The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers are heading to the Carolina League Championship after their 2-1 victory in 11 innings over the Charleston RiverDogs in Game 3, and while T.J. McCants won the game with a walk-off double to left field, the game was really determined by a disparity in PFP.
In the top of the 10th, Charleston tried to squeeze the first run of the game home with runners on the corners and one out, but Kannapolis' Mark McLaughlin was able to square his shoulders to the plate and make a direct flip to home for the tag, keeping the game scoreless.
He then struck out Enderson Delgado on a failed checked swing, and Charleston manager Sean Smedley ended up getting ejected while both Kannapolis players and fans razzed him, which is evidence of the camaraderie among Patrick Leyland's team that James wrote about in Friday's Minor Keys. Kannapolis didn't score in the bottom of the inning, making McLaughlin's run-prevention tactics even more critical.
McLaughlin almost made it out of the 11th scoreless as well, but after a pair of strikeouts, Émilien Pitre looped a single to left for the game's first run.
The Cannon Ballers got that run back because Charleston pitcher Andy Rodriguez couldn't make a similar play at the plate. Sam Antonacci advanced from second to third on a George Wolkow groundout to start the inning, after which he was replaced by pinch runner Mason Dinesen. Alec Makarewicz followed with a comebacker off the leg of Rodriguez. Rodriguez had more time than he thought, but his clock accelerated after impact, and he fired wildly to the backstop, evening the game at 1.
Makarewicz took second, and he had an easy run home when McCants' double cleared the head of left fielder Jhon Diaz, who also played it poorly.
🚨 We've got a @Kcannonballers walk-off to win the Carolina League semis! 🚨
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 14, 2024
The @whitesox affiliate is headed back to the Championship Series for the first time since 2017 by virtue of T.J. McCants' walk-off knock 🎉 pic.twitter.com/YfqNCSjG5H
Was it all kind of a mess? Yes. Is it the furthest full-season rung from MLB postsseason action? Yes. But did the extra innings look fun as hell? Also yes.
Hall of Famer Jim Leyland was in attendance watching his son manage, so even if a rowdy 4,230 hadn't shown up, the game would've had some heft to it.
Kannapolis hosts Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series on Sunday.
Jacksonville 8, Charlotte 5
- Yoán Moncada went 1-for-4 with a walk, two strikeouts and a stolen base.
- Tim Elko, 1-for-5 with a K.
- Colson Montgomery was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Oscar Colás, 1-for-3 with a double, walk and strikeout.
- Jordan Leasure: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 11 of 20 pitches for strikes.
Birmingham 4, Tennessee 3
- Rikuu Nishida went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Wilfred Veras was 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts.
- DJ Gladney singled, hit a sac fly, got plunked and struck out twice.
- Riley Gowens: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 40 of 63 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 2, Charleston 1
- Sam Antonacci went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- George Wolkow, 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- T.J. McCants was 1-for-5 with a double and a strikeout.
- Ronny Hernandez was 1-for-3 with a walk and a K.
- Jeral Perez, 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Ryan Burrowes wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Jake Peppers: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 40 of 64 pitches for strikes.
- Aaron Combs struck out all six batters he faced, 20 of 33 pitches for strikes.
