Kannapolis wins series with 9-5 victory

NORTH AUGUSTA, SOUTH CAROLINA: The Augusta GreenJackets (9-8, 45-40) fell on Saturday night to the Kannapolis Intimidators (11-6, 39-46) by a final of 9-5. Kannapolis has now won the first three games of the series, and the Jackets will try and respond in the series finale tomorrow at SRP Park.

The Jackets offense struck first, after Kannapolis starting pitcher Taylor Varnell pitched a scoreless 1st inning, Zander Clarke picked-up a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 Augusta. Then it was an Andres Angulo single to bring the GreenJackets lead to 2-0 after two innings.

Kannapolis responded in the top of the 3rd inning. A sacrifice fly for Andrew Vaughn, and the Jackets lead was cut to 2-1. But in the bottom of the 3rd inning, the Jackets scored three times. Frankie Tostado belted a double to score two runs and make it a 4-1 Jackets lead. Right after that, Jacob Gonzalez singled, and the Jackets jumped out to a 5-1 advantage after three innings.

Kannapolis began their comeback in the 5th inning. It was a walk with the bases-loaded for Bryce Bush to cut the Jackets lead to 5-2. Keith Weisenberg ended his night on the mound after 4.2 innings, and he allowed two runs.

Kannapolis added another run in the 6th inning. This time it was an Ian Dawkins bunt-hit, and the Jackets lead continued to dwindle, as Kannapolis trailed at just 5-3.

In the 7th inning, the Intimidators broke through. Michael Hickman brought home two-runs on a single, and it was Ramon Beltre right after who doubled in two runs. The six unanswered runs gave the Intimidators their first lead of the night at 7-5. In the 9th inning, Kannapolis didn’t collect a hit, yet they scored two-runs.

Vaughn was hit-by-a-pitch with the bases loaded to make the score 8-5 Kannapolis, and then Alex Destino hit into a fielder’s choice to make it 9-5 Intimidators. In the 9th inning, the GreenJackets issued four walks. The Jackets got two men on-base in the 9th, but couldn’t score a run, and Kannapolis has now won six of the last seven meetings with the GreenJackets.

Player of the Game: Frankie Tostado, 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB

Frankie Tostado posted his 20th multi-hit game of 2019, as he led the Augusta offense early in the game. Tostado has a team-leading 53 RBI’s this year and has been a key power-bat in the middle of the GreenJackets lineup in 2019.

Tomorrow’s Game: 5:05 PM vs Kannapolis Intimidators (Chicago White Sox), SRP Park, North Augusta, South Carolina

Pitching Matchup: (KAN) RHP Jason Bilous (2-5, 3.10 ERA) vs (AUG) LHP Seth Corry (3-2, 2.35 ERA)

The All-Star Seth Corry takes the mound in the series finale for the GreenJackets. Corry is coming off his best outing of the season, and possibly the best of his young career. He tossed six-scoreless innings on July 2nd at Charleston and collected five strikeouts, while only surrendering two hits. Corry currently leads the GreenJackets with 91 strikeouts in 2019. The southpaw was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 3rd round of the 2017 MLB Draft. He is ranked as the #25 overall Prospect in the Giants Organization according to MLB.com.

Jason Bilous will pitch in the series finale for Kannapolis. Bilous pitched against the Jackets back on June 22nd, and allowed two runs over four innings. Opposing hitters are batting just .206 against him. Bilous started 2019 out of the Kannapolis bullpen, but will make his 7th start of the season tomorrow. The right-hander was selected in the 13th round in 2018 by the Chicago White Sox. He played his college baseball at Coastal Carolina University.