No-hitter for the Cannon Ballers!

Seth Keener, Luke Bell and Nick Altermatt combine for the first nine-inning no-no in CBs history

In an impeccably-pitched game, the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers no-hit the Columbia Fireflies in a full, nine-inning game, winning 6-0.

South Side Sox favorite and 2023 draft pick Seth Keener did the heavy lifting, cutting through Columbia over six innings, allowing just one walk against seven Ks. Keener was ruthlessly efficient, needing just 62 tosses (41 strikes) to get his 18 outs. Luke Bell took on two innings from there, adding the final baserunner to the night’s tally for the Fireflies (walk) against two Ks.

In the ninth, Nick Altermatt took the pill and needed just 16 pitches (11 strikes) to secure history. Columbia’s Aldrin Lucas grounded out to Ryan Burrowes at second base, then Lizandro Rodríguez flew out to George Wolkow in right field. Blake Mitchell battled to 2-2 before lofting a can of corn to left fielder Rikuu Nishida to end it.

That said, the ball took a late swerve on Nishida, as you may have seen from the video.

Had it dropped, it would undoubtedly been ruled an error and kept the no-no alive. At the last second, things tried to take a turn, but Nishida hung with it.

Our Sox Pop on the Farm Kanny partner, Dan Helotie, couldn’t cap his excitement in getting to call this game:

Dan is referring to a seven-inning no-hitter thrown in May 2023 by Connor McCullough, which our pal Julie Brady covered for us.

Six pitches into their bats, the Cannon Ballers would have all they’d need to win the game, as Nishida led off with a first-pitch triple, with Caden Connor sac-flying him home after a four-pitch Arxy Hernández whiff. Kanny’s six runs came with little thump, as only doubles by Connor and Hernández later on added to the XBH tally. Later runs came on pickoff errors and ground-ball singles, as the CBs could’ve extended this to a blowout at several junctures, wings clipped by a 2-of-13 RISP performance on offense.

Future generations may be confused, as it was a throwback game for Kannapolis, who teleported back to the late 1990s and played as the Piedmont Boll Weevils this game, taking on not the Columbia Fireflies but the Savannah Sand Gnats.

[No Cold Cat vote on a no-hitter night!]

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