Crawdads Power Way to 8-2 Win

Hickory, NC- Yeremy Cabrera led a 12-hit attack on Friday night as the Hickory Crawdads took down the Columbia Fireflies 8-2 at LP Frans Stadium.

Cabrera, who has found a recent power surge in his last ten games, launched his eighth homer of the season in the sixth inning that gave the Crawdads their final runs of the contest, securing a win for Jesus Lafalaise in his Hickory debut.

Lafalaise, who came to Hickory after a 3-1 campaign for the ACL Rangers, tossed five hitless innings in his 'Dads debut. The Dominican right-hander struck out three Fireflies in the effort, as the Crawdads pitching staff surrendered only three hits in the contest.

Lafalaise was the beneficiary of some early offense, as Pablo Guerrero hit his sixth home run of 2025, a deep drive to left-center field, putting Hickory (56-48, 23-16) up 2-0 after two frames.

Maxton Martin mashed his twelfth homer of the season in the third inning, a towering blast that went deep into the Hickory night, expanding the Crawdads lead to 4-0. The homer for Martin is his third of the week, going with seven RBI.

In the sixth, Cabrera's two-run shot closed out the outfielder's night with three hits, going only a triple shy of a cycle, while adding two runs, two RBI and a stolen base for the Rangers 15^th rated prospect.

Cabrera's three-hit night was followed by Guerrero and Martin's pair of safeties, while Yolfran Castillo claimed his first multi-hit game, reaching three times with a walk in the win.

For the Fireflies (48-55, 12-25), Kendry Chourio suffered the loss, dropping to 0-2 on the season. Chourio, a highly touted 17-year-old, tossed 3.2 innings in the loss, surrendering six runs on six hits.

JC Vanek had two of Columbia's three hits on the night, as the first-half champions lose for the second time in three games this series.

Tomorrow, the Crawdads and Fireflies play a doubleheader with first pitch set for 5pm.