SAL1 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers

I's Take Advantage of New Extra Inning Rule, Win in 11 Innings over BlueClaws

Published on April 27, 2018 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Kannapolis Cannon Ballers News Release


LAKEWOOD, NJ--The Kannapolis Intimidators (14-8) snapped their two-game skid with a 6-4 win in 11 innings over the Lakewood BlueClaws (12-10), as Tate Blackman highlighted the night with four hits, two RBI and a run scored at FirstEnergy Park.

After three scoreless frames from both Kannapolis starter Lincoln Henzman and Lakewood starter Damon Jones, Lakewood jumped on the board in the fourth, beginning by a Johan Cruz error at third base off the bat of Jake Scheiner. After a Quincy Nieporte single on a groundball to left field, putting runners at the corners, Colby Fitch smacked the first pitch of his at-bat off Henzman into right field, scoring Scheiner for the game's first run. With his pitch count quickly rising, Henzman threw his second wild pitch of the inning with Kevin Markham at the plate, scoring Nieporte from third for the second run. The struggles continued for the Kannapolis right-handed pitcher, as Markham singled on a ground ball to first baseman Justin Yurchak, scoring Fitch to give the BlueClaws a 3-0 lead.

With Henzman's day now done, the Intimidators used a Yurchak nine-pitch walk to get going, followed by a Tate Blackman single on a line drive to left field to put runners at first and second, leading to a Lakewood pitching change. With Zach Warren on the mound, Evan Skoug reached on a fielding error by second baseman Daniel Brito, allowing Yurchak to score from second and sending Blackman to third and Skoug to second. After a strikeout to Carlos Perez, Johan Cruz watched a pitch scurry back to the backstop, scoring Blackman for the second Kannapolis run.

After a 1,2,3 inning for Luis Ledo for the Intimidators, Laz Rivera and Yurchak both got free passes to first, as Warren gave up another freebee, throwing a wild pitch with Craig Dedelow at the plate, putting runners at first and second. The Kannapolis left fielder hit the third pitch of his at-bat to second, allowing Rivera to score and tie the game on the force out. After another seventh inning pitching change, Blackman doubled on a line drive to left fielder Josh Stephen, scoring Dedelow from second to give the Intimidators a 4-3 lead.

The seventh inning stayed busy, as Lakewood tacked on another run in the inning, highlighted by an error from Blackman at second base, allowing a run to score later in the inning with Ledo on the mound. After a couple clean innings from Zach Lewis and a plethora of Lakewood relievers, the game went into extras, as the new extra inning rule, putting a runner on second base to start the inning, went into effect.

Kannapolis struck first in the eleventh inning all with two outs, as Yurchak drew yet another walk, brining up clean-up hitter, Dedelow. The Indiana alumnus singled on a live drive to center field, scoring Frost who started at second base to start the inning. The Intimidators were not done yet, as Blackman recorded his fourth hit of the game with a single on a ground ball to second base, scoring Yurchak to score, giving the I's a 6-4 lead.

The Intimidators will take on the BlueClaws in the second game of the series at 4:05 p.m. Saturday evening at FirstEnergy Park.

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South Atlantic League Stories from April 27, 2018


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