Bullpen Woes Continue As Ballers Fall to Fireflies 12-1

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – D.J. Gladney smacked his first home run and collected his first multi-hit game of the season, but the Cannon Ballers crumbled late in the ballgame to the Fireflies, resulting in a 12-1 loss Tuesday night at Atrium Health Ballpark.

RHP Chase Solesky (L, 0-2) got the start on the mound for the series opener for Kannapolis. The Tulane product enjoyed early success, striking out seven over four innings, giving up five hits and two earned runs. LHP Trey Jeans followed in relief, going 2.2 innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out five Fireflies.

Columbia opened the scoring in the top of the second off a Kale Emshoff RBI double to left field to allow Jake Means to cross the plate, giving the Fireflies a 1-0 lead.

D.J. Gladney ensured the lead would not be held for long in the bottom of the second, leading off with a solo home run on the third pitch of his at-bat to left field to knot the ballgame at 1-1.

The lead changed again in the top of the third when Juan Carlos Negret singled home Darryl Collins on a line drive to center field to make it a 2-1 game, advantage Fireflies.

Columbia (7-6) took advantage of some unlucky pitching by Marcus Evey in the top of the seventh. After Collins made it a 3-1 game on an RBI single, Negret doubled home another run to make it a 4-1 game. Brady McConnell followed with an RBI single of his own, padding the Columbia lead to 5-1.

LHP A.J. Block got the nod from Fireflies manager Brooks Conrad, going four innings, giving up just one hit and one run while striking out three. RHP Michael Stil (W, 2-0) followed Block and turned in a stellar performance, going four innings, striking out eight Cannon Ballers and allowing just one hit and two walks.

The struggles for the Cannon Ballers bullpen continued in the top of the eighth. Maikel Garcia added an RBI single to make it 6-1. Tyler Tolbert then doubled home two more runs. Jake Means cleared the bases with a three-RBI double a few batters later, making it an 11-1 lead for the Fireflies. Following Means, Emshoff flew out to right field on a sacrifice fly, finishing out the scoring in the seven-run inning with a 12-1 advantage for Columbia.

The Ballers will look to get their second win of the season on Wednesday night at Atrium Health Ballpark in their second of six matchups this series with the Fireflies. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. The No.3 prospect in the White Sox system RHP Matt Thompson (0-1, 2.00 ERA) will get the start on the mound for Kannapolis, while Columbia sends out the No.15 prospect in the Royals organization, RHP Ben Hernandez (0-0, 0.00 ERA).

Fans can purchase tickets for tomorrow’s game or any of the remaining matchups with the Fireflies at kcballers.com or at the F&M Bank Box Office located at Atrium Health Ballpark.