, Jayce Easley and Cam Cauley each picked up a pair of safeties on the evening, as Cauley hit a Burke County bomb in the first inning that gave Bratt and the Crawdads a 2-1 lead after the first inning. The homer for Cauley was his second on the year.

Bratt delivered five innings for the 'Dads, allowing three runs on three hits to earn the win. Luis Ramirez pitched a pair of flawless frames, punching out two Drive batters.

Jacob Maton would earn the save, retiring four of the five batters he faced. The save for Maton is the club's 16th, the best save total in the South Atlantic League.

Offensively, the club's ten hits continues a run of considerable improvement, as the team has upped its average 24 points since May 18. In that span, the club has batted .264 (145-549), winning 11 of their last 18 games in the process.

Tomorrow, reigning SAL Pitcher of the Month Joseph Montalvo takes the mound for Hickory, with the club looking to secure its first series win of the season against Greenville at 7pm. It is United Methodist Night with a tee shirt giveaway to the first 500 fans, post-game fireworks by WHKY 1290AM and 102.3FM, and Paint the Park Purple, an Alzheimer’s Awareness Night. Crawdads Pregame gets us started at 6:45pm and can be heard on the Bally Live app, hickorycrawdads.com, and MiLB.TV.