Tough Defensive Night Costs Woodpeckers in Loss to Kannapolis

Fayetteville, NC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (35-42, 6-5) never recovered after allowing a pair of four-run innings to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers in a 11-4 loss Tuesday night at Segra Stadium. The costly innings were aided along by four fielding errors that headlined a tough defensive night on the diamond.

Ronny Hernandez put the Cannon Ballers on the scoreboard first with an RBI single off of Raimy Rodriguez (L, 1-6) to make it 1-0 in the top of the first. The Woodpeckers gained the upper hand in the second inning when Chase Jaworsky scored on a balk from Luke Bell (W, 1-0) and Alberto Hernandez singled home a run for the 2-1 lead.

The Cannon Ballers grabbed the lead back in the third scoring four runs on a George Wolkow two-run double, Ryan Burrowes bases loaded walk and Wilber Sanchez RBI fielders’ choice that pushed Kannapolis ahead 5-2.

They broke the game open with four runs against Alonzo Tredwell in the sixth inning, two on a single to center from Wilber Sanchez, plus two more unearned runs when a grounder that got through Alejandro Nunez’s legs with two-outs brought Drake Logan and Sanchez home.

The Woodpeckers did salvage a couple runs with a Chase Jaworsky sacrifice fly in the fifth and a Nehomar Ochoa Jr. RBI single in the ninth that capped the 11-4 score. The Kannapolis bullpen trio of Bell, Connor Housley, and Connery Peters combined for seven innings pitched, two runs on three hits, four walks and nine strikeouts on the night.

The Woodpeckers will look to gain the upper hand in the series tomorrow night with a 6:35pm first pitch time at home before the series shifts on the road Thursday through Saturday. The Woodpeckers will roll with projected starter RHP Yeriel Santos, and the Cannon Ballers will counter with RHP Aldrin Balista.

Full Box Score: https://www.milb.com/gameday/753979/final/box