Cannon Baller Chronicle: Ballers Trade Wins with Mudcats in Series Split at Home

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – In the second to last homestand of the 2022 season, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers split a six-game series at Atrium Health Ballpark against the Carolina Mudcats. Kannapolis picked up three wins, including a big win on the team’s second annual Starry Night.

With the three wins, the Ballers move to 27-27 in the second half, remaining in third place of the Carolina League South Division, seven games behind the division-leading Charleston RiverDogs.

FOUR BY FOUR TUESDAY WIN

Tuesday’s series opener between the Ballers and the Mudcats proved to be an exhibition of two four-run innings of offense for Kannapolis. With the large amount of roster turnover for the Ballers, the offense came to fruition from new names like C Troy Claunch and CF Jacob Burke. LHP Jonah Scolaro earned his first professional victory, and RHPs Frander Veras and Liam Jenkins both locked in the win with shutout outings from the bullpen.

SPORTSCENTER TOP 10 LEVEL NIGHT

RHP Adisyn Coffey shut down the Mudcats bats in his ninth inning outing on Thursday, earning his seventh save of the season. OF Benyamin Bailey turned in the best night of offense on Thursday with two RBI in a game that saw three total lead changes. OF Jacob Burke made national airwaves with a diving grab in center field in the fourth inning, earning No. 8 on Thursday night’s Sportscenter Top 10 on ESPN.

STARRY NIGHT SPECTACLE

In front of close to a sell-out crowd on the team’s second annual Starry Night, the Ballers rattled off five runs in the first inning and four runs in the second. Kannapolis tallied 11 total RBI in the 11-4 win, including two different three-hit nights from Troy Claunch and Tim Elko. Off the field, Kannapolis raised over $30,000 for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, putting on an amazing evening for the over 4,300 fans at Atrium Health Ballpark.

ON TO THE NEXT

The Hillcats, Low-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, clinched the first half North Division title and a playoff spot in the Carolina League. Lynchburg has since fallen apart in the second half, dropping to 23-31, last place in the North Division in the second half. The Hillcats are coming off a series in Delmarva in which they won two of the six games.

This is the first matchup of 2022 between the Hillcats and the Ballers, with the two sides facing off for a week of action at Atrium Health Ballpark in 2021. Lynchburg and Kannapolis split the series almost a year ago to the day.

Lynchburg holds just one top prospect in the Guardians Top 30 according to MLB Pipeline in INF Jake Fox (No. 16). Fox has had a solid season in Lynchburg, batting .265 with 41 RBI. The Lakeland, Florida native is a 2021 third round pick by the Guardians. As of late, Fox batted .250 in the month of August, catching fire in July with a .324 batting line.

The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers depart for their final road trip of 2022 to Lynchburg, Virginia for a six-game series August 30-September 4 against the Hillcats, Low-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Ballers are back home at Atrium Health Ballpark for their final week of action in the 2022 Carolina League season September 6-11 against the Augusta GreenJackets, Low-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

Tickets can be purchased for any upcoming home games at kcballers.com or at the F&M Bank Box Office located at Atrium Health Ballpark. Fans can also keep up with the action on the team’s social media outlets, with live in-game updates being provided on Twitter at @kcannonballers. All Cannon Ballers home games, as well as select road games, will have a free audio broadcast on kcballers.com, with all home games also being broadcasted on MiLB.tv.