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Strong Pitching, Timely Hitting Delivers Second Straight Woodpeckers Win

May 18, 2022

Kannapolis, NC - There was much less offense to go around Wednesday afternoon at Atrium Health Ballpark compared to Tuesday night’s contest, but the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (14-21) once again found themselves on the right side of the scoring. After allowing a solo home run in the bottom of the first,

Kannapolis, NC - There was much less offense to go around Wednesday afternoon at Atrium Health Ballpark compared to Tuesday night’s contest, but the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (14-21) once again found themselves on the right side of the scoring.

After allowing a solo home run in the bottom of the first, the Woodpeckers staff settled in to shut down the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers’ (17-18) lineup and a few big swings in the later innings led Fayetteville past Kannapolis by a final score of 2-1. For the first time in 2022, the Woodpeckers have taken each of the first two games of a series.

RHP Nic Swanson got the start for Fayetteville and ran into some trouble in the bottom of the first when Colson Montgomery homered to right with two away in the inning to put the Cannon Ballers on top, 1-0. However, Swanson settled in after the mistake, pitching four innings with just the one run allowed on three hits while striking out four. He was replaced by Christian Mejias (W, 1-0) ahead of the fifth and Mejias picked up right where Swanson left off, tossing four scoreless innings surrendering four hits and two walks while fanning five.

It took some time for the Woodpeckers to get going at the plate, but they got the huge hit they were looking for in the top of the seventh. Leading off the inning, Joey Loperfido hammered the second pitch he saw from Kannapolis reliever Angel Acevedo (L, 0-1) 433 feet to center field for a game-tying solo home run. It was Loperfido’s third homer of the season and first since April 17 when he hit two against Salem at Segra Stadium.

The clutch hitting kept on coming for Fayetteville in the eighth. Freddy Guilamo led off the frame with a double before Quincy Hamilton stung one into the right center field gap for a double of his own, plating Guilamo and pushing the Woodpeckers ahead. For Hamilton, the RBI was his team-high 17th of the season.

It remained a one-run lead for Fayetteville heading into the ninth as they gave the ball to RHP Ian Foggo (SV, 1) to close it out. Foggo surrendered a pair of walks to start the inning before responding with a pair of strikeouts. After he walked Samil Polanco to load the bases, James Beard came up for Kannapolis with a chance to be the hero. With a full count, Foggo dotted a fastball on the outside corner for a called strike three to end the ballgame. He struck out the side, which he has done in all three innings he has pitched since joining the Woodpeckers on May 10.

Fayetteville will aim for securing the series split Thursday night as RHP Rhett Kouba will make his 2022 Woodpeckers debut after appearing in four games for them last season. On the other side, the Cannon Ballers look to bounce back with LHP Tommy Sommer. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 ET at Atrium Health Ballpark.