Gann Tosses Shutout Baseball, Proctor Homers in 2-0 Triumph
The Lancaster Barnstormers are on the verge of clinching the second half.
Cameron Gann fired two-hit shutout baseball for six innings, and his batterymate, Chris Proctor provided the offensive thrust with a homer and double as the Barnstormers defeated the Charleston Dirty Birds in a shortened, seven-inning game Saturday evening at Appalachian Power Park.
With Southern Maryland dropping a 5-4 decision to York, the Barnstormers’ magic number for clinching a playoff berth dropped to two. A Lancaster win and Southern Maryland loss on Sunday would seal the Barnstormers into the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
Gann (8-8) yielded a two-out single to Cosimo Cannella in the second and picked him off first. Yovan Gonzalez drilled a one-out double to deep right in the fourth, but Gann struck out Liam Scafariello and retired Devon Torrence on a grounder to first to quell the threat. Scafariello reached on a one-out walk in the sixth. Gann fanned six in his performance.
Gray Fenter finished the shutout, striking out the side around a single by Edwin Espinal in the seventh, for his second save.
Lancaster struggled against Charleston starter Alec Kisena, picking up only two hits in six innings. One of those hits, however, was a towering homer to right by Proctor in the fourth that gave Gann all he needed.
The Barnstormers would pick up an insurance run in the seventh against lefty ace Kevin Siegrist. Again, it was Proctor with the big hit, a double sliced inside the left field line with one out. Anthony Peroni grounded a single behind second base, sending Proctor to third. Jake Hoover got the run home with a force play grounder.
Brooks Hall (4-1) will start for the Barnstormers on Sunday against right-hander Steven Chamblee (1-5). Fans may tune into the YouTube Channel, starting at 5:00.
NOTES: The game was delayed over 90 minutes by rain…The two managers and Dirty Birds management agreed to shorten the game…Gann has thrown 11 straight shutout innings…He is two short of John Anderson’s franchise strikeout record of 140…Lancaster is 9-5 on the current road trip…All three of Proctor’s homers have come with Lancaster.