Whitaker’s Clutch Hitting Leads Woodpeckers to Victory in Series Opener

Kannapolis, NC - Offense wasn’t hard to come by on Tuesday night at Atrium Health Ballpark, but the biggest swing of the ballgame came from Tyler Whitaker.

The Fayetteville Woodpeckers (13-21) third baseman gave his team the lead for good in the top of the seventh with a bases-clearing double as the Woodpeckers took the series opener against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (17-17), 10-6.

Fayetteville got on the board in the top of the first when Logan Cerny lined a Noah Owen breaking ball over the wall in left just inside the foul pole for a solo shot. It was Cerny’s fifth home run of the season, pulling him back even with Quincy Hamilton for the team lead. The Cannon Ballers responded in the bottom half by loading the bases against Woodpeckers starter Bryant Salgado and grabbing a pair of runs on a hit by pitch and a single to pull ahead, 2-1.

Moments later in the top of the second, Kenedy Corona lined one down the line in left for a double to bring home Jaxon Hallmark to even the game at two. But Kannapolis once again got the bats going in the bottom half. A pair of RBI singles from James Beard and Colson Montgomery helped the Cannon Ballers regain the lead, 4-2.

The resiliency from the Woodpeckers offense continued in the third. After a leadoff single from Joey Loperfido, Miguel Palma found the gap for a double that scored Loperfido to cut the deficit to one. Three batters later, Jaxon Hallmark dropped one into shallow right to drive home Victor Mascai and once again tie the ballgame.

After a scoreless fourth and fifth inning, Kannapolis was able to get to Fayetteville’s Miguel Ullola in the sixth. A Wes Kath sacrifice fly brought home the go-ahead run before a two-out walk marked the end of the outing for Ullola. Kasey Ford came on to pitch and was greeted by a Wilfred Veras RBI double to push the lead back to two for the Cannon Ballers, 6-4.

In the top of the seventh, Hamilton led the inning off with a double before Cerny singled. After Leosdany Molina drew a walk, the bases were loaded for Whitaker, who ripped one off the right field wall to bring home all three runs and push the Woodpeckers ahead, 7-6. The following inning, Corona added an insurance run for Fayetteville when he bolted home on a wild pitch. In the ninth, Jaxon Hallmark tripled home two more to close out the scoring. The lead was more than enough for Woodpeckers reliever Kasey Ford (W, 1-0), who finished off a strong outing with a 1-2-3 bottom half to secure the win.

It’ll be a quick turnaround for both teams as they’ll be in action Wednesday morning with an 11:00 ET first pitch. RHP Nic Swanson gets the start for Fayetteville while Kannapolis sends RHP Christian Mena to the mound.