STRUGGLES CONTINUE FOR THE BALLERS AS THEY FALL 6-1 TO THE WOODIES

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – The struggles to start the 2021 campaign continued on Thursday as the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (0-3) dropped their Thursday night contest with the Down East Wood Ducks (3-0) by a final score of 6-1 at Atrium Health Ballpark.

RHP Chase Solesky was awarded the start on the hill for the Cannon Ballers. The Florida native provided a quality outing on the mound, hurling 3.2 innings, striking out six Wood Duck batters, walking one and giving up just two hits.

Down East opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when Cody Freeman singled on a ground ball to right field, scoring Dustin Harris from second to make it an early 1-0 ballgame, advantage Wood Ducks.

The Ballers answered back in the bottom of the fourth inning off a D.J. Gladney RBI triple that scored Chase Krogman to tie the game at 1-1.

Dan Metzdorf (L, 0-1) received the first call out of the bullpen from manager Guillermo Quiroz, as the southpaw reliever found early success on the bump with two strikeouts and a pickoff to the first five batters that he faced. However, Metzdorf lost his early momentum in the top of the seventh inning when Luisangel Acuna stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. The younger brother of Atlanta Braves all-star Ronald Acuna Jr. broke the game wide open with a bases-clearing triple to bring home Carter, Jayce Easley, and Antonio Cabello.

RHP Dane Acker got the nod for the Wood Ducks on the mound. The Oklahoma product threw 3.1 innings, striking out five Cannon Ballers, allowing just three hits and one earned run. After Acker, RHP Nic Laio (W, 1-0) entered in relief in the bottom of the fifth inning with one out and pieced together a stand-out performance. Laio struck out eight Kannapolis batters in 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk in his outing.

The Wood Ducks knocked in two insurance runs late in the game. In the top of the eighth, Keyber Rodriguez drove in Freeman on an RBI double to make it a 5-1 game. In the top of the ninth inning, Harris lined a single into right field to score Carter, giving Down East a 6-1 lead.

The Cannon Ballers are back in action on Friday night for the fourth of six matchups this week with the Down East Wood Ducks. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m.

RHP Matt Thompson (0-0, 0.00) will get the ball for Kannapolis to face Down East’s RHP Tekoah Roby in the Friday night showdown. Limited tickets are available for Friday’s game and can be purchased at kcballers.com or in-person at the F&M Bank Box Office.