Gladney’s Big Night At Plate Pushes Kannapolis Over Woodpeckers

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Backed by a big third inning of offense and effective bullpen pitching, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers defeated the Fayetteville Woodpeckers Friday night 6-3 at Atrium Health Ballpark.

RHP Drew Dalquist started the night on the hill for the Ballers, escaping through 3.2 frames, allowing three runs on seven hits, walking two and tallying one punchout. LHP Fraser Ellard (W, 1-0) entered in relief in the fourth, working 2.1 perfect innings while striking out three and walking one.

Kannapolis opened the scoring in the bottom of the second on a D.J. Gladney RBI double, scoring A.J. Gill and giving the Ballers an early 1-0 lead.

The Woodpeckers answered in the top of the third with two runs of their own. Michael Sandle opened the scoring with an RBI triple to right field, scoring Kobe Kato to knot the ballgame at 1-1. Two batters later, Jordan Brewer added an RBI single that scored Sandle from third to give Fayetteville a 2-1 advantage.

RHP Elvis Garcia began the evening for the Woodpeckers on the mound, exiting in the second inning with an injury and a final stat-line of two punchouts, two walks, and one run on one hit in 1.2 innings. RHP Jose Betances (L, 0-1) entered in the second, unable to pitch an effective night by allowing four runs on just one hit, walking three and striking out two along the way in his one inning of work.

Adam Hackenberg ignited the Cannon Ballers offense in the bottom of the third with an RBI single to center field, allowing Shawn Goosenberg to cross the plate and tie the ballgame again, this time at 2-2. Gladney continued his big offensive night three batters later after a pair of walks with a bases-clearing RBI triple to left field, scoring Hackenberg, Gill, and Chase Krogman to pull Kannapolis ahead 5-2.

Hamilton answered in the top of the fourth with a run on a Quincy Hamilton RBI single, scoring Kato to inch closer to the 5-3 Ballers lead.

Caberea Weaver caused havoc on the basepaths in the bottom of the eighth, stealing third base, then promptly scoring on a throwing error by Fayetteville catcher Nathan Perry. The errant throw allowed Weaver to cross the plate and add an insurance run for Kannapolis at 6-3.

The Cannon Ballers will be in search of their third straight victory in the fifth of six this week at Atrium Health Ballpark on Saturday night. First pitch for the final postgame fireworks evening is set for 7:00 p.m. with Kannapolis expected to send RHP Martin Carrasco (1-8, 6.11 ERA) to the mound. The Woodpeckers will toss out RHP Jairo Lopez (0-1, 8.59 ERA) for Saturday night’s matchup.

Tickets can be purchased for any remaining home games at kcballers.com or at the F&M Bank Box Office located at Atrium Health Ballpark. Fans can also keep up with the action on the team’s social media outlets, with live in-game updates being provided on twitter at @kcannonballers.