SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) at West Virginia Power (Pirates) - June 2, 2014

Published on June 2, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


**For Immediate Release** . Media Relations: Josh Feldman | jfeldman@intimidatorsbaseball.com | Tel: 704-932-3267 | Fax: 704-938-7040 | 2888 Moose Rd., Kannapolis, NC 20803 | www.intimidatorsbaseball.com

KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS at WEST VIRGINIA POWER

25-30 (Chicago White Sox)

20-36 (Pittsburgh Pirates)

Monday, June 2, 2014 - 7:05 p.m.

Appalachian Power Park - Charleston, W.V.

Game #56

RH James Dykstra (3-5, 3.83) vs. RH Justin Topa (3-2, 4.93)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) hit the road for seven games beginning with a 3-game series at West Virginia. Kannapolis swept a series at Appalachian Power Park earlier this season and leads the season series, 5-4. The Intimidators are coming off a series win over the first place Hagerstown Suns while the Power dropped three of four games at Greensboro before returning home. Today Kannapolis sends James Dykstra to the mound on the heels of a shutout performance against the Crawdads while the Power counter with Justin Topa, who faces Kannapolis for the third time this season.

Intimidating Starter: James Dykstra, 23, makes his 10th start of the season and second at West Virginia. Despite a rough outing, he beat the Power on April 22, allowing four runs on nine hits over 5.1 innings, striking out five along the way. He is coming off one of his best starts of 2014, shutting out Hickory over 6.0 innings and allowing two hits in a May 27 road win. Dykstra ranks fourth in the SAL among starters in lowest walks/9 IP ratio at 1.22 (7 BB-IBB/51.2 IP). He ranks 10th in all of Minor League Baseball with a 2.79 GO/AO ratio. Dykstra has a 3.83 ERA (22 ER/51.2 IP), nine of the 22 earned runs he has allowed have come in the sixth inning or later, meaning Dykstra has a 2.60 ERA (13 ER/45 IP) through the fifth inning this season. The White Sox selected Dykstra in the sixth round of the June 2013 draft out of Cal State San Marcos. As a senior in 2013, he went 9-4 with a 2.02 ERA in 13 starts, working 89 innings en route to being named All-Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) First Team for the second straight year.

Power Pitcher: Justin Topa, 23, makes his eighth start and 12th appearance of the season as he faces the Intimidators for the third time. He is 0-0 with a 7.71 ERA (6 ER/7 IP) with a .406 (12-32) average against Kannapolis in two games (one start). He has worked at least 5.0 innings in four of his last five outings, including a pair of wins at Greenville on May 12 and against Lakewood on May 23. This season, Topa has struck out 34 and walked seven in 45.2 innings. The Pirates selected him in the 17th round of the June 2013 draft out of Long Island-Brooklyn. He made his professional debut last season with Short-A Jamestown going 5-2 with a 2.19 ERA (9 ER/37 IP) with 33 strikeouts in 19 relief appearances.

About Last Night: Kannapolis split a doubleheader with first place Hagerstown to claim a series win over the Suns. The Intimidators took Game 1, 5-1, thanks to a complete game effort on the mound by Jake Sanchez, who struck out six over 7.0 innings. In the first, Trey Michalczewski put the Intimidators up 2-0 on a 2-run, 2-out double, and Christian Stringer later added a 2-run home run (1). In Game 2, the Suns tagged Tyler Barnette with a loss, collecting 10 runs on 11 hits against the Intimidators starter thanks in large part to eight runs in the fourth inning, all coming after Barnette retired the first two batters he faced.

Double Your Pleasure: Kannapolis is now 8-8 in doubleheaders this season after winning three of four doubleheader games against Hagerstown over the last two days.

Jake the Great: Jake Sanchez spun 7.0 innings for a complete game win over Hagerstown in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, the 12th complete game in the South Atlantic League this season. He is tied for fourth in the league with 58 strikeouts. The 7-inning start tied a career-long outing, the fifth time in his career Sanchez has worked 7.0 innings since joining the White Sox last June and making his affiliated debut with Great Falls. Sanchez now leads the Intimidators with five wins on the mound.

Hot-Hitting Hunter: Hunter Jones singled in both games of Sunday's doubleheader, upping his season-long hitting streak to seven games since May 26. He is batting .385 (10-26) in those seven games after batting just .100 (4-40) in his first 11 games with Kannapolis. The outfielder's father Tracy played in the Major Leagues from 1986-91, including for three seasons with Pete Rose's Cincinnati Reds. Hunter now plays for Rose's son, Pete Rose Jr.

Robinson Rolls: Kannapolis starter Robinson Leyer spun his second quality start of the season in the first game of S

aturday's doubleheader. Both have come against the Suns. Leyer worked 6.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits to secure his first win since May 5. After struggling in his first two starts of 2014, Leyer has been one of the league's best pitchers, going 3-1 with a 1.90 ERA (9 ER/42.2 IP) in his last eight starts.

Broadcast: This week's games in West Virginia and Asheville will not be broadcast on the Kannapolis Intimidators Baseball Network. Today's game can be heard live through the West Virginia Power's broadcast network, accessible through wvpower.com.

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