Delmarva's Ninth Inning Rally Falls One Run Short
Cannon Ballers Hand Shorebirds Fifth Straight Loss
KANNAPOLIS, NC: The Delmarva Shorebirds (44-86, 21-43) were narrowly defeated by the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (70-60, 36-27) on Friday, 5-4.
The Cannon Ballers took an early lead, with an RBI single by Stiven Flores in the first and a run-scoring single by Jake Berkland in the second, going up 2-0 after two innings.
Delmarva scored their first run in the top of the fifth on a two-out RBI double by Miguel Rodriguez, which scored Stiven Martinez and cut the deficit in half to 2-1.
Kannapolis got that run back in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI fielder's choice by Abraham Nunez, putting the Cannon Ballers back up two at 3-1.
The deficit grew to three in the sixth on another run-scoring groundout, as Jake Berkland brought home Alexander Albertus to make it 4-1.
An error on a pickoff throw by Delmarva in the eighth extended the Kannapolis lead to its largest at 5-1.
In the ninth, the Shorebirds put together another inspired rally as they quickly loaded the bases on three consecutive base hits. Miguel Rodriguez drew a bases-loaded walk to collect his second RBI of the night and make it a 5-2 game. With two outs and the bases still loaded, Jemone Nuel drove home two with a single to put the tying run at third, but that's as close as Delmarva could get as they fell to the Cannon Ballers 5-4.
Andrew Berg (1-0) was the winning pitcher for Kannapolis, while Braden Smith (0-1) took the loss for Delmarva. Daniel Wright recorded the final out to earn the save.
The Shorebirds try to end their losing streak on Saturday with Collin McKinney taking the mound against Nick Pinto for Kannapolis. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM.