CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Dickerson Delivers Walk-Off Blast In 11th

Published on May 6, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - Joe Dickerson's one-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning pushed the Wilmington Blue Rocks past the Salem Avalanche, 3-1, at Frawley Stadium on Tuesday night. The walk-off blast put a satisfying exclamation point on a contest that featured another stellar outing by starter Blake Wood as well as a late rally by a sluggish Blue Rocks offense to erase a narrow deficit. The victory guarantees Wilmington a series victory over the Avs and improves the club's home mark to 9-6 on the season.

With one out in the 11th, Kurt Mertins slapped a single to center field off Salem reliever Raymar Diaz (1-2), who was entering his third inning of work. Dickerson then came to the plate and delivered a pull shot deep to right field that backed Orlando Rosales to the wall. The right fielder leapt at the last moment and, for a brief instant, appeared to have snatched the ball and averted the round-tripper. But, the ball eluded Rosales' reach and home plate umpire A.J. Johnson finally signaled home run.

Dickerson, who leads the club with three home runs, was mobbed at home plate by his joyous teammates.

Wood enjoyed arguably his best outing of the season, but once again, did not net a win for his efforts. The burly right-hander fired a career-high tying eight innings of two-hit, one-run ball. The former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket fanned six and walked two. He left on the short end of a 1-0 score, as he allowed a two-out single to Jhon Florentino in the sixth.

It is the second time in two starts that Wood surrendered only two hits and a run, but did not walk away victorious. The righty went 6.2 strong innings against Frederick last Wednesday and departed in line for a loss.

The Rocks rallied to win in walk-off fashion that day and would do the same on Wednesday.

After wilting against the mound prowess of Avs lefty Polin Trinidad for seven innings, the Rocks finally broke their scoreboard slump in the eighth against southpaw reliever Josh Appell and tied the game. Josh Johnson began the frame with a walk and wound up on third following a Jarrod Dyson sac bunt and a wild pitch. Derrick Robinson then smacked a ground single through the left side of the drawn-in infield to knot the game at 1-1.

Each team had a chance to end the game prior to its eventual completion. In the top of the ninth, left fielder Dyson gunned down Salem's Jordan Parraz, who tried to score from second base on a Mark Ori single with two outs.

In the bottom of the 10th, the Blue Rocks had a golden chance to close the curtain, amassing runners at second and third with no outs. But, Diaz rallied to fan Dyson and then induce an unorthodox double play when Anthony Seratelli was thrown out at home in an attempt to tag and score on a shallow flyout to left.

Gilbert De La Vara (3-2), who pitched the Rocks out of a two-on, one-out jam in the top of the 11th, wound up as the pitcher of record for Wilmington.

The Blue Rocks look to complete the sweep of the Avalanche, as the two teams conclude their three-game set on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. Wilmington righty Mario Santiago (1-3, 5.23) is scheduled to face Salem's Casey Hudspeth (2-2, 4.64).

GAME NOTES

The Blue Rocks improved to 2-2 in extra-inning games overall and 1-1 in bonus baseball affairs with Salem.

Blake Wood lowered his season ERA from 3.86 to 3.29. The Atlanta, GA native was perfect through the first 3.2 innings on Wednesday, allowing a Jhon Florentino double with two outs in the fourth to shatter the silence. Wood retired the side in order five times in eight innings.

Derrick Robinson and Kurt Mertins each collected two hits, as the Blue Rocks team belted out nine in total.

The Rocks stranded six runners, including a man at third base in the first, third and fifth innings.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from May 6, 2008


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