Long's Six Shutout Innings Propels Kannapolis to Victory

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - Backed by solid pitching and a late string of offense, Los Rapidos de Kannapolis (55-69, 27-28) avoided the sweep Sunday, defeating the Lexington Legends 4-0. 
LHP Sam Long (W, 7-5) started for Los Rapidos, throwing six two shutout innings and striking out seven. The former Sacramento State southpaw kept the Legends off the base-paths, giving up just two hits and one walk.
Lexington (61-64, 24-32) gave the ball to RHP Jon Heasley for the first five innings of the ballgame. Heasley threw five shutout frames, only surrendering one walk and two strikeouts.
Los Rapidos opened the scoring in the bottom of the sixth, when Tyler Osik doubled home Ramon Beltre on a sharp grounder to left field off RHP CJ Eldred (L, 0-6). One batter later, Corey Zangari scored Alex Destino on a sacrifice fly to right field to make it a 2-0 Kannapolis lead.
The offense continued one frame later when Lenyn Sosa drove in Gunnar Troutwine via a reach on an error by Lexington 2B Rubendy Jaquez, giving Los Rapidos a 3-0 advantage over the Legends.
Kannapolis added to their lead even further in the bottom of the eighth, when an Eldred wild pitch allowed Zangari, who had reached on a hit by pitch, to cross the plate and stretch the lead to 4-0.
The Intimidators will enjoy an off-day Monday, then start a six-game road trip with stops in Rome and Charleston. Just four home games remain in the 2019 season, with the next home game scheduled for August 26^th against the Hagerstown Suns.
Fans can purchase tickets for any of the four remaining 2019 home games by visiting intimidatorsbaseball.com or stopping by the F&M Bank Box Office located at Intimidators Stadium supported by Atrium Health.