KANNAPOLIS — The Boll Weevils added another jewel to their treasure chest of a season Saturday night.

This time first-place Piedmont scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning — the second on Marlon Byrd’s two-out single to right — and gained an illuminating 4-3 Fireworks Night victory over visiting Cape Fear.

“All year long we’ve been doing the same thing,” said Byrd. “We’re not going to stop until we win the championship.”

That may in the cards for the Weevils (82-44), now the proud owners of a 35-20 second-half record. They were certainly the better poker players at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, zigging when Cape Fear expected them to zag.

“I think we caught them by surprise,” said manager Greg Legg. “Sometimes that’s what it takes. We all did what we needed to do to help us win the ballgame. That’s the way it’s been all year.”

Piedmont’s winning rally began when outfielder Shomari Beverly punched a leadoff single to right against Caper Fear reliever Gerardo Casadiego. He moved all the way to third base when newcomer Dan O’Neill followed with a base hit.

“We were fighting back,” said Beverly. “That’s the thing about our team — we never give up.”

The next blow was struck by light-hitting Ambiorex Reyes and traveled all of 50 feet. With none out the 21-year old infielder delicately dropped a bunt toward third-baseman Felix Lugo. Beverly broke for home and scored the tying run when Lugo’s shovel pass to the plate was mishandled by catcher Todd Kasper.

“He did that for himself, on his own,” interpreter/teammate Franklin Perez translated for Reyes. “He say, ‘It was good situation for dee bunt. Nobody was waiting for it.’”

Not even Beverly, who was caught off guard. “I had no clue he was bunting. I basically just reacted,” he said. “Actually, I was lucky (Kasper) dropped the ball because I would have been out.”

Following a strikeout, lefty reliever Juan Brito was summoned to face lefty-swinging Jay Sitzman. The strategy backfired when Sitzman was hit with a 1-2 pitch on the right shoulder, loading the bases. The second out came on a force at the plate before Byrd stepped in and laced 1-0 outside fastball into right-field to win it.

“My mindset? I was just looking for a base hit,” said Byrd, who also had an infield single and three groundouts. “It was the best at-bat I had all game.”

Piedmont didn’t have many of those against Cape Fear starting pitcher Ben Washburn. The hard-throwing righthander set down nine of the first 10 Weevil hitters. In the meantime, Piedmont starter Brett Myers struggled early, yielding a two-run homer to Brett Boyer in the second inning and an unearned run in the third.

“I made a few mistakes,” said Myers, who recovered nicely by retiring 14 of the last 16 batters he faced. “I felt like I didn’t have a good fastball tonight. I had to try win with other pitches and just spot the fastball.”

The Weevils finally solved Washburn and trimmed their deficit to 3-2 with a pair of runs in the fourth. Brian Hitchcox and Byrd scored when catcher Russ Jacobson — working behind the plate for the first time since breaking his jaw July 24 — lined a one-out double that rolled to the left-field wall.

Piedmont relievers Matt Bailie and Elio Serrano (3-2) worked the eighth and ninth innings, setting the stage for the grand finale.

“Those guys gave us a chance to win,” said Legg. “Myers got back on track and the relief pitchers shut the door.”

And though Myers was denied a shot at his 14th victory, he left the ballpark a happy man.

“This is really a great team,” he said, his eyes touring the jubilant Weevils’ clubhouse. “We keep finding ways to win. I don’t know how many comeback victories we have, but it’s enough to show we’re a very good team.”

NOTES: Cape Fear (20-35, 58-68 overall) has lost four of its last five games. ... Sitzman went 0-for-4 and saw his modest five-game hitting streak halted. He entered the game with a league-best .338 batting average. ... The Weevils have a 42-17 record at home. ... Former Weevil Jimmy Rollins is a candidate for the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Sydney next month. That would make a September call-up to the major league Phillies unlikely. ... Local favorites Howard Platt, J. Michael Johnson and Bill Hallman were among the 4,064 spectators.