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SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

I's Blowout Suns on Star Wars Night

May 4, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


On a night designed to celebrate Star Wars Night, there was no question which team had the force on their side, as the Intimidators steamrolled their way over the Suns, 11-0, Friday night at Intimidators Stadium supported by Atrium Health.

Nolan Brown kicked off the scoring in the third with a perfectly placed bunt down the third base line, followed by a Laz Rivera single on a soft line drive to right field to put runners at first and second. After a groundout from Craig Dedelow to third base, moving both runners up 90 feet, Brown and Rivera both came in to score with a Tate Blackman single on a line drive to center.

As Blake Battenfield (W, 2-1) continued his dominance on the mound for Kannapolis, Evan Skoug led off the third with a five-pitch walk, as Johan Cruz came up two batters later and drew his own five-pitch walk against left-handed starter Nick Raquet. After a Hagerstown (9-19) mound visit, Brown connected on one of his three hits on the day with a ground ball to center field, scoring Skoug. With Cruz now at third and Brown at second base after a groundout from Rivera, Dedelow reached on a throwing error by second baseman Cole Freeman, who tried to rush the throw to first after bobbling it, scoring both Cruz and Brown to give the Intimidators a 5-0 lead.

After both teams went scoreless in the fifth, Battenfield finished his night with three strikeouts, while only giving up three hits, lowering his ERA to a team-low 1.75 (among starters). Kevin Escorcia got the call out of the bullpen from manager Justin Jirschele in the sixth, striking out three of the first four batters he faced, firing up the Kannapolis bats.

In the bottom half of the sixth, Brown hit a rocket off his bat to right field, followed by a Rivera hit by pitch with no outs. Dedelow then smoked a triple passed a diving Armond Upshaw in center field, scoring Rivera and Brown to extend the I's lead to seven runs. Anthony Villa stepped up to the plate next for Kannapolis, grounding out to shortstop Luis Garcia which gave enough time for Dedelow to score the eighth run for the I's.

In the eighth, Skoug helped the Intimidators add on some insurance runs and increase their lead to double digits with a three-run towering homer (3) to right-center, his second in as many nights.

In the ninth, Yelmison Peralta got the next call out of the bullpen from Jirschele, striking out four guys over 2.1 IP to help preserve the 11-0 shutout for Kannapolis.

The I's will host the Suns for the second game of the four-game series Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. at Intimidators Stadium supported by Atrium Health.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 4, 2018


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