KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers came away winners against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers 5-4 behind Harvin Mendoza’s hot bat on Friday night.
White Sox No. 24 prospect Bailey Horn took to the mound and got roughed up in the opening frame. The Woodpeckers were able to barrel up Horn for three early runs. The southpaw left a lot of pitches over the heart of the plate and had minor issues with command.
After the three-run 1st inning, Horn was able to settle in and returned to form. He went 3.1 innings while allowing three runs on five hits, collecting four strikeouts and a walk. Tonight was a small blip for Horn who has had a solid start to the 2021 campaign.
One of the runs Horn allowed came from a Bryan Ramos fielding error while playing at second base. Ramos had a grounder come to him and was ready to turn a double play in the 1st inning, but rushed the snag and let the ball roll beneath his glove. Had that play resulted in two outs, who knows how Horn would have fared the rest of the game.
Ramos needed this game to get some reps in the field. He was tested with difficult pop-ups and charging grounders that kept him involved on the defensive end. With the bat, Ramos had one of his more disciplined outings, going 1-for-2 while recording three walks, the most in a single game this season for him, and scored twice.
Ramos scored both times thanks to the contributions of Harvin Mendoza. The first baseman has had himself a series against Fayetteville.
Mendoza collected his third straight multi-hit game, going 3-for-4 with three singles that brought in three Cannon Ballers to score which included a 2-run single in the third inning to tie the contest at three runs apiece.
Mendoza has settled in a nice groove in Kannapolis of late. He’s hit safely in all but one of his last 14 games. While it hasn’t been a power explosion for Mendoza, being able to get on base is important and a .359 OBP will give the team chances to score.
One Cannon Baller that had a bounce back performance was RHP Kevin Folman. The reliever took over for Horn in the 4th inning. He was able to silence the Woodpecker bats for an impressive 3.2 innings of work. Along the way, he was able to collect five strikeouts while only allowing a single hit across his outing. I mention this being a bounce back game for Folman as his last two outings resulted in two five-hit, three-run showings for the 26-year-old. Despite this only being Folman’s sixth appearance of the season, the outing is his strongest yet.
In Folman’s time on the mound, Kannapolis pushed two runs across the plate on a bases-loaded walk for Jose Rodriguez in the fifth inning and Mendoza’s third single of the night, scoring Ramos in the sixth inning. That pushed the lead up to 5-3 in favor of the Cannon Ballers and they were cruising as a team heading into the eighth inning.
RHP Jordan Mikel came in to relieve Folman in the 8th frame to keep the Woodpeckers off the scoreboard, something Mikel has been able to do in his seven appearances coming into tonight. Mikel did get into trouble in the inning as he allowed runners to reach second and third. He was bailed out on a ground out to Samil Polanco at third base and a flyout to center that saw Cabera Weaver and Chase Krogman almost collide.
Mikel put himself in a pickle in the 9th inning, loading the bases on a single, a hit-by-pitch and a walk. Manager Guillermo Quiroz pulled Mikel in place of Tyson Messer to get the final out of the game and keep Fayetteville quiet. Messer’s first pitch plunked a Woodpecker and brought a run in to score. Messer was able to get the next batter to strike out swinging to end the game, 5-4.
Others who contributed Friday night were the aforementioned Rodriguez, who drew two walks in the contest and scored. Rodriguez was able to score from a Luis Mieses RBI-single that opened the scoring for Kannapolis in their 3-run third inning.
A Cannon Baller on the downswing is Chase Krogman. The lefty struck out a season-high four times, including a bases-loaded situation in the fifth inning that would have blown the door wide open on Fayetteville had he come through. The approach for Krogman has to change at the plate. He collected only two hits across his last nine games and struck out at least once in his last 11 games, which includes six multi-strike out showings.
Kannapolis will comeback on Saturday with RHP Angel Acevedo taking the mound against Fayetteville as they look to regain the series lead.
Photo credit: Michael Guariglia/FutureSox
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