KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers could not come away with their third win of the week, falling in their fourth game of the week with the Fredericksburg Nationals, 12-4, Friday night at Atrium Health Ballpark.
RHP Alexander Martinez (L, 1-3) made his first start of the season, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing five hits, five runs (two earned), walking two and striking out three. RHP Anthony Patterson ended up as the the next man out of the bullpen, going 2.1 innings and surrendering three hits, two runs while striking out three FredNats. RHP Choyce Diffey made the next appearance, tossing 1.2 innings of one-hit ball, punching out two in his scoreless night. LHP Jordan Morales struggled in his debut against Fredericksburg, giving up three hits and five runs in one inning of work. RHP Carlton Perkins entered in the top of the ninth to get the final out, tossing three wild pitches to bring home more runs with the bases loaded but picking up a final strikeout.
Kannapolis struck first in the bottom of the first with Stiven Flores doubling to left center field to bring home Javier Mogollon and make it a, 1-0, lead for the home side.
It took the FredNats a moment, but they got rolling in the top of the third inning. Coy James equalized the game with a sacrifice fly with Hunter Hines driving in a run just one batter later with a single to right field. Dashyll Tejeda then launched a no-doubt two-run homer to the berm to make it, 4-1.
In the bottom of the third inning, Abraham Nunez answered with a solo homer to right field. Nunez’s fifth home run of the season inched the Ballers closer at, 4-2, after three innings.
Fredericksburg got going again with a solo shot in the top of the fourth inning by Jordan Williams, who has now homered in back-to-back days.
The Nationals extended their lead in the top of the sixth with an RBI groundout from Manny Cabrera and a towering double to center field from Luke Dickerson to pull in front, 7-2.
Rylan Galvan notched one back for the home side, ripping an RBI single through the middle of the infield to add one more for the Ballers, making it, 7-3, in favor of the visitors.
The top of the ninth landed as a big inning for the FredNats, who put up five runs in the final frame of the night. Tejeda ripped a two-run single and then three wild pitches from Perkins emptied the bases.
Kannapolis went down with a fight, scoring a leadoff triple in the bottom of the ninth by Efren Teran, who then scored thanks to Jaden Fauske who drove Teran in with a base knock. The offense could not mount a furious comeback, dropping their second game of the week.
The Ballers are back in action Saturday night in game five of their six game series with the Fredericksburg Nationals. RHP Truman Pauley makes another start at 7:00 p.m. on Star Wars night presented by Hendrick Kia of Concord.
The 2026 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers season is underway at Atrium Health Ballpark! Single-game tickets, season ticket packages, group experiences and 10-game mini plans for the 2026 season are available for purchase now. Call the Cannon Ballers ticket office at (704) 932-3267 or visit kcballers.com for more information.