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Strong pitching leads Kannapolis by 'Hoppers

June 24, 2018

Backed by solid outings from starter Zach Lewis (W, 2-2) and reliever Jake Elliott, the Intimidators held off the Grasshoppers 4-2 Sunday evening in Greensboro, North Carolina, at First National Bank Field.After a quiet first inning at the plate for both teams, Kannapolis used a Michael Hickman double to start

Backed by solid outings from starter Zach Lewis (W, 2-2) and reliever Jake Elliott, the Intimidators held off the Grasshoppers 4-2 Sunday evening in Greensboro, North Carolina, at First National Bank Field.
After a quiet first inning at the plate for both teams, Kannapolis used a Michael Hickman double to start the second inning, his seventh of the season. After a pop out from Tyler Frost, Justin Yurchak doubled to straight-away center to bring in Hickman for the game's first run.
One inning later, Luis Curbelo roped a double into right field to lead off the frame, the first of four hits on the day for the former sixth round draft pick by the Chicago White Sox. Next up, Craig Dedelow peppered a single to right field, bringing in Curbelo for the I's second run.
In the fourth, Yurchak displayed his power and connected on his first home run of the season to right field on a 1-1 pitch from Ryan Lillie (L, 6-2), giving Lewis a three-run cushion heading into the fifth.  
After three straight 1-2-3 innings for Lewis, Curbelo jumped all over the first pitch of his at-bat in the fifth against Lillie, sending it over the center field wall for his first homer of the season. Curbelo finished the day a triple shy of the cycle, picking up a single in the seventh and ninth to go along with his homer and double.
Up 4-0, Lewis surrendered two doubles in the bottom of the fifth inning, including two wild pitches, allowing one run to come in to score for Greensboro (36-36). Lewis finished the day throwing five strong innings, giving up only three hits on just 54 pitches (36 strikes) while striking out three batters.
Elliott (H, 4) stepped in for Lewis in the sixth, as the 6-foot-7 right-handed pitcher out of Oklahoma struck out four batters in just three innings of work, refusing to give up a hit.
Although Greensboro did add on a run in the ninth off Will Kincanon (S, 1), the Intimidators (42-29) held on and picked up their third win of the second half in four tries.
On Monday, the Intimidators will trot out Luis Ledo (3-0, 5.15 ERA) against Greensboro's Trevor Rogers (0-2, 7.27 ERA) as they look for their second series win in as many series to begin the second half at 7:00 p.m.