Offense from Wood Ducks Too Much to Tame for Cannon Ballers in 11-2 Loss Saturday

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – After a comeback victory on Friday night, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (55-51) failed to see the same success in their game on Saturday night, falling to the Down East Wood Ducks (58-44), 11-2, at Atrium Health Ballpark.

With the loss, the Cannon Ballers drop to 20-21 in the second half, six games behind the division lead. Down East, who already clinched a playoff spot in the first half, bumps to 21-20, second place in the Carolina League North Division.

The Wood Ducks rallied to notch two runs in the top of the first, both unearned. Anthony Gutierrez tallied an RBI single and Gleider Figuereo launched a sacrifice fly into left field, putting Down East in front, 2-0.

Kannapolis earned one of their two runs in the bottom of the second with Eddie Park scoring on a wild pitch to cut the Wood Ducks lead to 2-1.

Three more runs for the visitors crossed in the top of the third on a Miguel Villarroel single, who later scored on a throwing error by Ballers starter RHP Peyton Pallette (L, 0-4), then a Quincy Scott single extended the advantage to, 5-1.

Despite the negative of grounding into a double play, Jordan Sprinkle gave Kannapolis another run in the bottom of the sixth, making it a, 5-2, game in favor of the Wood Ducks.

Down East turned up the heat in the final three innings with RBI base hits from Ian Moller and Scott in the seventh, a three-run home run by Figureo in the eighth, and Moller crossing the plate on a balk to stretch the visitor’s lead to 11-2, a number too large for a Cannon Ballers comeback.

LHP Noah Schultz gets the ball for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers in Sunday’s series finale against the Down East Wood Ducks at Atrium Health Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., with the game being broadcast for free on MLB.tv to all registered users. It marks the first time that Kannapolis will be featured on MLB.tv.

Fans can purchase tickets for any remaining home games at kcballers.com or at the F&M Bank Box Office located at Atrium Health Ballpark.