Down East Bats Struggle in Loss to Kannapolis

Kinston, N.C. – After falling behind early, the Down East Wood Ducks couldn’t overcome the early deficit and fell to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, 5-1 Tuesday night. The Wood Ducks struggled with runners in scoring position, going one-for-five. *Jayce Easley *went two-for-two with two stolen bases, earning the Suddenlink Player of the Game.

Kannapolis (31-72) jumped ahead plating a run in the first and second innings against Down East starter *Gavin Collyer *(L, 2-1) to take a 2-0 lead.

Down East (60-43) plated their first run in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Jayce Easley *walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. *Daniel Mateo followed with a single to left field and Easley scored to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The Cannon Ballers plated three runs in the top of the eighth and that is where the scoring ended, as they increased their lead to 5-1.

Collyer (2-1) took the loss, pitching five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts. *Destin Dotson *contributed 2 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits with one walk and four strikeouts. *Mason Cole *pitched the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits with one walk.

The series continues tomorrow with first pitch set for 7:00 p.m. Down East has not announced a starter, while Kannapolis will turn to LHP Brooks Gosswein (0-0, 0.00)

Fans can purchase tickets on woodducksbaseball.com, by calling the Wood Ducks Team Offices at (252) 686-5164 or in the Wood Ducks Team Offices located at Grainger Stadium (Mon-Fri – 9am - 4pm). Make sure to follow your Down East Wood Ducks on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook so you don’t miss anything!