Greensboro Grasshoppers Friday Night Baseball Report…
brought to us by Mike Causey for North Carolina Insurance Commissioner…..
The scores this week between the Greensboro Grasshoppers and the Hickory Crawdads have been very close…Hickory took Tuesday night’s game, 5-4 in 10 Innings, on Wednesday in the day game, the Hoppers survived 8-6, then on Thursday night, Greensboro hangs on to win 9-6, and now on Friday night, we end up with a 5-3 Hickory final…
These games have been very tight this week, but Friday night was anything but close early in the contest…Hickory jumped on top 4-0, in the top of the first inning, and the Crawdads chased Greensboro starter J.P. Massey after only 2/3’s of an inning…Hickory picked up three walks, and a Double, off of Massey, and then the Hoppers turned to lefthanded pitcher Julian Bosnic and they brought him in from the pen, to quiet the storm….
We saw the score at 4-0 Hickory in the top of the First Inning, and we saw that same score stand up, all the way until the bottom of the eighth inning…Four-zip ‘Dads and we are talking zeros on that scoreboard almost the entire night, but in the bottom of the 8th inning, the Greensboro Grasshoppers proved that they still had a little something in their tanks…Maybe just a special deal up the Hoppers’ sleeves, and the sleeve of Hoppers’ second baseman Termarr Johnson in particular…
Four-to-nothing Crawdads, and we hit the bottom of the eighth, and them like magic in a bottle, the Hoppers catcher Shawn Ross draws a one out walk, and with one out, Greensboro’s Luke Brown lined out to second base…Now you got two outs, and one Hopper baserunner, and you are down by four runs, and the hometown team has not crossed home plate all night long on offense…So new life returns, as Jack Branningan earns a walk, and now with two outs, the Hoppers have runners at first and second, with Termarr Johnson headed to the plate..Johnson is 0-2 on the night with a Walk, but he has no intentions on walking here…
With two men on base, and with two outs, the best thing in the world happens to the Hoppers…Termarr Johnson is at the plate, and Greensboro’s man from Atlanta, GA. comes up with the Hoppers hottest hit of the day/night…Johnson sends a Skylar Hales pitch on a line down the right side, and Johnson turns that big poke into a two-run Triple, scoring both Brannigan and Ross, and now the Hoppers are not looking at this game like a loss…
Termarr Johnson had something up his sleeve, and he would not leave until he was able to get his team on the scoreboard, and for what had been a 4-0 lead the entire night for the Hickory Crawdads, that lead had now been sliced in half, after Johnson’s lightning in a bottle bash into right field, and as Johnson rounded second base, there was NO turning back, he was trucking into third base, with Johnson’s first Triple of the season…We now have a 4-2 ballgame on our hands…The Hoppers were able to tack on one more run, when Termarr Johnson came in from third, scoring on the wild pitch by Hickory’s Larson Kindreich…Now we got ourselves a ballgame…Hickory 4, Greenboro 3 and headed to the ninth inning…
The Hoppers bullpen had been busy all week, and with this Friday night game going long, Greensboro had to look for help going into the top of the ninth inning, and with the lead now just one run, you have to make a crucial move, but you still want to stay in this game and have a chance to win it, at the end…
Hoppers go with position player, turned pitcher, Maikol Escotto…The SS/2B/3B Hopper, was now the Greensboro Grasshoppers pitcher, and when we heard Greensboro Grasshoppers’ public address announcer Stuart Barefoot say, “Now pitching for the Greensboro Grasshoppers, Maikol Escotto”, we knew it was official…Escotto was able to finish the ninth inning, and he helped protect the Hoppers bullpen, by giving up one run, on one hit, with two walks, and a Hit by Pitch…Escotto has made the adjustment to becoming a project pitcher, and he has done it well so far…So now our newest score is Hickory Crawdads 5, Greensboro Grasshoppers 3, as we head to the bottom of the ninth inning…..
Any rally run left again for the Hoppers??? The Grasshoppers are able to get a leadoff pinch hit single from Charles McAdoo, then back-to-back strikeouts by the ‘Dads pitcher Larson Kindreich will get Greensboro’s Hudson Head and Shawn Ross…Well, Maikol Escotto, who came on to pitch in a pinch, Escotto now will pinch hit for Luke Brown, and Maikol rows his boat right into left field with a pinch hit single, and the Hops have hope, with Escotto at first base and Charles McAdoo at second…But the run had run out, as Jack Brannigan flied out to end the ballgame…Man what a ride and what a run the Hoppers took us on, over the last two innings of this encounter…
Final Score flying out of there for on Friday night, from First National Bank Field:
Greensboro Grasshoppers 3, Hickory Crawdads 5
Maybe we better flip that final to make it appear more professional, you thinks???
Hickory Crawdads 5, Greensboro Grasshoppers 3
WP:Winston Santos(2-1)
LP:JP Massey(1-1)
SV:Larson Kindreich(2)
Hickory- 5-6-0 Greensboro-3-5-1
Greensboro Grasshoppers(8-5)
Hickory Crawdads(5-8)
Attendance-4,534
Time of Game-2:49
Game Time Temp-76 Degrees
**********Got to feel the Star of the Game for Hickory on Friday would have to be, the Crawdads starting pitcher, Winston Santos…Santos rolled out there for a very solid Five Innings, allowing 0 Runs, on 1 hit, with just 2 BBs and 12 Huge Ks…No doubt, Santos was “The Man” for Hickory on Friday….For the Grasshoppers we have to give it up for Termarr Johnson, who had that “Clutch Hit” triple in the eighth inning…Johnson’s jolt, gave the Hoppers the boost they needed to get back in the game…Also a “big carry on bag” for Maikol Escotto, who not only showed up to pitch well in the pinch, he also came up with a big two-out pinch hit single in the ninth inning…Good to see Jack Brannigan back in the lineup, after leaving Tuesday night’s game with the hand injury…Jack back with a Double/BB/Run…Sammy Siani had a single and a Walk….Shawn Ross with 2 BBs and a Run…Pretty sure we mentioned Charles McAdoo’s pinch hit single earlier…
This pretty much put a wrap on the Friday night game and now let’s get ready for what’s next…Saturday…**********
Up Next:Hickory Crawdads(5-8) at the Greensboro Grasshoppers(8-5) on Saturday night at 6:30pm…Spectacular Saturday Night Fireworks show on the way at the conclusion of the contest…RHP Wilber Dotel will toe the rubber for the Hoppers, while RHP Aidan Curry goes for Hickory…If you can not make it to the game, be sure to join us, and listen live to the broadcast of the game, when you
CLICK HERE…..Weekly Series with Hoppers and ‘Dads, now tied at Two Games each, going into Game Five for this week, on Saturday night….