SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Kannapolis Intimidators 2010 Season Recap

Published on September 15, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


The 2010 season for the Kannapolis Intimidators, the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, was the 16th season of baseball in Kannapolis, NC and despite not duplicating their playoff run from 2009, the year will be marked by a number of spectacular individual and team performances.

The season opened to the sour tune of six straight losses, but the Intimidators were determined to fight their way back to an even record. At a record of 5-7 on April 20th, the Intimidators played against the Rome Braves in what was the longest game of the season in the entire South Atlantic League. A home run by top prospect Trayce Thompson in the seventh inning tied the game at two, where it would stay deep into the night. Hours later, in the 20th inning, shortstop Kyle Davis singled and outfielder Kyle Colligan doubled him home to take a 3-2 lead which the Intimidators held in the bottom of the 20th.

The Intimidators would then reach .500 with a victory to pull them even at 9-9. At that point, starting pitcher Terry Doyle began to separate himself from the pack in the league in ERA and strikeouts and on May 7th, he recorded one of the best pitching efforts of the season.

Against the West Virginia Power, Doyle went seven innings, striking out a career-high 14 batters and allowed just four hits and one run. The 14-strikeout effort was the most of the season for any Intimidators pitcher or opposing pitcher against the Intimidators this season. When Doyle left Kannapolis for Winston-Salem after his seventh start of the season, he was the league leader in ERA at 0.96 and had the most strikeouts in all of Minor League Baseball with 58 in 47 innings pitched.

Five days later, the Intimidators got to a game above-.500 for the first time of the season with an 8-3 win against the Delmarva Shorebirds in which starting pitcher Joe Serafin induced five ground ball double plays in his seven innings pitched. To end that series, the Intimidators notched their lone walk-off win of the season as they trailed 10-8 going into their final at-bat, but a Colligan single scored two, including the final run scored by Kannapolis native Daniel Wagner in an 11-10 victory.

After reaching a season-best three games above .500, the Intimidators struggled to find winning results as they ended the first half at 31-38. The Intimidators were, however, well represented in the 2010 All-Star Game at the mid-point of the season. The right side of the infield at the All-Star Game in Greenville, SC were both members of the Intimidators as Wagner got the nod at second base and Ian Gac started the game at first. Colligan, Serafin and reliever Brandon Kloess were also selected to play in the game, giving the Intimidators five representatives.

The start of the second half created fresh hope, especially after winning the first game of the second half, but six straight losses sent the Intimidators to the same 1-6 start they had in the first half. During the losing streak, the Intimidators and Augusta GreenJackets played to a 17-14 game where the teams belted out a combined 42 hits, the most ever in a single game in the history of the SAL.

On July 25th, still five games below even on the second half, the Intimidators nearly tasted perfection as starting pitcher Ryan Buch allowed a leadoff bunt single in the first inning before setting down the Asheville Tourists in order through seven innings. The lone baserunner in the first was thrown out at second base trying to steal and relief pitchers JR Ballinger and Orlando Santos each pitched perfect innings in relief as the Intimidators faced the minimum 27 batters in a nine-inning game.

After the win against Ashville, the Intimidators continued their winning ways and on August 13th they defeated the Savannah Sand Gnats and were an even 23-23 on the second half.

Four months to the date since the Intimidators memorable 20-inning game, August 20th was an even more memorable game as history was made. In the second game of a doubleheader against the Hickory Crawdads, Matt Wickswat went five innings allowing only one walk with five strikeouts, Jake Petricka pitched the sixth inning and allowed only one walk and Taylor Thompson fired a perfect seventh, striking out the final batter, en route to the Intimidators second-ever no-hit performance and a 1-0 win. The Intimidators only other no-hitter occurred on June 10th, 2003. It was also the first no-hitter in the SAL since July 23rd 2008.

Five days later on August 25th, the Intimidators returned home to Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium for the final time of the season and Nick Ciolli helped ensure the Intimidators would finish the season with an above-.500 record at home. Ciolli went 3-for-5 in a game against the Lexington Legends which included a grand slam home run as he recorded a season high seven RBI on the night. A 6-5 win to end the series and the Intimidators ended the season with a home record of 35-33.

The regular season ended in Lakewood, NJ against the BlueClaws and the Intimidators ended the second half at 34-36 and the full season at 65-74. The Intimidators finished the season in fourth place in the SAL Northern Division.

Offensively, the Intimidators were led this season by power-hitting first baseman Ian Gac. Gac smacked 20 home runs on the year, the third most in the league. He also had 91 RBI, fourth in the league and fifth-most in franchise history. Nick Ciolli had the team's best batting average of the season at .296, tenth in the league. Daniel Wagner led the team with 70 runs scored and Tyler Saladino, the White Sox 7th round pick in 2010, played in 47 games in the second half and hit .309. The team ended with 90 home runs on the season, the fourth most in the league as Gac was joined in double digits by Brady Shoemaker (12) and Ciolli (12). The team ended with a batting average of .258, the sixth best in the league.

The Intimidators pitching staff compiled a team ERA of 3.80 in 2010, the 8th best for a staff in the league. The pitching staff was led early on by Terry Doyle and Joe Serafin who won a combined 11 games before their promotions to Hi-A Winston-Salem. Cameron Bayne went 12-9 with a 3.60 ERA, and for the second season in a row, an Intimidators pitcher led the SAL in wins. He was also first in the league in innings pitched. Justin Collop was second on the team in wins with nine, he finished third in the league in innings pitched and led the team with 130 strikeouts, fourth most in the league. Andre Rienzo won his final seven decisions as a starter and had a breakout season after early struggles. Rienzo went 7-4 with a 3.65 ERA. Reliever Brandon Kloess had nine saves and a 1.18 ERA in 38 innings and Orlando Santos led the team with 15 saves, and only one blown save.

Through the turnstiles, for the second straight year, the Intimidators announced a record in average game attendance. The Intimidators averaged 2,030 fans for each home game and had three crowds of 5,000 or greater including 5,852 on the Fourth of July.

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South Atlantic League Stories from September 15, 2010


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