Wednesday’s Doubleheader a Tale of Two Games

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – After falling in heartbreaking fashion in the series opener against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Tuesday, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers fought for two seven-inning games in their penultimate day of the first half in the Carolina League’s season.

GAME ONE (Kannapolis 5, Myrtle Beach 0)

The Ballers found success early in the pair of games, pulsing ahead, 2-0, in the bottom of the third on a reach by Arxy Hernandez on a fielding error, allowing Juan Gonzalez to cross the plate. Mikey Kane quickly followed suit, tallying a sacrifice fly to center field to score Drake Logan and hand Kannapolis the lead.

RHP Manuel Veloz struck out a career-high nine batters in his five innings of work, tossing a shutout in tandem with RHP Connery Peters, who cleaned up the final two frames on the mound in relief.

Wilber Sanchez notched the biggest night at the plate for the Cannon Ballers, mustering three RBI in the first game on a two-run home run in the fifth and a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to push Kannapolis to a, 5-0, lead that they did lose in the remainder of the matchup.

GAME TWO (Myrtle Beach 7, Kannapolis 0)

Falling behind early against the Pelicans, Kannapolis struggled at the plate in game two, striking out seven times as a team and only able to earn three hits off the pair of Pelicans pitchers.

Myrtle Beach found life in the middle of their lineup, getting a 2-for-4 night with a pair of RBI from Carter Trice and a 2-for-4 night with one RBI for Andy Garriola. At the top of the order, Reginald Preciado notched a pair of RBI himself with a one-hit night against Kannapolis.

RHP Jake Peppers struggled in his second start against the Pelicans, who forced him out of the ballgame after just two innings. The righty allowed four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out two. Out of the bullpen, Frankeli Arias allowed one run in 2.1 no-hit innings, followed by Christian Edwards who surrendered a pair of runs in 1.2 frames.

ON TO THE NEXT

The Cannon Ballers and Pelicans will play their fourth game of seven scheduled in the week in the final game of the first half in the Carolina League on Thursday. First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m., with RHP Aldrin Batista tossing as the starting pitcher on the mound for Kannapolis.

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