WILSON, N.C. - The Wilson Warbirds dropped both games of a doubleheader to the Hickory Crawdads, falling 9-5 and 11-1 on Friday night at Wilson Ballpark.
Hickory (75-47, 41-17 second half) struck first in game one with a grand slam by Deward Tovar, who handed the Crawdads a 5-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
Frederi Montero tried to pull Wilson (64-58, 28-28 second half) back within striking distance with a home run of his own in the bottom of the fifth inning, cutting the lead to 6-2.
Tovar had the last laugh in game one, launching another home run to secure a 9-5 victory.
Evan Siary (W, 7-3) earned another win while Tyler Renz (L, 2-7) was charged with the loss.
The second game brought more offense for the Crawdads. Kaden Carpenter tripled in a run in the top of the first inning and came in to score on a sacrifice fly from Yolfran Castillo.
The Warbirds grabbed a run in the bottom of the second with Carsten Sabathia doubling in a run to cut the Hickory lead in half at 2-1.
From there, the Crawdads began to mash. After plating a run in the top of the third inning, a three-run blast by Castillo pushed the Hickory lead to 7-1 through four innings of play.
The deficit was too big a hill for Wilson to climb as the Warbirds fell 11-1. With the win, Hickory clinched the South Division second-half title.
Moises Morales (W, 10-2) became the first Carolina League pitcher to reach ten wins with a dazzling performance. Diustin Mayorquin (L, 3-2) took the loss.
The Warbirds and Crawdads will play again tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. LHP Joan Pena (0-1, 12.00) is on the mound for Wilson against RHP Jacob Johnson (0-0, 0.00). Limited tickets are available at WilsonWarbirds.com or by calling (919) 269-2287.