Kannapolis Bullpen Steers the Way in Series-Evening Win over FredNats

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – After the offense notched five runs in the first five innings, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers used a stellar outing from their bullpen to win, 5-1, over the Fredericksburg Nationals Wednesday night at Atrium Health Ballpark.

With the win, Kannapolis has now won five of their last six, bouncing to 65-57 on the regular season. Fredericksburg falls to 69-53 on the season, still having won four of their last six.

RHP Jake Peppers turned in a solid night in his team high 21st start of the season, making it just shy of the winning minimum at 4.1 innings, striking out four while allowing one run on five hits. Out of the bullpen, RHP Clete Hartzog (W, 2-0), RHP Mark McLaughlin and RHP Connery Peters combined for seven strikeouts and one walk in 4.2 perfect innings.

For the second night in a row, Kannapolis notched runs in the first inning to jump ahead, 1-0. George Wolkow drove in his first of two RBI with an RBI groundout to score Sam Antonacci in the first frame against RHP Travis Sthele (L, 6-8).

Fredericksburg’s only run of the game came in the top of the second on Jorgelys Mota’s fourth hit of the week. Mota cranked an RBI triple over the head of Wolkow in right field, scoring Brandon Pimentel to even the game, 1-1 after one and a half.

Drake Logan put Kannapolis back on top in the bottom of the second, launching his seventh home run of the season to right field. The two-run shot scored Jackson Appel, who had reached earlier in the frame, to push the Ballers ahead, 3-1, after two.

Wolkow’s solid night of offense continued in the bottom of the fifth, driving in his second run on a 415-foot fly ball to right-center, bouncing the ball off the wall to score Alec Makarewicz. Not long after, the top prospect on the Ballers roster broke for third in a stolen base attempt, drawing a throwing error from Fredericksburg’s catcher to allow Wolkow to score. After the flurry of offense, Kannapolis bounced ahead, 5-1, after five, holding on to hand the Ballers their first win of the series.

The Cannon Ballers and Nationals continue their series in the final Thirsty Thursday contest of the regular season at 6:30 p.m. at Atrium Health Ballpark. LHP Justin Sinibaldi (0-0, 6.00 ERA) gets the start in the Pride Night contest in Kannapolis.

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