SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Intimidators vs. Power - Game Notes - May 21, 2013

Published on May 21, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


KANNAPOLIS INTIMIDATORS (15-25) vs. WEST VIRGINIA POWER (22-22)

Arby's Two-for-Tuesday | Senior Night | Faith & Family Night

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - 7:05 p.m.

CMC-NorthEast Stadium - Kannapolis, N.C.

Game #41 (15-25) - Home Game #18 (5-12)

RHP Euclides Leyer (2-4, 4.29) vs. LHP Orlando Castro (3-3, 2.22)

Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) look to dim the Power (A, Pirates) after allowing 11 runs in the series opener on Monday. Kannapolis has yet to win a series at home this season and must take the next two games against West Virginia to do so. The Intimidators are currently 10.0 games back of first-place Hagerstown, seventh in the SAL Northern Division while West Virginia is third, 5.0 games back of first place.

Intimidating Starter: Euclides Leyer, 22, makes his eighth start of the season but only his second at home. His only other outing in Kannapolis was also his worst of the season, lasting just 1 2/3 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) to Delmarva on April 15. He is two starts removed from his second quality outing of 2013, a season- long 7.0 inning performance at Asheville on May 10 in which he allowed two runs and struck out six, however Leyer has lost four of his last five starts. He faced West Virginia last season, logging his first quality start in Class A, allowing three runs on seven hits over 6.0 innings in a no decision Aug. 17. Last year, Leyer went 2-1 with a 5.02 ERA in five starts with the Intimidators after a late-season promotion from Bristol.

Power Pitcher: Orlando Castro, 21, makes his ninth start of the season and sixth on the road. He worked three straight quality start April 27- May 9, amassing 19.2 innings pitched while allowing just three runs with 17 strikeouts and one walk in that span. His most recent outing proved to be his roughest of the season, in which he allowed season- highs four runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings. His 0.81 walks/9 IP ratio leads the SAL (4 BB/44.2 IP), and he ranks fourth in the league in WHIP (0.94) and fifth in fewest baserunners/9 IP ratio (9.27). Castro dominated in April, going 2-2 with a 1.67 ERA in five starts with 22 strikeouts and 1 walk. About Last Night: The Power surged for five runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to break open the series opener against the Intimidators, dropping Kannapolis 11-2. After four scoreless innings, West Virginia capitalized on a Kannapolis error for an early 1-0 lead through five. The first four batters of the sixth reached against Jefferson Olacio, who could not record an out in the sixth after five strong innings. He took the loss as WV's Joely Rodriguez kept the Intimidators off the scoreboard for six innings to notch a win. Stetson Allie and Max Moroff led the Power offense with three hits each, as Allie drove in three on a bases-clearing double off Zach Isler in the seventh. Eight of nine Power batters logged one hit. WV's Walker Gourley homered (2).

Mashing in May: Infielder Michael Johnson continued to produce at the plate, going 1-3 with a run scored Monday against WV, his 14th- straight game to reach base safely. His .559 on-base percentage during May is second-best in Minor League Baseball (Greensboro's Cameron Flynn, .574) and his average of .429 (18-42) in May is sixth-best in the Minors. He has raised his average to .309, hitting safely in 12 of his last 14 games. The Sox selected him in the 31st round in June 2011 out of Samford where he set the school record for runs scored (175) in his career. He bounced between Great Falls, Kannapolis and Winston- Salem in 2012.

Olacio Improving: Despite suffering his SAL-lead-tying sixth loss Monday Jefferson Olacio (1-6, 6.82) has continued to improve in recent weeks. Prior to last night's sixth inning, during which he allowed four runs and failed to record an out, he worked four scoreless frames to open his outing and gave up one unearned run in the fifth, his best statistical start through five innings since he made his Appalachian League debut June 21, 2012, when he worked five scoreless innings against Bluefield after transferring from Kannapolis after the SAL All- Star Break. In his five previous starts entering last night, he was 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA (12 ER/25.1 IP) with 19 strikeouts and 11 walks while holding opponents to a .245 average. Storm Brewing: Reliever Storm Throne worked a career-long 3.0 scoreless innings and matched his career-high with three strikeouts while allowing two hits and no walks. Throne, the White Sox 25th round pick in the June 2012 draft, made his professional debut with Advanced Rookie Bristol last season, going 2-2 with a 8.38 ERA (18 ER/19.1 IP) in 15 appearances in the Appalachian League.

Micah on the Move: Leadoff man Micah Johnson was caught stealing for the eighth time this season on Monday, tying for the second-most caught stealing in the Minors in his Minor League-leading 47 attempts. He stole second base Saturday after a first inning single, his MiLB- leading 39th this year, 11 ahead of the next closest Minor Leaguer (San Antonio's Rico Noel, 28). He went on to score his 37th run of the year, second-most in the SAL. Johnson also leads the league with five triples. Baseball America rated Johnson as the White Sox No. 25 Prospect this season, naming him the Fastest Baserunner in the organization's 2012 draft class. Power Hitters: West Virginia is batting .270 as a team, second-best in the SAL (Asheville, .278) with several hitters among offensive league leaders. Stetson Allie drove in three runs Monday and now ranks second in RBI (35), third in slugging percentage (.588), is tied for third in home runs (10) and extra-base hits (22), ranks eighth in the league in average (.325). While he leads the league with 94 total bases, he also ranks tied for fourth with 55 strikeouts. Josh Bell leads the SAL with 37 RBI and ranks third in at-bats (166). Raul Fortunado is second in the league with four triples. Walker Gourley is batting .333, sixth in the league.

For Whom Josh Bell Tolls: Right fielder Josh Bell went 2-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored for the prospect-rich Power on Monday. Bell, Baseball America's No. 6 Prospect in the Pirates system, also added his first outfield assist of the season when he threw out Jean Almanzar at third base while the Intimidators shortstop stretching for a triple. The Pirates "stunned the baseball landscape when they landed the thought-to-be-unsignable Bell" (2nd round, 61 overall) at the 2011 deadline according to BA, after he wrote all 30 teams and asked them not to select him because he was committed to attending Texas. Corpus Christi Connection: West Virginia catcher Wyatt Mathisen, the Pirates second round pick in June 2012's draft, played for 4A Corpus Christi Calallen (Texas) High School and faced former Intimidators outfielder and White Sox 2012 first rounder Courtney Hawkins, who played for 5A Corpus Christi Mary Carroll HS. On April 21, 2012, Mathisen went 2-3 with two doubles, two RBI and a run scored off Hawkins, who took the loss (4.1 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) and went 0-2 at the plate as Calallen notched a 7-1 win. Mathisen entered this season as the Pirates No. 15 Prospect. Hawkins is the White Sox top prospect.

Cose Lights Out: Jake Cose continued to lower his ERA with 4.0 scoreless frames Saturday and now ranks fourth in the SAL with a 1.61 ERA (8 ER/44.2 IP). He is tied for fifth in the SAL in innings pitched and is eighth in the SAL with 46 strikeouts. Cose has not allowed an earned run in his last four starts and only allowed three unearned runs in those outings, spanning 24.2 innings. Cose last allowed an earned run April 23 against Rome. Six of the eight earned runs he has allowed this year came in one start, a home loss to Delmarva o April 17. He has struck out at least six batters in five of his eight starts this season.

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