Over their next two weeks after a successful trip to Charleston, Kannapolis played 12 games in 13 days at their friendly confines of Atrium Health Ballpark. Over their six games with Myrtle Beach and another six with Augusta, this time at home, Kannapolis fired on all cylinders until an injury to Billy Carlson. The Ballers set some history into motion with their first-ever six-game sweep against the Pelicans, outscoring the Pelicans 26-8 during the week. Kannapolis won their next series opener against Augusta but dropped four of their next five which brought them back to earth. The Ballers finished their month of May with an 18-9 record, flipping their script in spectacular fashion. The help that yielded Kannapolis the most success in their month? Their pitching. After going through April with a 4.44 ERA in 24 games with runs allowed in over half their innings pitched, the Ballers powered forward with a stellar month of May, boasting a league-best 3.01 team ERA with just 91 runs allowed over 239 innings. And it’s not just the pitching that has helped their case. The bats, despite lowering their batting average as a team from April to May, got into less shootouts with the pitching doing so well, allowing the offense to focus less on making large comebacks and more on timely hitting and big inning accumulation. As a team, quick starts have been a big help to the Cannon Ballers. As of their first home series of June, Kannapolis is first in all of Single-A and the White Sox organization in first inning runs, notching 48 runs in 57 games in just the first inning.
So there you have it: better pitching, more timely offense, quick starts, and a shutdown bullpen that has allowed Kannapolis to hold a perfect 23-0 record when winning after eight innings. Sounds like Ballers Baseball to me!
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