Creed Willems Sparks Home Opening Win

Shorebirds Handle Cannon Ballers on Opening Night

Creed Willems Sparks Home Opening Win

*SALISBURY, MD: *The Delmarva Shorebirds (3-1) began the home season with a nice, all-around effort as they defeated the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 7-2 on Tuesday night.

It was Kannapolis who struck first as the Cannon Ballers put two runs on the board in the third inning with two outs on an RBI single by Tim Elko and an RBI double by Luis Pineda to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.

The Shorebirds responded in the bottom of the inning as Stiven Acevedo punched a hit back up the middle to bring home Creed Willems, making it a 2-1 game.

In the bottom of the fourth, Willems catapulted Delmarva in front with a no-doubt, two-run homer to center to make it 3-2 in favor of the Shorebirds.

It stayed a 3-2 game into the seventh inning but the Shorebirds captured an insurance run in the bottom of the frame on a throwing error by Kannapolis pitcher Zach Cable as Trendon Craig scored with ease from third to push the Delmarva lead to 4-2.

In the eighth, with the bases loaded, Creed Willems struck again with a two-run single to right field to score Anderson De Los Santos and Anthony Servideo to give the Shorebirds' catcher 4 RBIs for the night. Delmarva grabbed an additional run in the inning on a fielder's choice off the bat of Trendon Craig as Elio Prado touched home, extending the advantage to 7-2.

Reese Sharp finished off the Cannon Ballers in the top of the ninth to close out a five-run victory in the home opener.

Bradley Brehmer (1-0) earned the victory in his first professional outing by dealing four shutout innings out of the bullpen, with his fellow Indiana teammate Reese Sharp (2) earning his second save of the season by recording the final six outs. Kannapolis starting pitcher, Connor McCullough (0-1) was the losing pitcher.

Creed Willems was the top performer offensively for the 'Birds as he delivered career-highs in hits and RBIs with three and four respectively to go along with two runs scored. Stiven Acevedo finished 2/4 for his first multi-hit game of the season along with an RBI in the third inning and Trendon Craig reached twice with an RBI and a run scored.

The series continues on Wednesday night as Deivy Cruz gets the ball for Delmarva against Shane Murphy for the Cannon Ballers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Final Box Score: http://bit.ly/3mrXnLD