SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) at Hickory Crawdads (Rangers) - May 25, 2013

Published on May 25, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS (16-28) at HICKORY CRAWDADS (26-20)

Saturday, May 25, 2013 - 6:00 p.m.

L.P. Frans Stadium - Hickory, N.C.

Game #45 (16-28) - Away Game #26 (11-14)

LHP Jefferson Olacio (1-6, 6.82) vs. RHP Connor Sadzeck (3-2, 2.55)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) look to continue to keep the Crawdads (A, Rangers) off balance at the plate on the heels of consecutive 17-strikeout games. Kannapolis pitchers fanned 17 over 12 innings on Thursday, and starter Jake Cose fanned 13 over 6.0 innings on Friday. Kannapolis and Hickory are tied 3-3 in the season series, and the Intimidators have a chance to pull ahead in the series. Kannapolis has gone 2-9 over the last 11 games but snapped a four-game skid with Friday's 7-5 win.

Intimidating Starter: Jefferson Olacio, 19, makes his ninth start of the season and fifth on the road. The 6'7" southpaw is coming off his sixth loss of the season, tied for second-most in the league. Olacio entered this season rated by Baseball America as the No. 30 Prospect in the White Sox organization. He split last season between Kannapolis and Advanced Rookie Bristol, going 3-11 with a 5.16 ERA in 27 appearances (17 starts), including 15 games (five starts) for the Intimidators. The White Sox signed Olacio as a Free Agent in October 2010, and he made his professional debut for the DSL Whit Sox in 2011, striking out 42 over 38 innings, going 3-5 with a 5.50 ERA in 11 starts.

Hickory's Hurler: Connor Sadzeck, 21, makes his 10th start of the season and second against Kannapolis. He notched a win over the Intimidators on April 11, allowing a run on three hits over 5.0 innings. Sadzech has allowed three earned runs in eight of his nine starts. He is coming off a win against Greenville on May 20 in which he allowed two runs (one earned) while scattering nine hits over 6.0 innings. The Rangers selected Sadzeck in the 11th round of the June 2011 draft, and he made his professional debut last season with short-season Spokane, going 1-4 with a 4.06 ERA and held left-handed batters to a .186 average over 15 starts.

About Last Night: Jake Cose struck out 13 as the Intimidators topped the Crawdads 7-5. The Intimidators logged 13 hits - all singles - paced by Micah Johnson's 4-hit night. Juan Ramirez went 2-3 with two RBI, and eight of nine Kannapolis batters hit at least once. All nine Hickory batters struck out at least once Friday.

Cose Coasts: Jake Cose thrived Friday with a career-high 13 strikeouts over 6.0 innings against Hickory. His previous came Aug. 26, 2012, when he fanned 11 over 7.0 innings for the Advanced Rookie Bristol White Sox against Burlington, his last Appalachian League start before earning a late-season promotion to Kannapolis. Cose made his team-leading fourth quality start Friday, allowing three runs on five hits over 6.0 innings. His ERA (1.95) ranks fourth in the league, and he is now tied for third in the SAL in strikeouts (59) and innings pitched (50.2). Cose also ranks fifth on the circuit in highest strikeout/9 IP ratio (10.48).

"NC-17:" No contact for 17 Crawdads: Kannapolis matched a season-high with 17 strikeouts Friday, the second straight game in which the Intimidators arms fanned 17. Cose fanned 13. Reliever Todd Kibby whiffed one, and Stew Brase struck out three - the most strikeouts for Kannapolis in a nine-inning game. All nine Hickory batters struck out at least once Friday, including Luis Marte, who led all Hickory hitters with four strikeouts. Kannapolis also fanned 17 Thursday against Hickory over 12 innings.

Hot-Hitting Hoosier: Micah Johnson logged his second 4-hit game of the season on Friday, going 4-4 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk. He went 4-5 on April 5 at Lakewood. It's the fourth 4-hit game by an Intimidators player this season. The White Sox drafted him in the ninth round out of Indiana last June.

Micah on the Move: Leadoff man Micah Johnson went 4-4 with an RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base Friday. He leads Minor League Baseball with 44 stolen bases and has been caught stealing an MiLB-most 11 times. He has hit safely in a season-long eight straight games, raising his average to .320 (54-169) this season, tied for eighth in the league. Johnson's five triples and 43 runs scored lead the SAL. Baseball America rated him the Sox No. 25 Prospect, naming him the Fastest Baserunner in the White Sox 2012 draft class.

Mashing in May: Utility man Michael Johnson continued to produce at the plate, going 2-4 with a go-ahead RBI in the fifth inning while playing shortstop, his 18th-straight game to reach base safely, the 15th-longest streak in the league this season (the sixth-longest active streak in the SAL). He upped his average to .330 (37-112), sixth-best in the SAL this season. His on-base percentage of .434, ranks second on the circuit. During the month of May, he ranks second in Minor League Baseball in on-base percentage (.544) and third with a .433 average (26-60). He has hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games, dating back to May 4, including a current season-long nine-game hitting streak, during which he is batting .472 (17-36). Johnson got off to a slow start in April, appearing in 15 of the team's 25 games while batting .212 (11-52). The Sox selected him in the 31st round in June 2011 out of Samford where he set the school record for career runs scored (175).

Roster Moves: Today the Intimidators received infielder Jake Brown from Extended Spring and transferred Tyler Williams back to Extended Spring. Brown hit .247 in 50 games with Bristol in 2012, leading the BriSox in walks (26) and stolen bases (11). Williams hit .167 (17-102) and is leading the team with 52 strikeouts, with at least one in all 27 games. On Friday, the White Sox signed outfielder Josh Richmond and released shortstop Jean Almanzar. Richmond was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 12th round of the June 2010 draft and spent the 2010-2012 seasons in the Rangers organization. He spent the 2011 season with Hickory, batting .247 with 11 home runs and 50 RBI in 126 games in the South Atlantic League. He spent the 2012 season with High-A Myrtle Beach and opened his 2013 season in the independent Florence Freedom.

Hickory's Homers: Joey Gallo launched his 13th home run Friday, tying for the league lead. It was the 70th home run for the Crawdads this season, the most in baseball. Teammate Ryan Rua (13) is also tied for the SAL lead in big flies, while Lewi Brinson (10) is tied for fourth and Jorge Alfaro is tied for fifth (9) in homers.

Free Swingers: While Hickory leads baseball in home runs, the team has struck out a SAL-most 501 times, 86 more than the next closest team (Greenville, 415). The bang-or-bust offense is batting .234, the second lowest in the league (Lexington, .211), but the team is batting .350 on balls in play. Lewis Brinson lead's all Minor Leaguers with 80 strikeouts while Joey Gallo ranks seventh (68) and Jordan Akins is tied for 10th (58).

Radio Broadcasts: Tonight's game can be heard on the Intimidators broadcast network through the team's website intimidatorsbaseball.com with Voice of the Intimidators Josh Feldman on the call. Sunday's game will also be broadcast online.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 25, 2013


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