On Sunday, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers played in their first Championship Game since 2017 when they were the Intimidators and lost in four games to the Greenville Drive. In their history, they’ve won only one Championship, in 2005. Clearly, there were a lot of good things happening in both the minors and majors during that magical season. Tonight, though, despite having a 20-point advantage over the Fredericksburg Nationals in team batting average at .253, the Ballers could not ignite their league-leading offense to push them past the Nats as Kanny dropped Game 1 of the Carolina Championship, 6-4.

The White Sox 2024 14th-rounder Justin Sinibaldi was the opener tonight for the Ballers. Kannapolis activated the southpaw from the Developmental List for today’s contest. After a speedy first frame, including two punchouts, the Nationals knocked the lefty around for two runs in the second and one in the third, giving the Nats an early 3-0 advantage. In only his fourth appearance for Kanny, it was a brief, tough outing for the 22-year-old, who earned the L as he allowed three runs on three hits and walked one while striking out five over only 2 1/3 innings.

Five of the FredNats’ starting nine position players are on the MLB top 30 prospect list for the Washington Nationals, and the Kanny pen struggled to keep them off the scoreboard. Ballers Righthander Manuel Veloz surrendered two tallies on four hits in his 2 2/3 innings of work. Then, former 2018 38th-round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Connery Peters, also gave up a run. Relievers Nick Pinto and Pierce George were the only arms in the barn to blank Fredericksburg over their three combined frames.

FredNat starter Brayan Romero sailed through his first two innings, then appeared to lose some feel for the zone in the third. With the bases chocked full of Ballers, they scored a pair on a ground out by Alec Makarewicz and an RBI single by Ronny Hernandez, pulling Kanny within one at 3-2. Geoge Wolkow, who was on second, tried to score on the play and was thrown out at the plate. Unfortunately, it was a close play, but there aren’t any review challenges in Single-A.

After going down in order in the fourth, the Ballers returned to business in the fifth, trying to answer the two runs the FredNats scored in the top of the frame. With Sam Antonacci on first and Jeral Perez at third, Wolkow knocked an RBI double to right, plating Antonacci and closing the gap 5-4.

George Wolkow comes through in a big spot for the Ballers, driving in two runs on his double cutting the Nats lead to 5-4 B5.. pic.twitter.com/Xj9SAj8pVv

— Jonathan Lee (@followmefor3) September 15, 2024

Sadly, that would end Kanny’s scoring on the evening. They tried to make things interesting in the ninth as leadoff batter Drake Logan reached first on a fielding error. Then, with one out, Jeral Perez flew deep to left, but Cristhian Vaquero made the catch at the warning track. Nathan Archer ended the contest with a tapper to the pitcher, and the victory went to Fredericksburg.

Nathan Archer grounds out to end the game.

Fred Nats win 6-4.

Series continues in Fredericksburg for game 2 and possibly 3 Tuesday and Wednesday night in Maryland.. pic.twitter.com/cx5hpubpY0

— Jonathan Lee (@followmefor3) September 16, 2024

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Ryan Burrowes photo/Ryan Burrowes Instagram