WILSON, N.C. - The Wilson Warbirds were unable to keep pace with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers on Thursday night, falling 12-6 at Wilson Ballpark.
Wilson (42-36, 6-6 second half) took an early lead over Kannapolis (38-40, 5-7 second half) on a Brady Ebel solo home run in the bottom of the first inning.
Leading 1-0 entering the second, the Kannapolis bats woke up, scoring three runs on hits from Steven Lancia and Jurdrick Profar to take a 3-1 lead.
The Cannon Ballers extended that lead to 6-1 on a two-out, three-run triple by Steven Lancia.
The Warbirds put in a solid effort to come back, cutting the Kannapolis lead to 7-4 when Kevin Garcia demolished a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Kannapolis had an answer, however, scoring four unanswered runs over the next two innings to capture an 11-4 lead.
A Pedro Ibarguen homer and Filippo Di Turi RBI double were not enough to bring Wilson back into the game, as the Warbirds fell 12-6.
Jacob Morrison (L, 0-1) took the first loss of his career while Blaine Wynk (W, 3-3) was the winner for Kannapolis.
Red, White and Warbirds Weekend continues against Kannapolis tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. RHP Carlos Carra (2-6, 5.88) looks to return to the win column for Wilson against RHP Caedmon Parker (2-4, 3.92). Limited tickets are available at WilsonWarbirds.com or by calling (919) 269-2287.