Crick’s finest hour: Righty cruises in final Squirrels start

Flying Squirrels hurler Kyle Crick turned in his final and most impressive start of the season on Thursdaynight, shutting out Hartford (73-63), 7-0 to finish a series win at The Diamond.

Crick hurled six scoreless innings, leading Richmond to their third shutout win of the series and their 12^th overall. Richmond (59-78) starting pitchers Tyler Beede, Andrew Suarez, Matt Gage and Crick tossed a combined 29 scoreless innings in the four-game series victory against the Yard Goats.

The seven runs scored matched the playing number worn by the Richmond Kickers all-time scorer Matthew Delicâte, who threw out the first pitch before the game. Delicate missed 17 weeks of action due to renal cell carcinoma and returned to the pitch this week.

Stellar pitching was once again prominent at The Diamond to close out the series against the Hartford Yard Goats. Kyle Crick, making his final start of the season, left nothing in the tank as he delivered his mid- 90’s fastball with consistency throughout the night. Crick needed just nine pitches to retire the side in the first inning and managed to maneuver around bases loaded in the second inning, evading a pair of walks. Crick cruised through the third inning by inducing a double play and looked like the part of a top pitching prospect.

Hartford’s left-hander Carlos Hernandez also was effective in the early innings, despite allowing plenty of runners. Richmond loaded the bases in the first inning, collecting a pair of hits and a walk but could not convert. Hernandez barley broke 85 MPH with his fastball during the evening and was still able to navigate around traffic through the first five innings

Crick continued to build confidence as the game marched forward. The righty picked up a pair of strikeouts in the fifth and struck out Dillon Thomas looking to start the sixth. Rosell Herrera followed for the Goats with a base hit, but Crick retired the next two hitters to end his outing. Crick lasted six innings and did not allow a run on four hits. He walked two and struck out six on 93 pitches.

The Squirrels finally broke through against Hernandez with four runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 4-0 lead. Tyler Horan and Brandon Bednar singled to open the inning with base hits and advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Jeff Arnold. Pinch-hitter Angel Villalona then replaced Crick at the plate and drubbed a slow ground ball to third base. Third baseman Ashley Graeter couldn’t field the slow roller, allowing the ball to tip into left field for a 1-0 lead. Darren Ford was the next man up and made it 2-0 with a base hit. Ryder Jones then blasted a ball off the wall in right field and Hunter Cole collected a sacrifice fly to end the scoring in the inning. Hernandez was removed in the frame for reliever Ausitn House and suffered the loss in the outing. Hernandez allowed four runs (three earned) on ten hits. He walked one and stuck out four in the defeat.

The Richmond staff turned to Jose Casilla out of the bullpen for the seventh inning and Preston Claiborne for the eighth. Both veteran hurlers set the side down in order 1-2-3 to keep the shutout intact.

The Squirrels pushed across three more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, padding the lead to 7-0. With runners on base, Hunter Cole lifted a fly ball to right field that was misplayed. Right fielder Rosell Herrera stumbled to get reach the ball, allowing both runners to score. Cole later came around to score on a bases loaded hit batter.

The Squirrels turned once again to Joe Nathan for the final three outs. Joe Nathan was sharp once again and struck out two batters to retire the side in order. Nathan’s scoreless inning finished the Squirrels 12^th shutout of the year.