SALISBURY, MD - On the strength of Cameron Simmons' grand slam, the Kannapolis Intimidators squeaked by the Delmarva Shorebirds 4-3 on Friday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.Davis Martin (9-9) garnered the win for the Intimidators (35-32, 63-72), tossing six innings and allowing three runs on six hits without walking
SALISBURY, MD - On the strength of Cameron Simmons' grand slam, the Kannapolis Intimidators squeaked by the Delmarva Shorebirds 4-3 on Friday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium.
Davis Martin (9-9) garnered the win for the Intimidators (35-32, 63-72), tossing six innings and allowing three runs on six hits without walking a batter and striking out six for a Quality Start. Ryan Wilson (6-5) was tagged with the loss for the Shorebirds (40-26, 88-47), going 5.2 frames and giving up four runs on nine hits and three walks while punching out six, giving him more than 100 strikeouts for the season. Austin Conway earned his 12th save of the season for Kannapolis with a perfect ninth, striking out one.
The Shorebirds broke the ice in the fourth. Adley Rutschman poked a single to left to start the inning and moved to second on a wild pitch. Johnny Rizer then won a 10-pitch battle by lacing an RBI single to right to put Delmarva in front 1-0. After a flyout, Shayne Fontana banged a triple to center, scoring Rizer, and making it 2-0. On the very next pitch, Ryne Ogren lined an RBI single to left to cap the inning with the Shorebirds ahead 3-0.
Kannapolis stormed back on one big swing in the sixth. Lenyn Sosa singled to begin the frame and after a flyout, he moved to third on a Tyler Osik double down the left field line. Following a strikeout, Corey Zangari drew a walk to load the bases. This set the stage for Simmons, who took the first pitch he saw and deposited it over the wall in left for a grand slam, vaulting Kannapolis in front 4-3.
Lane Ramsey took over for Davis in the seventh and pitched two scoreless innings for the Intimidators to earn a hold, before handing the ball off to Conway for the ninth.
In addition to his RBI knock, Ogren picked up another single to go 2-for-4 for the Shorebirds.
Sosa reached base three times, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk for Kannapolis. Michael Hickman also collected two hits, finishing 2-for-3 with a double.
The Shorebirds and Intimidators square off again on Saturday night. Hector Guance (8-6, 4.50) is slated to go for Delmarva against Jason Bilous (6-9, 3.53) for Kannapolis. Saturday night at Perdue Stadium is the final Q105 Fireworks show of the season presented by Hudson Health Servies, as well as Purple Night presented by Hudson Health Services. Pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch app begins at 6:50 with Will DeBoer and Sam Jellinek on the call.
