Pilots Sink Sharks 6-5 in Round 1 Opener
August 5, 2015 - Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Wilmington Sharks News Release
The Wilmington Sharks (29-25) never lead in Wednesday night's 6-5 loss to the Peninsula Pilots (29-25), as their comeback fell just short at War Memorial Stadium. Of the 6 Peninsula runs, just 3 were earned. The two teams will meet for Game 2 at The Shark Tank on Thursday, August 6th in a best of 3 series.
Pilots starting arm Taylor Edens improved to an impressive 10-1 on the summer as he tossed 6.1 innings, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 1 and walking 2. Coming into Wednesday's contest, Edens had allowed just 2 walks in 56.2 innings of work.
Peninsula picked up 2 runs in the third on 2 hits and a Sharks error, but the Sharks would not take long to respond. The next half inning, Wilmington responded with 2 runs of their own.
Brett Smith drew a walk with one out in the fourth. A wild pitch had him dashing to second when an errant toss allowed him to scoot up to third. Matt Whatley's double would easily score Smith. Whatley was knocked in by Alex Destino's backside poke as Destino collect his 61st RBI of the year.
The Pilots regained the lead with a run in the fourth, and extended it with 2 runs in the fifth and another in the sixth. Trailing 6-2 in the seventh, the Sharks wouldn't go down without showing their teeth.
Edens was out for his seventh inning of operation, when Jae Roberts welcomed him there with a single. Andy Austin drew a walk to match Edens' walk totals from all of his previous outings, putting Sharks on first and second as the lineup flipped over for Nick Rotola. His double found the gap to bring in Roberts and move Austin up to third. Whatley's sacrifice-fly to center would allow Austin to score. Whatley finished the night 1-4 with a double and 2 RBIs.
The Sharks came within one after back-to-back doubles by Sam Foy and Jae Roberts to score Foy, but the comeback would fall just short as Robbie Hiser threw 4 pitches to get 3 groundouts and collect the save.
Game 2 of Round 1 will be at the Shark Tank in Wilmington, and will feature $1 beers and $2 tacos provided by Moe's Southwest Grill of Wilmington. Tickets to Game 2 are on sale online and can also be obtained by calling 910-343-5621. For more information, please visit www.wilmingtonsharks.com.
• Discuss this story on the Coastal Plain League message board...
Coastal Plain League Stories from August 5, 2015
- Pilots win Game 1, 6-5 over Sharks - Peninsula Pilots
- Pilots Sink Sharks 6-5 in Round 1 Opener - Wilmington Sharks
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
