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SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Four Intimidators Make SAL All-Star Game

June 7, 2016 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - The Kannapolis Intimidators are sending four players to the 57th Annual South Atlantic League All-Star Game on Tuesday, June 21, at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington, Ky. Pitchers Tanner Banks and Zach Thompson join outfielder Landon Landon Lassiter and catcher Seby Zavala as members of the Northern Division team that will face the Southern Division squad in the intra-league exhibition.

Banks, 24, earns his second career All-Star honors, having served as the starting pitcher for the 2015 Pioneer League All-Star team against the Northwest League. The left-hander is 6-3 with a 2.87 ERA in 11 games (11 starts), including a streak of six consecutive wins to open his season. Banks was named SAL Pitcher of the Week of April 18-24 following a 9-inning complete-game shutout on April 20 at West Virginia, the first 9-inning pitching performance by an Intimidators arm since 2011. Banks currently ranks tied for the SAL lead in complete games (1) and shutouts (1), second in inning pitched (69.0), tied for third in wins, and 17th in ERA. The White Sox selected Banks in the 18th round of the June 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Utah. Last season, he was named Co-Pitcher of the Year in the Pioneer League after a stellar season with Advanced Rookie Great Falls.

Thompson, 22, is enjoying the best season of his career. A former fifth round pick by the White Sox in the June 2014 First-Year Player Draft, the right-hander is currently 5-2 with a 2.97 ERA in 11 games (11 starts) with a team-best 62 strikeouts in 57.2 innings, the third-most strikeouts in the SAL. The 6'7" Texan ranks seventh in the league in batting average against (.198) and 19th in ERA. After an up-and-down start to his season in April, the former UT-Arlington stand out dominated the circuit in May, going 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in five starts. Thompson is in his second season with Kannapolis after going 3-8 with a 4.44 ERA in 16 games (16 starts) in 2015.

Zavala, 22, has been one of the best defensive catchers in the SAL this season, throwing out a league-high 24 would-be base stealers while ranking sixth in the league with a .381 percentage (24 CS/63 ATT). He leads South Atlantic League catchers in games (40), total chances (375), and putouts (325) while ranking second in the league with 43 assists. At the plate, Zavala is batting .268 (44-164) with eight doubles, three triples, four home runs and 24 RBI. The White Sox selected Zavala in the 12th round of the June 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of San Diego State University. He helped lead the Arizona League White Sox to the AZL championship in his professional debut in 2015.

Lassiter, who turns 23 next week, is batting .305 (54-177) which ranks second on the Intimidators and 10th in South Atlantic League. The former UNC Tar Heels outfielder has 16 RBI and 21 runs scored to go along with 10 doubles and six stolen bases. Lassiter exploded onto the scene with a .343 average in April and has been a constant in the Kannapolis lineup in left field. The White Sox selected Lassiter in the 21st round of the June 2015 First-Year Player Draft.

The Intimidators four All-Star selections are tied for fourth-most in the SAL this season behind Greenville, Hagerstown, and Rome (each with five). Kannapolis last placed four players on the Northern Division All-Star Team in 2012 when OF Mark Haddow, 3B Rangel Ravelo, C Kevan Smith, and LHP Blair Walsh represented the Intimidators at the mid-summer showcase. In 2013, Kannapolis second baseman Micah Johnson was named the All-Star Game MVP.

The 57th Annual South Atlantic League All-Star Game takes place at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington, Ky., home of the SAL's Lexington Legends, on Tuesday, June 21, at 7:05 p.m. For ticket and All-Star promotional events, please visit LexingtonLegends.com.

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