Kannapolis, NC - The Charleston RiverDogs held on for dear life, eventually knocking off the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 4-3 at Atrium Health Ballpark on Friday night. The win was the first in the last nine days for the Dogs, snapping a six-game losing streak. Hayden Snelsire earned the save by working the final 1.1 innings on the mound and twice stranding the tying run in scoring position.
Kannapolis (10-8) reached the scoreboard without a hard-hit ball in the second inning. Ronny Hernandez served a shallow fly ball into center field that dropped between center fielder Angel Mateo and shortstop Carlos Colmenarez for a double. He advanced to third on a groundball to first off the bat of Albertsen Asigen. Matt Hogan lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to plate Hernandez and open the scoring.
The lead doubled in the fifth, before starter T.J. Nichols departed from the game. Javier Mora singled with one out and advanced to scoring position with a walk from Wilber Sanchez. Eddie Park sliced a ground rule double to the left field corner as the Cannon Ballers advantage moved to 2-0. Nichols struck out a career-high eight batters over 5.0 scoreless innings during the best start of his professional career.
The RiverDogs (7-11) struggled against Cannon Ballers starter Seth Keener, who set a career-high with eight strikeouts in 4.0 scoreless innings without allowing a hit. When the Cannon Ballers went to the bullpen, the RiverDogs were ready to pounce. A walk by reliever Tommy Vail began the inning and was followed closely by two infield hits and a throwing error, allowing the RiverDogs to close within one. Noah Myers rolled a base hit through the middle to tie the game in the next at-bat. Vail walked Cristopher Barete to load the bases before departing. Bryce Collins took over and walked Joshuan Sandoval to force in the go-ahead run.
Charleston pushed across a massive insurance run in the eighth inning. Woo Shin opened the inning by reaching on a fielding error from shortstop Wilber Sanchez. Myers worked his third walk of the game to bump him into scoring position. The pair then executed a double steal with Narciso Polanco at the plate. The RiverDogs third baseman advanced the margin to 4-2 with a sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the inning, Engert Garcia allowed a two-out RBI double to Hogan that moved the tying run to scoring position. Snelsire took over and struck out pinch-hitter Rikuu Nishida on a 3-2 pitch to end the threat. The right-hander surrendered a walk and hit in the ninth but retired the final two batters to end the game.
Myers finished 1-1 with three walks and an RBI. The RiverDogs collected just five hits, one each from five players. The Cannon Ballers had eight hits, including two from Park. Hogan drove in a pair of runs out of the six-hole in the lineup.
Garcia was key to the victory, working 2.2 innings with one run allowed out of the pen. He struck out a pair.
The RiverDogs and Cannon Ballers will meet again on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. RHP Owen Wild (0-0, 2.51) will square off with Kannapolis LHP Lucas Gordon (0-1, 2.51).
The RiverDogs continue their hunt for a fourth-consecutive Carolina League championship in 2024. The full schedule of games is available here.
Charleston 4, Kannapolis 3
April 26, 2024
Click here for the box score
Charleston (R-H-E): 4-5-0
Kannapolis (R-H-E): 3-8-2
Win: Nichols (1-2)
Loss: Vail (0-1)
Save: Snelsire (2)
HR: Charleston: None
HR: Kannapolis: None
