Hickory has won the second-half division title in the South Atlantic League.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 3, at El Paso (SDP) 4
Round Rock: 4 hits, 5 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 2 walks, 15 strikeouts
Record: 36-25, tied for first, 80-55 overall
SP Robert Dugger: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 9 SO, 90 P / 54 S, 4.34 ERA
RP Jonathan Hernandez: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1.16 ERA
RP Antoine Kelly: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
SS Jonathan Ornelas: 1-3, HR (8), BB, .250/.364/.359
C Matt Whatley: 1-4, HR (5), .206/.293/.322
Jurickson Profar was called up by the Pads and can no longer pester the Express, but Daniel Johnson walked the Chihuahuas off victorious with a 9th-inning homer. For the first time in three weeks, Round Rock does not stand alone atop the PCL.
Antoine Kelly made his AAA debut. His fastball averaged 97 and topped at 98, and the slider ranged from 83 to 87. Including last night, Kelly has allowed one earned run (and six unearned, a few of them extra-inning gift-runners) in his last 30.2 innings over 27 appearances. There’s almost always a little luck involved in such a streak, but Kelly has five walks and 41 strikeouts over that span. He’s been dealing. When Texas acquired him last summer for Matt Bush, his 40 placement seemed assured, but his already worrisome control collapsed, and he slid through the Rule 5 draft unclaimed. This year, the control is much-improved. Adding relief prospects to the 40 is always tricky. If teams protected every reliever with a decent shot, they’d run out of space in a hurry.
AA: Frisco 3, NW Arkansas (KAN) 6
Frisco: 6 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 5 walks, 15 strikeouts
Record: 30-31, 7 GB, 61-68 overall, elimination number 2
SP Ryan Garcia: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 8 SO, 80 P / 53 S, 6.92 ERA
RP Justin Slaten: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 3.16 ERA
1B Liam Hicks: 2-3, BB, .271/.399/.376
LF Aaron Zavala: 1-3, BB, .199/.352/.288
Wyatt Langford walked twice in four trips to the plate.
Hi-A: Hickory 6, Winston-Salem (CHW) 2
Hickory: 12 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
SP Mitch Bratt: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 40 P / 29 S, 3.54 ERA
RP Jackson Leath: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1.02 ERA
RP Seth Clark: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 2.53 ERA
1B Abi Ortiz: 1-3, HR (26), BB, .292/.360/.628
LF Geisel Cepeda: 1-3, 2B, BB, .268/.343/.344
CF Daniel Mateo: 2-4, SB (30), .259/.274/.406
2B Ben Blackwell: 3-3, BB, .290/.355/.406Resuming in the 4th after yesterday’s suspension, Hickory couldn’t add to six early runs but didn’t need to. The Crawdads have clinched the second-half title and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2019, when they lost in the finals as Texas’s low-A affiliate. Abimelec Ortiz hit his 33rd homer (including seven at Down East).
Hi-A: Hickory 4, Winston-Salem (CHW) 0 (7)
Hickory: 6 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Record: 42-21, 5 G up, 69-55 overall
SP Jose Corniell: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 6 P / 6 S, 3.09 ERA
RP Emiliano Teodo: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 HBP, 6 SO, 4.52 ERA
RP Larson Kindreich: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 5.14 ERA
DH Alejandro Osuna: 1-2, BB, .262/.380/.389
3B Cody Freeman: 2-2, HR (11), BB, .236/.303/.397
Hickory would appear to be lining up Jose Corniell for a Game 1 start. Corniell had an outstanding regular season, aiding Down East’s first-half division title and joining Hickory just before the start of the second half.
Corniell will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft unless added to the 40. He falls into that always troublesome group of young international players who aren’t ready for MLB but are probably too risky to leave unprotected. This year’s group is especially difficult, as they signed in 2019 and probably didn’t play in real games that year, but then they missed 2020 to covid, so they’ve got far less real-game experience than usual.
Lo-A: Down East 2, Augusta (ATL) 5
Down East: 6 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 29-35, 10 GB, 66-59 overall
SP David Davallilo: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 SO, 63 P / 50 S, 1.93 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2.16 ERA
DH Konnor Piotto: 2-3, BB, SB (7), .263/.358/.356
3B Gleider Figuereo: 2-3, BB, .217/.298/.321
20-year-old David Davallilo had a creditable low-A debut. For the season, mostly at the rookie complex, Davallilo fanned 27 versus just four walks in 23.2 innings. 2023 4th-rounder Skylar Hales, Texas’s top non-Langford pick, finished his 2023 regular season (I presume) with a 2.16 ERA, two walks and seven strikeouts in 8.1 low-A innings.
Today’s Starters
AAA: White
AA: Krauth
Hi-A: TBA
Lo-A: TBA