Crawdads Fall in Close Battle with Kannapolis

Hickory, NC- Kannapolis’ seventh-inning homer broke a 3-3 deadlock and propelled the Cannon Ballers to a 4-3 win over Hickory at LP Frans Stadium on Thursday night.

Kannapolis opened the scoring in the third inning as Derek Cerda doubled to right-center field, plating Adrian Gil. The double was Cerda's first hit and RBI of the year, giving the Ballers a 1-0 lead.

Paulino Santana responded in the bottom half of the frame, homering to left-center field off Kannapolis starter Caedmon Parker, leveling the contest at 1-1.

Hickory claimed their only lead in the fourth as Deward Tovar singled home Josh Springer, pushing the 'Dads in front at 2-1.

In the fifth, Kannapolis had the answer, scoring two times to regain the lead at 3-2. The big knock came off the bat of Abraham Nunez, who singled home Taussig and Gil.

In the sixth, Deward Tovar got his second hit of the night off Jesus Mendez, a home run that got Hickory back to even at 3-3. The homer for Tovar was his tenth, third best in the Carolina League.

In the seventh, the game turned on Taussig's blast that cleared all four tiers in right to give the Ballers a lead they would not give up.

Landen Payne pitched two scoreless frames for Kannapolis to secure the win for Mendez (1-0), who earned a win in his Kannapolis debut. The save for Payne was his third of the season.

Frank Martinez (0-2) took the loss for Hickory (29-23), surrendering the one run in three innings of relief.

The loss for Hickory was coupled by an Augusta loss, keeping both clubs in close contention in the first-half race for the Carolina League's South Division crown. The Crawdads hold the tie-breaker with a better win percentage.

The Kannapolis win puts them two games back of Hickory and Augusta, with Charleston sitting one game back of the division leaders.

Tomorrow, Aidan Deakins (4-0) will oppose Riley Eikhoff (4-4) at 7pm in the fourth game of the series.