The RiverDogs swept the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers in a doubleheader, taking game one 5-1 and game two 5-3 on Saturday evening in front of 4,507 fans at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park.
The wins move Charleston’s record to 23-27 and pulls them ahead in the series three games to two.
The Cannon Ballers got on the board early in the first game of the doubleheader.
Ryan Burrowes hit a slow dribbler that was barehanded by RiverDogs third baseman Jose Perez, whose throw to first sailed long and wide, allowing Burrowes to advance to second. A groundout moved him to third, and Caleb Bonemer brought him home with a single on the first pitch he saw from starter Andres Galan, giving Kannapolis a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first, Theo Gillen extended his on-base streak to 25 games with a single to left. He advanced to second on a passed ball but was stranded there as the inning ended.
The RiverDogs tied the game in the second. Angel Mateo led off the inning with a 105 MPH double into the left-center gap. After two quick popouts, Jose Monzon chopped a slow roller back to pitcher Luis Reyes, whose throw to first hit Monzon in the back and ricocheted away, allowing Mateo to come home and even the score at 1-1.
Charleston took the lead in the third. Gillen again reached scoring position, this time on an error, and came around to score on a high pop-up from Nathan Flewelling that dropped in for a hit, making it 2-1 RiverDogs.
The RiverDogs put game one out of reach in the fifth. After loading the bases with no outs, the RiverDogs seemed poised to squander the opportunity when Jose Perez lined into a double play. But with two outs, Gillen drew a walk to load the bases again, and Ricardo Gonzalez delivered the big hit—a towering fly ball over left fielder Arnold Prado’s head that cleared the bases and extended the Charleston lead to 5-1.
Andres Galan went 5.2 strong innings in his first home start as RiverDog, allowing only 4 hits and no earned runs.
Kaleb Corbett relieved Galan and struck out three of the four batters he faced to earn his first save of the season and his professional career.
The nightcap started with a bang for Charleston, as leadoff hitter Connor Hujsak took Kannapolis starter Justin Sinibaldi for a ride in the first inning and barreled a homer to left to make the score 1-0.
The RiverDogs continued their momentum and tallied another two runs in the second inning.
After Gonzalez walked and Narciso Polanco singled, Larry Martinez roped a liner into left, scoring Gonzalez from second. Hujsak came up with a sacrifice fly later in the inning, as the advantage rose to 3-0.
In the fourth, Kannapolis started a rally of their own. A leadoff walk was followed by a hooking double by Javier Mogollon. Jose Urbina then walked Ronny Hernandez on four pitches to load the bases with nobody out. Lyle Miller-Green hit a duck snort single to right field that fell short of Hujsak to put the Cannon Ballers on the board. A second run scored on a fielders’ choice to trim the lead to 5-2.
Kannapolis cut the deficit to two runs in the sixth inning, when Javier Mogollon lined a solo homer. However, Urbina bounced back to end his night on a high note, striking out the final three batters he faced to complete six innings for a third straight start.
Bryce Shaffer worked a 1-2-3 seventh to pick up the save and spark a TP toss celebration.
Ballpark Fun: Tonight was Mischief Night at The Joe, better known as Toilet Paper Night. It is exactly what it sounds like, as fans and players each receive a roll of toilet paper to fling across the stadium, in true Halloween fashion. The night debuted in 2021 and returned with great success and fanfare. When it was time for the mischief to commence, the RiverDogs fans went above and beyond, throwing toilet paper in seemingly every crevice of the ballpark. “TP’ing” was especially popular over the net surrounding the field, which was specifically supposed to be off limits when the rules were established. Nevertheless, TP night was a minor league baseball spectacle that you had to be there to fully understand.
The RiverDogs can claim a series win with a victory tomorrow evening, with first pitch scheduled for 5:05 p.m. The ‘Dogs will celebrate Charlie’s Not-So-Spooky Halloween throughout the game, with trick-or-treating on the concourse. Costumes for fans of all ages are encouraged. Tickets are available at RiverDogs.com.