Late Comeback Effort Comes Up Just Short as Ballers Fall to Fireflies 7-6 Friday

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Despite a valiant comeback attempt late in the ballgame, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers could not complete the return to a lead, dropping Friday’s matchup with the Columbia Fireflies 7-6 at Atrium Health Ballpark.

LHP Brooks Gosswein (L, 3-6) earned the start for the Ballers, tossing 1.2 innings, allowing four runs on three hits, walking four and striking out three. LHP Haylen Green relieved Gosswein in the second, allowing four hits, three runs, striking out two and walking none.

Brandon Bossard gave Kannapolis a lead in the bottom of the first inning, crushing his first home run as a Baller in 2022 to put the home team ahead 1-0.

Columbia rallied for a four-run top of the second before a 27-minute rain delay, beginning with a Jaswel De Los Santos RBI single, scoring Omar Hernandez. De Los Santos later pulled off a baserunning play with Omar Florentino, allowing the latter to score on the play, giving the Fireflies a 2-1 lead.

Jean Ramirez followed up the sneaky baserunning with an RBI single to push Columbia ahead 3-1. Ramirez crossed the plate later in the inning off a wild pitch by Green.

The party continued for the Fireflies in the top of the third, tallying three runs to extend the lead. Hernandez crushed his second double of the game to score Guillermo Quintana, with Florentino adding an RBI single later in the frame to make it 6-1. Daniel Vazquez capped off the offensive outburst with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 7-1, advantage Columbia.

Benyamin Bailey tallied one of his best nights at the plate, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI double, with DJ Gladney and Wilfred Veras scoring to close the gap at 7-3. A wild pitch later in the inning allowed Bailey to touch the plate, making it 7-4 Fireflies after seven.

An 11-pitch at-bat from Johnabiell Laureano culminated in an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth, firing up the crowd at Atrium Health Ballpark with a potential comeback in the midst. The hard-hit line-drive scored Samil Polanco and Victor Torres to cut it to 7-6 Columbia. That would be all for the Ballers, though, as Misael Gonzalez grounded out for the third out of the bottom of the ninth inning.

Saturday night marks the fifth game of six total between Kannapolis and Columbia, with first pitch set for 7:00 p.m. RHP Norge Vera (0-2, 2.14 ERA) gets the start for the Ballers, with RHP Ben Kudrna (1-4, 3.12 ERA) scheduled to begin on the mound for the Fireflies.

Fans can purchase tickets for any upcoming home games at kcballers.com or at the F&M Bank Box Office located at Atrium Health Ballpark.