Fredericksburg Nationals Dominate Game 1, Lead Carolina League Championship Series

KANNAPOLIS, NC - The Fredericksburg Nationals secured a thrilling game one of the Carolina League Championship Series, taking down the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 6-4.

After both starters worked 1-2-3 in the first inning, the Fredericksburg Nationals struck in the top of the second. Kevin Bazzell smacked a leadoff single and moved to second base on a balk before Caleb Lomavita hammered a double to drive him in with the first run of the evening. Loma moved to third on a wild pitch, then with two outs, Nate Ochoa legged out an infield single to plate Lomavita and gave the Fredericksburg Nationals a 2-0 edge.

Bazzell picked up his fourth playoff RBI in the third inning on a sac fly to drive in Brenner Cox.

Kannapolis got a rally together in the bottom of the third inning. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases against Brayan Romero, who gave up a run on a grounder to first base, with Nate Archer scoring. Ronny Hernandez then roped a single into left field, bringing the second run home, but Cristhian Vaquero fired a seed to the plate to cut down George Wolkow as the potential tying run. That kept Fredericksburg up by a run, 3-2 after three innings.

After a scoreless fourth inning, the Nationals had two men in scoring position with two outs in the top of the fifth. Seaver King attacked the first pitch he saw and pulled it into left field for a two-run single, which extended the Fredericksburg advantage to 5-2.

Of course, Kannapolis responded in the home half. George Wolkow came through with a two-run double, as Fredericksburg Nationals saw the lead shrink back to one run.

Merritt Beeker held on to that lead with a scoreless sixth inning, then a wild pitch in the top of the seventh allowed Kelvin Diaz to scamper home to make it 6-4 Fredericksburg Nationals.

Robert Cranz took the ball for the Nationals in the seventh, and fired two perfect innings of relief to guide the Nationals to the bottom of the ninth, with a two-run lead.

Anthony Arguelles, the Carolina League leader in saves in the regular season, got the nod for the ninth inning. The first batter he faced reached base on an E4, but Arguelles retired the ensuing three hitters to lock down a 6-4 Fredericksburg victory. Robert Cranz (1-0) picked up the win, Justin Sinibaldi (0-1) took the loss, as Arguelles notched his second save of the playoffs.

Fredericksburg Nationals needs just one more win to secure the Carolina League title. Game two is set for Tuesday, September 17th, at Virginia Credit Union Stadium. The first pitch is at 7:05.