Langford Hits First Homer at Frans in Defeat

Hickory, NC- The Crawdads rallied in the eighth inning on Friday night but couldn’t erase the deficit, falling 10-6.

Rome put five up in the third inning, pulling ahead 5-0.

The Crawdads got on the board in the bottom half of the inning. Ben Blackwell walked, and Wyatt Langford smacked a homerun over the left field wall, his first at LP Frans Stadium.

The ‘Dads struck again in the fourth to make the deficit two. Griffin Cheney reached as a pop up fell between three fielders in shallow left. He advanced on a balk and scored from second as Blackwell put a ball down the right field line for a single.

Rome added four runs in the sixth to pull ahead 9-3.

The Crawdads surged again with three runs in the eighth. Abimelec Ortiz led off the inning with a solo homerun. Maximo Acosta singled and Daniel Mateo hit into a fielder’s choice, but a missed catch allowed Acosta to arrive safely at second. Yosy Galan hit another ball to the middle infield for a fielder’s choice, but another fielding error allowed everyone to reach, loading the bases. Cooper Johnson grounded into a force out to the second basemen, with Acosta coming into score. Once again, the Braves were unable to turn a double play as Griffin Cheney grounded out to the shortstop, bringing in Mateo and making it a 9-6 game.

A solo homerun in the ninth brought the score to 10-6 in favor of Rome.

The Hickory Dickory Docks weekend, by Mountain Mitsubishi, will wrap up tomorrow with a toothbrush holder giveaway to the first 1,000 fans. Following the game, there will also be a special firework show by Vesco ToyotaLift and KICKS 103.3.