Pelicans Drop Saturday Contest 4-2 to Cannon Ballers

By Sam Weiderhaft

After explosive hitting the past two games, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans cooled off in a 4-2 loss to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers on Saturday night. Their second loss of the series dropped their record to 35-51 and 6-14 in the second half, while the Cannon Ballers moved up to 50-36 and 9-11 in the second half.

Two sacrifice flies gave the Pelicans their two runs as Alfonsin Rosario (0-3, RBI) and Christian Olivo (1-3, RBI) contributed to the effort. Jacob Wetzel (2-4, 2B) posted his third straight multi-hit game with a double and a single. The Pelicans left seven on base and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

After allowing three earned runs, Mason McGwire (0-4) took the loss with just one hit allowed but four walks. Starter JP Wheat posted his best start with the Pelicans with one earned run across three innings with one walk and three strikeouts.

In his first game with Kannapolis since April, Alvaro Aguero (1-4, 2B, 3 RBI) delivered the crushing blow with a three-run double in the top of the fourth. Arxy Hernandez (1-4, RBI) also brought home a run with a single in the third.

Cannon Ballers’ starter Ricardo Brizuela (1-0) grabbed his first win of the year with two earned runs through five innings with four strikeouts. The bullpen kept the Pelicans at two runs through the final four innings, with Connor Housley closing out the final two innings to earn the save.

For the fourth time this series, the Pelicans scored first as Rosario hit a sacrifice fly to left that drove in Wetzel for a 1-0 lead.

Kannapolis matched it with a run in the third. Arxy Hernandez grounded a single up the middle with a runner on third to bring home the run.

A three-run fourth pushed the Cannon Ballers ahead for good. After McGwire walked the bases loaded, Aguero lined a two-out double to left field that cleared the bases and put Kannapolis in front 4-1.

The Pelicans got one back on Olivo’s sacrifice fly to center in the bottom of the fifth. They brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth with a leadoff single by Carter Trice, but Housley struck out the following three to end the game.

The series concludes on Sunday evening at 6:35 p.m.