WILSON, N.C. - The Wilson Warbirds dropped their second straight contest to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, falling 7-1 at Wilson Ballpark on Friday night.
After recording the first two outs in the top of the first, Kannapolis (39-40, 6-7 second half) clocked three straight singles to take a 1-0 lead over Wilson (42-37, 6-7 second half).
Kannapolis put a dent in the scoreboard again in the third inning, with Christian Gonzalez launching a solo shot, his first homer of the year, to put the Cannon Ballers ahead 2-1.
The Warbirds cut the lead in half with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Alexander Frias knocked a double to get himself in scoring position for Jose Anderson, who smacked a double to make it 2-1, Kannapolis. The inning ended with Anderson being thrown out at the plate trying to tie the game.
Kannapolis extended the lead in the top of the sixth, again with two away. Consecutive run-scoring singles from Alexander Albertus and Stiven Flores increased the Cannon Ballers’ lead to 4-1.
The exclamation point for Kannapolis came in the top of the eighth with Flores driving in two more, with a two-out, two-run home run to left field.
Carlos Carra (L, 2-7) was the losing pitcher for Wilson despite tossing five innings of two-run ball. Caedmon Parker (W, 3-4) was the winner for Kannapolis.
The teams will meet on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. RHP Jarrette Bonet (5-4, 5.56) gets the Independence Day start against RHP Gabe Tanner (1-1, 3.78). Standing-room-only tickets are still available at WilsonWarbirds.com or by calling (919) 269-2287.