Sports stats

SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

I's Drop a Crazy 26-Run Game with Asheville

May 15, 2018 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


ASHEVILLE, NC - The Kannapolis Intimidators (25-13) lose an absolute heartbreaker Tuesday afternoon against Asheville 14-12, scoring three in the ninth to tie the game, just to give up a walk-off blast to Shael Mendoza and the Tourists at McCormick Field.

Asheville jumped out to an early lead in the first off Kannapolis' Blake Battenfield, as Bret Boswell smacked his seventh homer of the season to right field to give the Tourists an early 1-0 lead.

In the third, Kannapolis responded as Nolan Brown reached base after smoking a double down the right field line, bringing up one of the hottest hitters in the South Athletic League, Luis Gonzalez. The outfielder who had already homered twice in the series, sent a 2-0 pitch from Will Gaddis soaring over the right field wall, giving the I's and Battenfield a 2-1 lead after three innings.

After a 1-2-3 inning for Battenfield in the third, the Intimidators got busy at the plate in the fourth as Tate Blackman led off the frame with a line drive single to left field, followed by an Anthony Villa single up the middle to bring up Justin Yurchak with no outs. After taking the first pitch of the at-bat, the Kannapolis first baseman cranked a 0-1 pitch down the left field line, scoring Blackman and Villa from first and second to give the I's a 4-1 advantage.

Three batters later, Brown picked up his second RBI of the day with a single on the first pitch of his at-bat to right field, scoring Yurchak for the fifth Kannapolis run. In the bottom half of the fourth, Asheville capitalized on two hits and two walks to get a run back from the Intimidators, trailing 5-2.

In the fifth, the Tourists kept cutting into the Kannapolis lead by manufacturing a run after Mendoza bunted Brett Stephens over to second base after he reached on a Yurchak error. Two batters later, Casey Golden singled on a line drive to center field to score Stephens with the I's still up by two runs, 5-3.

With Villa at second and Evan Skoug at first with one out in the sixth, Michael Hickman doubled to center field, scoring both runners to extend the Kannapolis lead to four runs, 7-3. With Brown at plate, Hickman advanced to third on a wild pitch from Gaddis, scooting home on the next pitch after a sacrifice fly to center, giving the I's their third run in the sixth.

Justin Valdespina came in to replace Gaddis in the seventh, as Johan Cruz hit his second triple of the season down the left field line, followed by Craig Dedelow's team-high 13th double to push the lead to six, 9-3.

With the game looking almost out of reach for Asheville, the Tourists rattled off four straight hits off RHP Jhoan Quijada who came in to replace Battenfield, scoring three runs to cut the lead three, 9-6. After a 1-2-3 inning for Asheville on defense, the I's brought in Luis Ledo who got smacked around for five hits and three runs in the inning, tying the game up, 9-9, with two outs. After a pitching change that saw Jose Nin (L, 2-1) step to the rubber with two runners on, Ramon Marcelino homered on a line drive to right field, giving Asheville their first lead of the game, 12-9.

If the game hasn't been crazy enough, Kannapolis scored three runs on three hits in the top of the ninth to tie the game, highlighted by a Yurchak double off the wall in right field that scored Johan Cruz and Laz Rivera with two outs.

In the bottom of the ninth and after Stephens drew a four-pitch walk, Mendoza homered on a ball to right field off Nin to give Asheville the walk-off win.

Kannapolis will have Wednesday off before returning home Thursday night for a four-game series against the Hickory Crawdads.

Check out the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Statistics



South Atlantic League Stories from May 15, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central