Kannapolis drops crucial game three in Hagerstown

Collecting only four hits and one run, Kannapolis falls to Hagerstown 4-1 Sunday evening at Municipal Stadium in game three of the four-game series finale.
With Drew Harrington (L, 8-8) and Jackson Stoeckinger (W, 3-6) both working clean first innings, Tate Blackman launched his 17^th homer of the season to right-center field off Stoeckinger in the second, giving the Intimidators a quick 1-0 lead.
One inning later, Nick Choruby and Juan Pascal both singled against Harrington to begin the third inning, moving up 90 feet after a Phil Caulfield sacrifice bunt. Next up, Jake Scudder grounded out to first base, bringing in Choruby to tie the game, 1-1.
Still tied in the fifth inning, Choruby singled and moved to second on a Pascal sac bunt before stealing third base for his 14^th swipe of the season. With Harrington walking the next two batters to load the bases for Anderson Franco, Franco hit a sacrifice fly to Steele Walker in center field, scoring Choruby to help Hagerstown grab a 2-1 lead. One batter later, Alex Dunlap singled on a 1-2 pitch up the middle, scoring Caulfield and Scudder to increase the Suns' lead to three, 4-1.
Throughout the final four innings, the Intimidators drew one walk and collected just two singles against Stoeckinger and two other Hagerstown relievers, as Stoeckinger capped off his seven-inning outing, allowing only three hits and one run on just 79 pitches.
The Intimidators will need to win Monday at 2:05 p.m. against Hagerstown and root for a Charleston win over West Virginia (also at 2:05 p.m.) for a chance to make the 2018 South Atlantic League playoffs.