Ballers Outhit FredNats in 10-3 Loss Saturday

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers fell for the third time this week to the team with the best record in the Carolina League, the Fredericksburg Nationals, 10-3, on Saturday night at Atrium Health Ballpark.

RHP Truman Pauley (L, 1-6) got roughed up by the FredNats offense early. Pauley went three innings, allowing five hits, six runs, four walks and struck out just two. RHP Ryan Schiefer helped bridge the gap, tossing 2.1 innings of two-run ball. Schiefer allowed three hits and punched out three. RHP Daniel Wright answered the call on his birthday, hurling 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball with three strikeouts. RHP Nick Weyrich ended up as the final arm used by Kannapolis, allowing one hit, two runs, one earned, with three walks and two strikeouts.

Kannapolis struck first in Saturday’s action. After Jaden Fauske notched his seventh triple of the season, Stiven Flores brought him home with a single to left field in the bottom of the first.

Fredericksburg immediately snatched the lead in the second, going ahead, 2-1 on a Gavin Fien RBI triple to deep right-center followed up quickly by a wild pitch. In the top of the third inning, Jordan Williams hit into a fielder’s choice that scored a run to pad the visitors’ lead. Manny Cabrera then launched his first homer of the season, a two-run blast to right field. Nick Peoples followed him up just one batter later with a towering solo home run to center field.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Fauske clobbered his second homer of the season, his first at home, to add two runs to the Ballers total and make it a, 6-3, advantage for the Nationals.

The FredNats kept plugging away, scoring two more in the top of the sixth on a Nick Hollifield two-RBI single. In the top of the eighth inning, Fredericksburg scored another two runs. The first came to fruition on a throwing error, with the second on a double play off the bat of Rafael Ramirez.

The Ballers can salvage a series split Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Atrium Health Ballpark in their series finale with the Fredericksburg Nationals. RHP Gabriel Rodriguez is scheduled to make his second start of the series.

The 2026 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers season is underway at Atrium Health Ballpark! Single-game tickets, season ticket packages, group experiences and 10-game mini plans for the 2026 season are available for purchase now. Call the Cannon Ballers ticket office at (704) 932-3267 or visit kcballers.com for more information.