The Fredericksburg Nationals went wire to wire Friday, defeating the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 12-5 at Atrium Health Ballpark.
Geraldi Diaz reached five times in the contest and punctuated a firework-filled night for FredNat bats with a 430-foot home run in the seventh. He drove in two. Brandon Boissiere finished with a single, a double, a triple, two runs, and three RBIs. Brady House and Viandel Pena also recorded three hits. House knocked in two. Jacob Young scored four times.
Brendan Collins (1-0, 4.70 ERA) dazzled on the mound across five innings as the FredNat starter. He struck out nine en route to his first victory of the year. Karlo Seijas earned his first save by firing the final four innings of the game. Jared Kelley (0-1, 7.71 ERA) allowed six runs (three earned) and got the loss.
Kelley nearly escaped the first unscathed before an RBI triple by Bossiere scored Young with two outs. Leandro Emiliani immediately followed with a two-run homer to right. The blast was his second of the series and fourth of the season. The reigning Carolina League Player of the Week also drew a walk in the contest. The FredNats led 3-0 after one and 7-0 after two innings complete.
Fredericksburg will look to clinch the series at 6:30 pm on Saturday. LHP Dustin Saenz (1-0, 4.22 ERA) is expected to get the start for Fredericksburg vs. LHP Tommy Sommer (0-1, 3.86 ERA) for Kannapolis. A live TV stream of the game will be available via MiLB.tv, and a live radio broadcast will be available at frednats.com/broadcast.
The FredNats return home for a six-game homestand vs. the Charleston Riverdogs starting April 26 at 7:05 pm ET. Tickets are available at https://www.milb.com/fredericksburg/tickets/single-game-tickets.
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Chris Graham
