Hickory proved they can win big on Thursday (they won by 28) and on Friday they proved they can win the close ones too. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Grassfield Grizzlies 11-10. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last five times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.
Hickory got a great performance from Jake Cozart as he struck out seven batters over 4.2 innings while giving up four earned runs off only two hits. Cozart has been consistent: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in five consecutive appearances.
Eli Kraft
| 05/02/25 vs Grassfield | 2 |
| 04/17/25 vs South Lakes | 1 |
| 04/14/25 @ Lucy Beckham | 1 |
| 04/10/25 vs Great Bridge | 1 |
| 03/20/25 @ Oscar Smith | 1 |
At the plate, Eli Kraft was incredible, getting on base in all five of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Matthew Kemick was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Hickory is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.3 runs over those games. As for Grassfield, they moved to 12-6 with that defeat, which also ended their eight-game winning streak.
The teams didn't have to wait long for a rematch: Hickory beat the Grizzlies by a score of 11-10 later that day.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
