SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

Intimidators vs. Suns - Game Notes - June 4, 2013

Published on June 4, 2013 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


Today's Preview: The Intimidators (A, White Sox) begin a stretch of 15 games in 13 days to wrap up the first half of the season with today's series open at Municipal Stadium against the Suns (A, Nationals). These two teams played three games in Kannapolis two weeks ago, with Hagerstown winning two of three before the series finale was rained out on May 19, forcing tomorrow's doubleheader. The Suns lead the Northern Division by 1.0 game over Hickory and West Virginia with two weeks to play in the first half, while Kannapolis can play the role of spoiler, sitting 11.5 games out, seventh in the division. Tony Bucciferro makes his first start for the Intimidators in place of Jake Cose, who earned a promotion to High-A Winston-Salem, while the Suns counter with Matt Purke, the No. 9 Prospect in the Nationals system who was on the disabled list during the previous series between these two teams. While Hagerstown leads the division, Kannapolis has actually been hotter than the Suns over the last 10 games, going 4-6 compared to Hagerstown's 3-7 mark. The Suns have lost four straight games, being swept at Lexington while Kannapolis lost 3 of 4 at home to Savannah.`

Hey Now, You're An All-Star: Second baseman Micah Johnson and outfielder Jason Coats will represent the Intimidators during the 2013 SAL All-Star Game on June 18. See Pg. 2 of Game Notes for further details.

Intimidating Starter: Tony Bucciferro, 23, makes his first appearance of the season after joining the team from Extended Spring on May 31. The right-hander went 0-0 with a 2.57 (2 ER/7 IP) in his brief professional debut with Advanced Rookie Bristol in 2012. The White Sox selected Bucciferro in the 14th round in the June 2012 draft out of Michigan State where he went 26-14 with a 3.72 ERA over 59 games (55 starts) over four years. He threw eight complete games and four shutouts for the Spartans and finished as MSU's all-time leader in games started and IP (372.1), second in strikeouts (272) and tied for third in wins (26). Bucciferro was named the Spartans MVP in 2012 and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2009.

Hagerstown's Hurler: Matt Purke, 22, makes his second start of the season after working just 4.0 innings at Asheville on May 29. He is a former teammate of Intimidators right fielder and SAL All-Star Jason Coats at TCU. The Nationals selected Purke in the third round of the June 2011 draft after he spent two seasons in Fort Worth. The Rangers drafted the local left-hander in the first round out of high school in 2009 with the 14th overall pick, but MLB controlled the team's finances at the time and refused to approve the $6 million bonus Texas offered. Instead Purke became a Horned Frog and went 16-0 with a 3.02 ERA in 20 games (18 starts) to lead the Horned Frogs to their first College World Series and win Baseball America's Freshman of the Year award in 2010. Purke pitched just 15.1 innings in his professional debut in 2012 with Hagerstown, working 10.1 of those innings against Kannapolis in June before having surgery in August to relieve bursitis in his shoulder. Against the Intimidators, Purke went 0-1 with a 4.36 ERA (5 ER/10.1 IP) with 13 strikeouts.

Last Time Out: Savannah's Gabriel Ynoa pitched the first 9-inning complete game in the Sally League this season, holding the Intimidators to a run on five hits while striking out four to earn his SAL-leading seventh win. Ynoa also upped his IP total to a league- leading 62.2 and lowered his WHIP to 0.94, third-best on the circuit. Kannapolis was held scoreless until the eighth inning, when Kale Kiser doubled home Eric Grabe for the team's lone run. Jeff Glenn drove in three runs for the Gnats while Cole Frenzel hit a solo home run (4).

Scoreless Stretch: The Intimidators snapped a season-long 21-inning scoreless stretch in the eighth inning on Sunday when Kale Kiser doubled to score Eric Grabe. Kannapolis had last crossed the plate in the fourth inning on Friday against Savannah before coming up empty- handed over the final five frames in a 6-2 loss to the Sand Gnats. Savannah's Luis Cessa then worked 7 2/3 scoreless innings as the Gnats shut out Kannapolis on Saturday, 5-0. This is the team's longest scoreless streak since opening the season with 24 scoreless innings at Lakewood April 7-10, 2011. Last season Kannapolis went 20 scoreless frames against Hickory from April 6 through the second game of an April 7 doubleheader.

Striking It Richmond: Josh Richmond, who joined Kannapolis May 24 after a brief stint in the independent Frontier League, has hit safely in six straight games - batting .333 (8-24) - and nine of 10 games. Richmond is batting .325 (13-40). The outfielder has seven extra-base hits, including five doubles and two triples and boasts a slash of . 325/.372/.550. Richmond started his career with in the Rangers organization before being released by Texas this spring. Texas drafted him in the 12 round of the June 2010 draft out of Louisville.

Go Long: Brandon Brennan's career-long outing on Saturday matched the longest start by an Intimidators pitcher this season. His 8.0 innings of work against Savannah matched an April 14 start by Myles Jaye, who shut out Hickory through 8.0 innings. Prior to this season, the last Intimidators starter to work at least 8.0 innings came in 2011 when Spencer Arroyo went 9.0 innings against Greensboro June 18 in a no decision.

Bittersweet Brennan: While Brandon Brennan worked his first quality start of 2013 and equaled his career-high with seven strikeouts Saturday, he also suffered his Minor League lead-tying ninth loss, joining Eliecer Navarro of Brandenton (High-A, Pirates). Brennan dropped his seventh straight start and currently leads the Minor Leagues in runs allowed (54), is tied for fourth in earned runs allowed (45) and is tied for seventh in hits allowed (80). Brennan's lone win came April 21 at Augusta in the second game of a doubleheader. Brennan's ERA now sits at 7.23 (45 ER/56 IP), 11th- highest among qualifying pitchers in the Minors.

A Runner Like No Other: Micah Johnson leads Minor League Baseball with 47 stolen bases in 60 attempts (.783), 14 more than the next-closest base runner. He is batting .320 (66-206), eighth-best in the SAL this season. He also leads the SAL with 50 runs scored, is tied for first in triples (5), and ranks tied for ninth in on-base percentage (. 408). Johnson's 50 runs scored are tied for the second-most in the Minors, trailing only Cedar Rapids' Byron Buxton. The White Sox selected Johnson in the ninth round of the June 2012 draft out of Indiana. Baseball America rates him the No. 25 Prospect in the organization.

What Can Brown Do For You: Jake Brown is off to a hot start with Kannapolis, recording a hit in each of his first five games played. He is batting .421 (8-19) with three RBI, including the game-winning single in the 11th inning on Thursday against Savannah. Brown joined the Intimidators from extended spring on May 25.

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South Atlantic League Stories from June 4, 2013


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