Late Rally Falls Short, Pelicans Drop Series Finale to Cannon Ballers 11-10

By Sam Weiderhaft

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans scored nine across the final three innings but couldn’t overcome an early deficit as they dropped the series finale to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 11-10 on Sunday afternoon. The loss puts the Birds at 1-2 in the second half and 40-28 overall. Kannapolis improved to 37-31 and 2-1 in the second half.

A three-hit performance from Juan Mora (3-5, 2B, 3 RBI) propelled the Pelicans’ lineup as he hit an RBI double in the fourth and a two-run single in the five-run seventh inning. Reivaj Garcia (4-4, 2B, 3 RBI) tallied four hits with an RBI single in the seventh and a two-run single in the ninth. The Birds went 6-for-18 with runners in scoring position while scoring five in the seventh, one in the eighth, and three in the ninth. The tying run was left on first when Ismael Mena grounded out to end the game.

It was a rare short outing from Brody McCullough (5-2) who took the loss with five earned runs in his three innings while giving up six hits and walking one with four strikeouts. Starlyn Pichardo followed with six earned runs out of the bullpen in just 1 1/3 innings. Kannapolis built their lead by scoring three in the first, two in the third, two in the fourth, and four in the fifth.

Mario Camilletti (2-4, 3 RBI, BB) and Tim Elko (1-5, HR, 3 RBI) led the Cannon Ballers’ lineup with three runs driven in each. Elko hit a three-run homer in the first to kick-off the scoring. Camilletti hit a two-run single in the fourth and grounded into an RBI fourceout in the fifth.

Five pitchers were used by the home team with Manuel Veloz (7-1) taking the win with two shutout frames out of the bullpen. Starter Tanner McDougal tossed the first four innings with one earned run and three strikeouts.