Woodpeckers Fall on Wrong Side of 1-0 Pitching Duel With Cannon Ballers

Fayetteville, NC - The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (27-30) were stuck in a scoreless ballgame for the majority of the night before a ninth inning run for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (24-34) led to a 1-0 defeat in the series opener at Segra Stadium. Despite 16 hits between both teams, it was ultimately a bases loaded walk that decided the outcome of the game.

Shea Barry put together his best start of the season and navigated around multiple base runners across four scoreless frames. He struck out three straight hitters in the second inning, stranded two runners in the third, and got help from his defense when Kenedy Corona threw out a runner at the plate from left field to end the fourth.

Meanwhile, Cristian Mena struck out only one Fayetteville hitter but still managed to get through six scoreless innings in a quality start before turning the game over to Bowen Plagge (W, 1-1) in the seventh.

Carlos Calderon (L, 2-2) took over the shutout bid in the fifth and tossed four scoreless innings of his own. He returned to the mound in the ninth and allowed a leadoff single to Benyamin Bailey. Following a Victor Torres strikeout, James Beard walked and Calderon was replaced by Jayson Schroeder. Schroeder walked Wilber Sanchez to load the bases and issued another free pass to Wes Kath that gave Kannapolis the definitive 1-0 lead.

After a double-play ended the ninth, Fayetteville had one more chance against Plagge but was unable to muster any offense. Justin Williams struck out, Miguel Palma flied out and Tyler Whitaker went down swinging to end the game.

The series continues on Wednesday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm at Segra Stadium. Fayetteville will start RHP Alex Santos (0-5, 4.22 ERA) and the Cannon Ballers will counter with LHP Brooks Gosswein (0-3, 4.20 ERA).

FULL BOX SCORE: https://www.milb.com/gameday/669257/final/box