KANNAPOLIS — The Intimidators’ second victory of the season was nothing like their first.
There was no 12-hit attack, no mammoth home run by the cleanup hitter, no boisterous 3,000-plus crowd and thankfully, no near-tragedy in the stands.
Yet there was a most-entertaining game played at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, where Kannapolis survived an edge-of-your-seat finish and gained a 4-3 win over Lakewood.
“It’s a strange game,” manager Razor Shines said afterward. “We’re not gonna get 12 hits every night, but we will find ways to win.”
They found this one with the help of closer Joe Valentine, who produced some tight-rope relief work in the top of the ninth inning. The 21-year-old right-hander entered the game with a two-run lead and immediately got into trouble, hitting leadoff batter Reggie Griggs with a pitch and walking Carlos Acevedo.
“In closing situations you never want to put guys on base free,” said Valentine. “I didn’t make them swing the bats. That’s what got me in trouble.”
What got him out was something Shines called “a certain tenacity.” After Lakewood’s Gregg Foster sliced a run-scoring double down the right-field line, the visiting Blue Claws had both the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with none out.
“He was probably trying to do too much,” Kannapolis pitching coach J.R. Perdew explained. “It was his first time out this year and he may have been a little hyped up.”
Following a conference on the mound, Valentine collected himself and retired Lakewood’s Robert Avila on a chip shot back to the box for the first out.
“That was a simple comebacker,” said Valentine. “I checked the runner at third and made the play, just like I’ve done a hundred times before.”
The inning’s second out was anything but routine. This time Scott Youngbauer took a half-swing and tapped a ball just in front of the plate. Instinctively, Valentine barehanded the ball and flipped it to catcher Humberto Quintero, who tagged out the speeding Acevedo.
“That was the play of the game,” said Shines. “It was unbelievable. That’s where we won the ballgame.”
Not quite. There was still the matter of coaxing Jason Barnette to bounce out to second on a dramatic game-ending 3-2 pitch.
“It was good to see we could get through a tough spot like that,” said Valentine. “We’re a team that can win by hitting the ball, by pitching it and by fielding it.”
There was a bit of everything last night, starting with an effective outing by winning pitcher Kris McWhirter. The 6-foot-4 right-hander blended an adequate fastball and a parachute change with a slider that seemed to drop off the end of the table.
“My slider had a lot of movement and depth. It took a lot off my fastball,” he said. “That was good because it gave them a different look.”
It was a look that induced 11 groundball outs in 623 innings. McWhirter struck out six, walked two and allowed five hits, the last two when Lakewood scored twice in the seventh. “Throwing strikes and keeping the ball down —that’s his strength,” said Perdew. “Not velocity. If he’s getting groundballs, then he’s doing his job.”
Kannapolis took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Casey Rogowski reached on an infield single — his fifth straight hit — advanced to third on birthday boy Darren Ciraco’s hit-and-run blooper to right and scored on a delayed steal. The Intimidators added three runs in the last of the sixth — all after losing pitcher Ryan Carter had retired the first two batters. Key blows were delivered by shortstop Guillermo Reyes (a run-scoring triple to left-center) and John Lackaff (RBI double down the left-field line).
“I’m very pleased,” said Shines. “They have an attitude — the right attitude — that prepares them for tight spots.”
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NOTES: Rogowski, 4-for-4 on Thursday, struck out twice and walked in his other at-bats. … Lakewood’s Carter retired 12 straight from the second to sixth innings. … Lefty Jim Sweeney will start for Kannapolis tonight at 6:35 against Keith
Bucktrot.
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