SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Game Notes: Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) vs. Hickory Crawdads (Rangers) -- August 5, 2014

Published on August 5, 2014 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS vs. HICKORY CRAWDADS

53-58, 24-20 (Chicago White Sox) 65-48, 24-20 (Texas Rangers)

Tuesday Aug, 5 2014 - 7:05 p.m.

CMC-Northeast Stadium - Kannapolis, N.C.

2nd Half Game #45 (112 of 137)

LH Andre Wheeler (1-3, 3.61) vs. RH Akeem Bostick (5-6, 5.24)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) play for a series-clinching win today in the second contest of this 3-game series against the Crawdads (A, Rangers) at CMC-NorthEast Stadium. Kannapolis, which won the series opener in 10 innings 5-4 on Monday night, is now even with Hickory in the 24-game season-series, 11-11. Left-hander Andre Wheeler takes his turn on the mound with fellow southpaw Jordan Guerrero expected to piggy-back the start. The Crawdads are countering with former second round pick Akeem Bostick.

Sally League Standings: Kannapolis (24-20) moved into a tie with the Crawdads for third place in the Northern Division with Monday's win. Both the Intimidators and Crawdads sit 3.5 games out of first place, looking up at the Greensboro Grasshoppers (28-17) coming into play on Tuesday.

Intimidators Starter: Andre Wheeler, 22, makes his 24th appearance and 12th start of the season with the Intimidators of the season. The left-hander is coming off a relief outing where he went 2.0 IP giving up no runs, walking one and striking out two against Augusta on July 31. In his most recent start, he went 4.1 IP, giving up five earned runs, walking three and striking out three in Hagerstown on July 25. Wheeler has struggled against right-handed batters, allowing them to hit .293 (51/174) compared to lefties that hit just .216 (22/102). In four appearances this season versus Hickory, Wheeler is 0-1 with a 1.69 ERA. This season, he is 1-3 with a 4.31 ERA in 11 starts compared to a 2.22 ERA in 12 relief appearances. Last season with Advanced Rookie Bristol and the Intimidators, the Sox 15th round pick in the June 2013 draft combined to go 1-1 with a 3.19 ERA in 18 games.

Hickory's Hurler: Akeem Bostick, 19, makes his 19th start with the Crawdads and fourth against Kannapolis. He is coming off his only relief appearance of the season, tossing 4.0 IP and giving up four runs, walking one and striking out two against West Virginia on July 25. In his last start on July 19, Bostick went 5.0 IP giving up four runs, walking one and striking out two at Greensboro. Bostick struggled in the month of July, going 1-3 with a 10.35 ERA in five games (four starts) after having an excellent June in which he was 2-0 with a 1.27 ERA in four games (four starts). In three starts against Kannapolis, he is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA (4 ER/14 IP) with 13 strikeouts and two walks. Last season with the AZL Rangers, Bostick went 4-1 with a 2.83 ERA in 14 games (6 starts). Bostick was drafted in the second round of the June 2013 First-Year Player Draft by the Rangers.

About Last Night: Jacob Morris scored the winning run on a passed ball with two outs in the 10th inning to give the Intimidators a 5-4 win over Hickory in Monday's series opener. He finished 3-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored. Morris led off the 10th with a base hit, moved to second base on a Brett Austin sac-bunt, and advanced to third when Carl Thomore grounded out to second base. Hickory forced extra innings when Michael De Leon singled down the left-field line to score pinch-runner Travis Demeritte from second base, tying the game with two outs in the ninth. Matt Abramson earned the win for Kannapolis despite also being tagged with his fifth blown save of the season. Jose Valdepina took the loss for Hickory. Hickory plated two runs in the top of the first inning on RBI-doubles by Evan Van Hoosier and Kellin Deglan. Kannapolis overcame the early 2-0 deficit with a 3-run home half of the first thanks to four straight hits by Christian Stringer, Trey Michalczewski, Danny Hayes and Morris. Thad Lowry finished the night after 5.1 IP, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Dylan Chavez worked 2.2 scoreless IP.

Dramatic Wins: Kannapolis picked up its 10th win in the final at-bats of a game with Monday night's 5-4 win in 10 innings. The Intimidators are now 4-9 in extra-inning games, including 3-0 against the Crawdads in 2014.

More J-Mo: Right fielder Jacob Morris continues to pace the Intimidators and rank fourth in the SAL with 31 doubles this season, including two in Monday's win over Hickory. On May 26, Morris tied a South Atlantic League record with four doubles in a game against the Crawdads at L.P. Frans Stadium.

Atta-boy, Adam: Centerfielder Adam Engel went 1-5 on Monday to run his current on-base streak to a career-best 22 straight games since July 11, tied for the 14th-longest streak in the SAL in 2014 and the second-longest by an Intimidators player (Danny Hayes had a 24-game on-base streak April 11 to May 8). During that run, Engel is batting .319 (30-94) with 4 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, and 13 RBI while posting an on-base percentage of .390. Engel ranks in a tie for fifth in the league with seven triples.

Trey Triples: Trey Michalczewski, the White Sox seventh round pick in the June 2013 First-Year Player Draft, hit his seventh triple of the season, tying Adam Engel for the team lead and for fifth in the SAL. Michalczewski finished Monday's game 2-4, upping his average to .279. After enduring his worst offensive month of the year in July (batting .234), the 19-year-old third baseman is off to a hot start in August, batting .400 (6-15).

Pack-ing a Punch: Brett Austin, a former N.C. State catcher whom the White Sox drafted in the fourth round of the June 2014 First-Year Player Draft, is swinging a hot bat right now. In Austin's last 10 games he is hitting .289 (11-38) with two RBI. He has also hit safely in 22 of his 29 professional games.

Game Broadcasts: This season all 70 home games and select road games will be broadcast on the Kannapolis Intimidators Baseball Network available at IntimidatorsBaseball.com & on the TuneIn Radio App with Josh Feldman, now in his fourth season as the Voice of the Intimidators.

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South Atlantic League Stories from August 5, 2014


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