The Hill City Howlers were three-outs away from winning their first series since May when a skunk entered through the visitor’s bullpen in right field.
The skunk, which caused a several minute delay, served as the needed shift in the ninth inning for the Kannapolis CannonBallers to come back and knock off the Howlers 7-5. Entering the frame, the Howlers led by two before the late-game collapse.
The ninth inning was the first time the ‘Ballers held the lead since the first inning. Abraham Nunez doubled to right field to score the first run of the night. A defensive blunder by the Howlers later in the frame allowed for a second runner to touch the plate, extending the lead to two.
Ben Cleary stepped up in the second inning, driving a double to the wall in center, which scored two to tie the game. Jhorvic Abreus contributed with a sacrifice fly, pushing the Howlers in front 3-2.
Errors continued to be a problem for the Howlers in the fourth as Luke Fernandez attempted a pick-off move to first which went awry, scoring a runner from third to tie the game at three. Hill City finished the night with four errors.
The game appeared to flip in the fifth inning as Angel Abreu earned his first Single-A RBI with a bloop single to right. A sacrifice fly from Yeiferth Castillo later in the inning gave Hill City the 5-3 advantage.
Strong pitching from Javi Torres out of the ‘pen kept the Howlers in front. He finished after three innings of one-hit, scoreless baseball while striking out three.
Then, in the ninth, a skunk rolled into the field of play and halted the game for roughly five minutes, cooling off the Howlers red-hot pitching. Kannapolis used the delay to heat up offensively, using three-straight singles to lead off the inning, the last of which from Jaden Fauske scored a runner.
Stiven Flores was retired on a sacrifice fly which tied the game at five, but with two outs in the frame. Clay Burdette arrived in the clutch, delivering a two-run triple stole the lead, capping off the four-run frame.
A leadoff error by Kannapolis in the bottom of the ninth opened the door for Hill City. However, the offense could not muster any other baserunners, dropping the heartbreaker.
Hill City will have one more chance to win the series on Sunday as they wrap up their regular season home slate at 2 p.m. against Kannapolis at City Stadium. Tickets are available at hchowlers.com.