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Wilmington Blue Rocks

Selman Sizzles, Rocks Capture First Second-Half Series

June 27, 2013 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


LYNCHBURG, VA - Sam Selman (7-5) continued his run of strong pitching, while the Wilmington Blue Rocks offense rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth inning to defeat the Lynchburg Hillcats 4-1 on Thursday night at City Stadium. The win gave Wilmington its first series victory of the second-half, and its first since early June. It was the club's third triumph in its last four games. As a club, Wilmington is now 37-40 on the campaign and 4-3 in the second-half.

Off two outstanding starts, Selman found himself in early trouble, but he managed to hang tough in the home first. After allowing a leadoff single to Matt Lipka, Selman issued two walks and a wild pitch to load up the bases. Put in the unenviable position of having to facing Carolina League home run leader Robby Hefflinger, Selman held everyone in place. The lefty struck out Hefflinger and Kyle Kubitza while getting David Rohm to ground out ending the inning.

Selman went on to retire nine men in a row, before eventually surrendering a single in the fourth. However on the other side, Lynchburg starter Jarrett Miller was tossing a gem himself, yielding only two Blue Rocks hits through the first four frames. However, Wilmington would figure out the righty in the fifth. Tyler Chism roped a one-out triple to right and scored on an RBI single by Ethan Chapman a batter later. A second base hit by Jack Lopez coupled with a successful double-steal then moved two men into scoring position for Lane Adams. Coming to bat with little prior success against the Hillcats, Adams delivered a clutch two-run single to make it 3-0 Blue Rocks.

In the sixth, the Blue Rocks added to their lead, sending six men to the plate. Dennis Raben started the inning with a walk, and moved station-to-station on a single by Daniel Mateo to rightfield. Still in search of a hit to extend his hitting streak to seven games, Schlehuber singled home Raben to close out the Rocks scoring.

Turning to the bullpen, Daniel Hernandez held the Hillcats until the ninth, when an error by Alex McClure put the leadoff man aboard. Shawn McGill then doubled his teammate Rohm to third, prompting a pitching chance by Blue Rocks manager Vance Wilson. Turning to Spencer Patton, the righty struck out the first batter he faced, before a sacrifice fly ended the shutout bid. Hit into foul ground, Tyler Chism made an outstanding sprinting catch, while Adams robbed Lipka of a base-hit to center, ending the game. On the night, the trio of Selman, Hernandez and Patton combined to allow only four hits.

Wilmington returns home on Friday night to begin a three-game series with Potomac. Right-hander Kyle Zimmer (1-7, 5.98) takes the hill for the Blue Rocks, and will be opposed by Nationals left-hander and Carolina League All-Star Robbie Ray (6-2, 3.12). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 from Frawley Stadium, and the broadcast can be heard on 89.7 WGLS-FM, or on Bluerocks.com. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit Bluerocks.com.

Pebbles of Knowledge:

Thursday's victory gave Wilmington a much needed series win. Having lost four straight series coming into the game, the Blue Rocks earned their first series victory since June 6, when the team claimed three out of four games against Carolina at Frawley Stadium. It was also the team's first road series win since late May, when the club swept Myrtle Beach on the Grand Strand (May 25-26).

Coming into this series, the Blue Rocks were hitting only .188 as a team in six previous games against Lynchburg. Four days later, that average climbed to .260. During the series, Wilmington posted a season-high 19 hits on Monday, 11 more on Tuesday, 14 on Wednesday, while the club finished just one hit shy of double digits on Thursday (nine). Finishing with 53 total hits, it is the Blue Rocks largest output over a four-game stretch this season.

Sam Selman extended his winning streak on the mound to three games, the longest streak by a Wilmington starting pitcher this season. For the third straight start, Selman lasted at least five frames, while the victory pulled him into a three-way tie for the Carolina League lead in victories with Winston-Salem's Chris Bassitt and Myrtle Beach's Luke Jackson (both have seven wins). Virtually unhittable since a disastrous start against Salem on June 10 (where he allowed eight runs and did not record an out), Selman has allowed only one earned run over his last 16 innings pitched, which includes 10 straight scoreless innings.

Dennis Raben put together a monster series against the Hillcats. Despite not recording a hit on Thursday night, Raben still hit a robust .529, going 9-for-17 with three doubles, four RBIs and four runs scored over four games. Since joining Wilmington from the Independent Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association, Raben is hitting .349 with two homers, seven RBIs, three doubles and six runs scored.

Entering Thursday, Lane Adams had struggled mightily against Lynchburg. Batting only .087 coming into the contest (2-for-23), the Oklahoma native equaled his season hit total against the Hillcats, finishing 2-for-4 and accounting for half of the club's four RBIs. It was Adams' second multi-hit game in his last four contests, while he has hit safely in each of his last five games. Jared Schlehuber also stretched his season-best hitting streak to seven games, courtesy of an RBI single in the sixth. During that stretch, he is hitting .370 (10-for-27) with two doubles, five RBIs and four runs.

Daniel Hernandez turned in his finest outing as a member of the Blue Rocks. Tossing three scoreless frames, the right-hander allowed only two hits and one unearned run, dropping his ERA from 4.50 to 3.27. Thursday's game also tied his season-high for innings pitched. On to close the door, Spencer Patton stretched his scoreless innings streak to 19.1 frames and lowered his ERA to a season-low 1.17. The right-hander still has not given up a run since May 15 against Potomac.

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