KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - The Kannapolis Intimidators (26-26, 54-66) used strong pitching and a huge eighth inning against the Greensboro Grasshoppers (27-24, 71-49) on Wednesday night to win 10-0 and take the series at Intimidators Stadium supported by Atrium Health.After stealing second base and advancing to third on a groundout, Ian
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - The Kannapolis Intimidators (26-26, 54-66) used strong pitching and a huge eighth inning against the Greensboro Grasshoppers (27-24, 71-49) on Wednesday night to win 10-0 and take the series at Intimidators Stadium supported by Atrium Health.
After stealing second base and advancing to third on a groundout, Ian Dawkins was driven in by Alex Destino to get the Intimidators on the board in the bottom of the first.
The teenager, Lenyn Sosa, hit a towering double down the right field line in the bottom of the third and scored Dawkins to take the 2-0 lead.
Kannapolis continued to slowly add to their lead. In the bottom of the fourth, Corey Zangari was standing on second base, but a wild pitch and heads up baserunning allowed him to come all the way around to score and make things 3-0.
Meanwhile on the mound, Davis Martin (W, 7-8) was dealing. In his five innings on the mound, he gave up just two hits and zero runs, while striking out five and walking three. Wilber Perez came in for relief and continued to shut things down. He tossed three hitless innings and struck out five while walking two.
The bottom of the eighth inning is really when the Kannapolis offense made its mark on the game. The first run of the inning came when Romy Gonzalez scored on a wild pitch to make things 4-0. Tyler Osik then also scored on a wild pitch not long after. After a Michael Hickman double, Cam Simmons drove Zangari in with a sac fly to bring the score to 6-0. It didn't stop there, Dawkins singled to drive in Hickman. Gonzalez was then hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring Dawkins in to score. Osik finally capped the inning off with a double that scored Sosa and Destino to extend the lead to 10-0. All in all, the Intimidators had five hits, three walks, and a hit batter in the inning.
Justin O'Conner came in to close things out in the ninth and went three-up and three-down to make the 10-0 score final and capture the series win.
Kannapolis will begin a four-game home series with the Lexington Legends on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. The starters for both sides are TBD.
