CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Four members of the Tampa Bay Rays’ 2025 draft class made significant impacts in their professional debuts, helping the Charleston RiverDogs secure a 3-2 victory over the Hickory Crawdads on Wednesday night.
The game, attended by 2,359 fans at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park, saw the RiverDogs tie the series at one game each and improve their record to 22-19 in the second half and 57-50 overall.
Right fielder Brendan Summerhill led the charge with a 3-for-4 performance, while left fielder James Quinn-Irons contributed a single and a walk. Relievers Mason Nichols and Jacob Hartlaub each pitched scoreless innings in their first professional appearances.
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The RiverDogs initiated the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Theo Gillen drew a four-pitch walk and stole second base, setting the stage for Summerhill, who in his first professional at-bat, hit a 102 MPH RBI double into the left field corner, giving Charleston a 1-0 lead. Narciso Polanco then grounded out, driving in another run to extend the lead to 2-0.
Charleston continued their momentum in the third inning. Gillen singled to right, and after Nathan Flewelling walked, Quinn-Irons recorded his first professional hit, a slow roller down the third base line that loaded the bases. Polanco grounded into a force out at second, scoring Gillen for his second RBI of the night and pushing the lead to 3-0.
Hickory began to rally in the fifth inning. Back-to-back singles set the stage for Josh Springer, who hit a groundball to Jose Monzon. Monzon threw to Polanco at second base for the first out, but Polanco’s throw to first baseman Larry Martinez resulted in an error, allowing Pablo Guerrero to score and reduce the deficit to 3-1.
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RiverDogs starter Ryan Andrade ended the inning by retiring the next batter, finishing his outing with four strikeouts and one unearned run, earning his 10th win of the season—the first Single-A pitcher to reach double digits this season.
After scoreless innings from Nichols and Hartlaub, Hickory narrowed the lead to one run in the eighth. A leadoff double from Springer, followed by a single from Yeremy Cabrera and a throwing error from Summerhill, allowed Springer to score, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Jadon Bercovich steadied the RiverDogs by picking off Cabrera to end the inning.
The Crawdads threatened again in the ninth with back-to-back singles, but Jonathan Russell induced a double play and a fly out to secure the save.