Cannon Baller Chronicle: Week 1

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers have completed Opening Week by hosting the Down East Wood Ducks in a six-game series at Atrium Health Ballpark. Despite being swept by the Woodies, Kannapolis fans were able to take in six ballgames filled with entertainment and promising performances from many Ballers players. Here are a few standout performances from the series against Down East, as well as a preview of what is to come this week.

RHP Jerry Burke:

0-1, 7.94 ERA, 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 2 BB, 11 K

Manager Guillermo Quiroz called upon Burke twice on opening week, who looked strong in both outings. The Georgetown Hoya alumnus leads the Ballers in innings with 5.2 and strikeouts with 11. Burke’s two appearances both followed RHP Andrew Dalquist, the No.7 ranked prospect in the White Sox organization.

LHP Bailey Horn:

0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

The only remaining starter with an ERA of 0.00, the former Auburn Tiger put together a stellar outing on Saturday night. After walking the first batter of the game, Horn settled in, throwing four no-hit, shutout innings in front of a sold-out, socially distanced crowd.

SS Jose Rodriguez:

.407 AVG, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, .630 SLG

The 19-year-old shortstop started every game batting second for the Cannon Ballers and delivered stellar performances every night. In his first six games, Rodriguez has four multi-hit performances, and is second in all active players in slugging percentage.

1B/3B/LF A.J. Gill:

.333 AVG, 3 H, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .667 SLG

Despite not making the team out of camp, Gill assembled a fantastic week of appearances once assigned to Kannapolis after an injury to Chase Krogman. The DIII product from Aurora College gave fans a show on Saturday night, blasting a 3-run shot to left field to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning.

LOOKING AHEAD:

05/11-05/16

Fayetteville Woodpeckers (3**rd* *Low-A East Central Division, 1-5)**

The Woodpeckers, Low-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, opened their 2021 campaign on the road against the Carolina Mudcats in Zebulon, N.C., picking up their only victory on Friday in an 8-4 contest. The Woodpeckers hold two of the top 30 prospects in the Astros system in OF Zach Daniels (No.12) and 3B Joe Perez (No.29). In four games against the Mudcats, Daniels struggled to find his stride, batting just .158 with a home run and striking out 12 times in 19 at-bats. Perez appeared in three games last week, batting .250 with a double, two walks, and an RBI.

Fayetteville’s main source of offense in their series against Carolina was OF Matthew Barefoot. The former Campbell Camel is batting .250 and leads the team in home runs and RBIs with two and six, respectively.

On the mound, 6’7” LHP Wyatt Drennan notched the only win for Fayetteville pitchers, coming out of the bullpen on Friday to tally the victory. Despite allowing three earned runs, Drennan threw three innings and struck out five Mudcats to be awarded the victory Friday night for the Woodpeckers.

The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers will return home on May 18th-23rd to face the Columbia Fireflies, Low-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Fans can purchase tickets for the next home series with the Fireflies at kcballers.com or at the F&M Bank Box Office located at Atrium Health Ballpark.

While the Ballers are on the road, fans can keep up with the action on the team’s social media outlets, with live in-game updates being provided on Twitter at @Kcannonballers.