The 2024 season started out in the worst way possible, being shut out. The bats were extremely quiet as Owen Murphy (Braves No. 5 prospect) was perfect the first time through the lineup striking out Cameron Cauley, Sebastian Walcott, and Tucker Mitchell in the first inning. Murphy went on to pitch 6.2 scoreless innings on 2 hits to accompany his 8 strikeouts. Winston Santos was electric through 5 innings giving up 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, and generating 5 strikeouts, but his line doesn’t tell the full story as he routinely had to pitch to extra batters and go deeper into at bats thanks in part to an Angel Hernandez-esque strike zone that was one of the worst I have ever seen, even for High-A baseball. See link for a more detailed breakdown on my X (formerly Twitter).
Rome got the scoring started in the bottom of the first on an Ethan Workinger single to left field, scoring Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. from second. Quincy Scott misplayed the ball as it got past him, but nailed Workinger at the plate on a great relay to Cauley, then to Ian Moller. Kilpatrick Jr. was stealing third on the pitch so Scott likely would not have had a chance to get him at the plate. While he did have an error on the play, it didn’t lead to any additional runs and might have even worked out better for the Crawdads as it led to Workinger getting thrown out at the plate, rather than just staying at first on an RBI single.
Luis Ramirez, Bryan Chi, and Yohanse Morel all pitched an inning of relief each. Ramirez was first out of the pen as he pitched a scoreless 6th with 1 strikeout. Chi ran into some trouble with his command as he only threw 15 of his 26 pitches for strikes, but got out of a 7th inning jam only giving up 1 unearned run on 1 hit, 1 walk, and 1 strikeout. The lone run surrendered by Chi came in due to Stephen Paolini reaching on an error by 1B Tucker Mitchell. Morel, who I was very excited to see out of the pen, ended up having a rough outing giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and surrendering 1 walk. However, it never should have happened. Morel SHOULD have had a 3 pitch strikeout of Nick Ward for the second out of the inning, but a pitch on the black apparently was randomly a strike tonight. Jeremy Celedonio followed up the walk with a slow dribbler that got through the infield as Ben Blackwell was shaded more towards second base at double play depth, which allowed Ward to go first to third on the hit instead of the hit by Celedonio leading to a groundout and 1-2-3 inning for Morel. It ultimately didn’t have an impact on the outcome of the game as it’s not possible to win a game without scoring, but it’s still tough to see that happen in the first game of the season.
The Crawdads look to bounce back Saturday night as Aidan Curry takes the mound for Hickory against the Emperors who have not announced tomorrow’s starter yet.
Full Box Score:
Cauley 0-4 3 K
Walcott 0-4 2 K
Mitchell 1-4 K
Gutierrez 1-4
Scott 0-3 BB
Morrobel 0-3 BB
Blackwell 1-3 BB, SB
Moller 0-4 3 K
Easley 0-2 HBP, 2 K, SB
Santos 5.0 IP, 5 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Ramirez 1.0 IP, K, HBP
Chi 1.0 IP, H, R, BB, K, HBP
Morel 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB
