Pelicans Blast Four Homers, One-Hit Cannon Ballers in 6-1 Victory

By Sam Weiderhaft

After waiting two hours to play, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans dominated in a seven-inning game with a 6-1 win over the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers on Thursday night. The Pelicans took a no-hitter into the seventh inning. With the win, the Birds improved to 34-50 and 5-13 in the second half, while the Cannon Ballers dropped to 49-35 and 8-10 in the second half.

After not hitting a home run for eight games, the Pelicans exploded for four with Jacob Wetzel (2-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI) hitting a pair, and Andy Garriola (2-3, HR, 2 RBI) and Alfonsin Rosario (2-2, HR, RBI) each hitting one in the win. The four homers tied a season-high for Myrtle Beach.

Two pitchers combined for a one-hitter, with Tyler Schlaffer (1-0) earning the win after three one-run innings. Jaxon Wiggins set a new career-high with six strikeouts and just one walk through four hitless innings. The Pelicans no-hit the Cannon Ballers through 6 1/3 innings.

Luis Pineda (1-3, RBI) broke up the no-hitter with an RBI double in the top of the seventh. Kannapolis struck out nine times in the loss.

Aldrin Batista (7-4) took the loss by allowing six earned runs in his five innings, all off home runs. He struck out seven and allowed eight hits in his outing.

For the third game in a row, the Pelicans struck first in the third with four runs. With a runner on, Wetzel crushed a home run to right field for his sixth of the season. Andy Garriola later hit a two-run homer to right-center for his 15^th of the season as the Birds took a 4-0 advantage.

Two more solo home runs came in the fifth as Wetzel hit another to right field to lead off the inning, and Rosario blasted his 11^th of the year down the left field line for a 6-0 lead.

Friday’s game between Myrtle Beach and Kannapolis is set for 7:05 p.m.