The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers haven’t tasted victory since August 4th. That all changed tonight as they scored a 5-2 victory over the Down East Wood Ducks, erasing a 15-game losing streak.
On a beautiful night at Atrium Health Ballpark, Kannapolis had White Sox top-10 prospect Andrew Dalquist taking the bump. Of late, he had been struggling to put solid innings together. Prior to tonight’s contest, Dalquist hadn’t made it through five innings since late July.
While it wasn’t his best stuff, Dalquist put together a solid outing. He reached the five innings mark with two hits, four strikeouts and five walks. Obviously, the walks are the sore eye on his line. He was most effective when he had runners on base. Runners were in scoring position for four of his five innings. There were times where he focused on the runner a little too much, leading to the walks. Outside of that, Dalquist got the outs he needed to keep the Wood Ducks off the board.
An encouraging sign was the use of his off-speed. He was a lot sharper on his curveball and utilized his changeup quite well with his fastball. The slider was mostly a miss as it was one of the pitches he yanked more consistently. All together, it was a good move in the right direction for him.
With a solid start on the mound for the Cannon Ballers, the bats had to do their part. The top of the lineup answered the call and then some.
James Beard, Shawn Goosenberg, Harvin Mendoza and Adam Hackenberg combined to go 9-for-17 with four runs scored and four runs batted in. All but one of their runs scored by way of the single: Beard in the fifth, Hackenberg in the sixth and Mendoza in the seventh.
Goosenberg and Hackenberg have impressed in their first few contests with Kannapolis. Both were called up from the Arizona Complex League on August 19. In their debuts, they both collected extra-base hits. Tonight was no exception to how they have vaulted themselves into the core of Kannapolis.
While they performed well, Harvin Mendoza kept doing his thing with a 3-for-4 night, including a triple, two runs batted in and a run scored. Mendoza had cooled off some in the start of August, meaning he was getting a hit instead of his usual multi-hit games. He recorded a hit in all but four of his seventeen contests in August. His ability to make contact in key situations makes him a must-watch at the dish. He’s been deserving of a recall back to Winston-Salem, the team he started 2021 with.
With the lead in hand, the bullpen was tabbed for the sixth inning and it was Angel Acevedo who got the ball. With his usual pitch-to-contact approach, he strung together three scoreless innings with a walk and three strikeouts the Wood Ducks did have some solid swings off the Venezuelan that resulted in some deep flyouts near the warning track.
This was Acevedo’s first appearance without allowing a run since the end of June. The only difference was that he was in his normal bullpen role. He had sufficed in eating innings with other Kannapolis starters going down with injuries throughout the year. His transition back to the bullpen suits him better and it showed tonight.
Theo Denlinger, the White Sox 2021 7th-round selection, came in to close out the Wood Ducks in the ninth. With two outs, he allowed a two-run home run to Xavier Valentin. The flashbacks of blown saves and lost games from the bullpen crept in, but were staved off as Denlinger set down the final Wood Duck on a strikeout. This was my first time seeing Denlinger and he looked pretty decent: a mid-90’s fastball with ease, a slight mix of offspeed and good body frame to match his strength.
It took almost three weeks, but the Cannon Ballers were finally winners. In the win, there were some struggles from cornerstone players. Bryan Ramos went hitless with a walk, Samil Polanco reached on an error in four at-bats, and Wilber Sanchez didn’t record a hit to pair with his strikeout. It was a mixed night at the plate, but the stars that needed to align did so to culminate into the win.
The series finale for Kannapolis against the Wood Ducks will see Jared Kelley take to the mound for a 12:30 P.M. first pitch.
Photo credit: Michael Guariglia/FutureSox
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