The Fredericksburg Nationals used late heroics to beat the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers twice on Saturday night, taking game one by a score of 3-2, and sealing the sweep with a 4-3 win in the nightcap.
The FredNats managed only two hits in game one, but back-to-back singles from Viandel Peña and Ricardo Méndez with two outs in the fifth brought home the eventual winning run in a 3-2 victory. Rodney Theophile (W, 1-5) pitched a career-high 5.1 innings to earn his first professional win.
In a speedy seven-inning game that lasted only an hour and 49 minutes, neither team had a baserunner until Kannapolis took advantage of a walk, throwing error, wild pitch and groundout to score a pair of runs in the top of the third.
The FredNats scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning without the benefit of a base hit. Andrew Dalquist (L, 1-5) walked four batters and hit one, allowing Fredericksburg to tie the game 2-2. The Kannapolis starter regained his control in the fourth, and didn’t allow his first hit until Peña’s two-out single in the fifth broke up the no-hit bid. Peña took second when his single was bobbled in left field, and Méndez delivered the go-ahead hit one batter later to put Fredericksburg in front 3-2.
Davis Moore (S, 2) relieved Theophile in the sixth, and got the final five outs to earn the save.
In game two, Jake Randa kickstarted the first Fredericksburg rally in the second inning with a double off the top of the wall in right field. He scored on a double from José Sánchez, putting the FredNats in front 1-0.
FredNats starter Carlos Romero held the lead until the fourth, when Bryan Ramos doubled and scored on a Lency Delgado Jr. single. José Rodríguez homered in the fifth to put the Cannon Ballers ahead 2-1, but the lead would be short-lived as the FredNats answered with two of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a bases-loaded walk to Peña and a sacrifice fly from Méndez.
Fredericksburg’s lead wouldn’t last long, either, as a pair of errors with Tyler Yankosky (W, 2-0) on the mound helped the Cannon Ballers tie the game 3-3 in the sixth. But with runners at second and third and no outs, Yankosky struck out the next two batters and got Rodriguez to fly out to keep the game tied.
Randa, for the second time in the ballgame and the fourth time in the homestand, missed a homer by inches as he blasted a leadoff double off the corner of the wall in right-center to lead off the bottom of the sixth against Jordan Mikel (L, 2-1). He advanced to third on a Sánchez single, and scored on a Jackson Coutts sacrifice fly to give the FredNats a 4-3 lead. Yankosky allowed a pair of two-out baserunners in the top of the seventh, but Gilberto Chu (S, 1) got Harvin Mendoza to pop out to Junior Martina in foul territory to seal the FredNats win.
The FredNats wrap up their series against the Cannon Ballers on Sunday night. First pitch from FredNats Ballpark is scheduled for 6:05, with FredNats On Deck beginning at 5:50 on the FredNats Baseball Network.
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Chris Graham
