CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Hillcats Sweep Rocks On Long, Rainy Day

Published on April 27, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Lynchburg, VA - Mother Nature continues to prove unkind this Carolina League season. One night after three of the loop's four games saw rain postpone or suspend play, the Wilmington Blue Rocks (12-7) and Lynchburg Hillcats (6-12) sat through a nearly two-hour delay during the resumption of their suspended contest. When the skies cleared, the Blue Rocks got swept, losing 3-2 and 5-2 for just their second losing streak of the season. On the plus side, John Whittleman bashed his fourth home run and Nick Francis extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

The Hillcats got all the runs they would need in the fourth inning of the opener. Run-scoring doubles by Adam Milligan and Joe Leonard combined with a Jose Bonilla passed ball and a Rey Navarro error to assemble the three-run frame. Deivy Batista got the Blue Rocks on the board a half-inning later with his sacrifice fly to right, scoring Tim Ferguson. Whittleman greeted closer Jason Lowey with a first-pitch homer to right in the ninth, but that would prove all the Wilmington offense could muster in the 3-2 defeat.

Bryan Paukovits (0-1) allowed three runs (one earned) over 3.2 innings to suffer the loss. The Blue Rocks entered the game with a league-low 15 errors on the season, but committed four in the setback. Reliever Willie Kempf (1-1) got the win with 3.2 innings of one-run ball while Lowey overcame Whittleman's homer to log his second save in as many tries.

The Blue Rocks grabbed a first-inning lead in the nightcap without the aid of a base hit. Whit Merrifield walked, took second on a balk by starter Chris Masters (2-0), went to third on an Alex McClure sac bunt and scored on Francis' groundout to third. Then came the second inning and four straight two-out hits against starter Justin Marks (1-1). Andrelton Simmons doubled in a score while Matt Weaver singled in Simmons thereafter to make it 2-1.

Adam Frost began the third with an infield single to short. He displayed even more impressive quicks thereafter with swipes of second and third, allowing Merrifield's fly ball to right to serve as a sacrifice when Frost tagged and scored.

The deadlock did not last long. Simmons tripled Joe Leonard in from first in the fourth for a 3-2 Lynchburg lead. Two-out hitting served the Hillcats well again in the fifth when Phil Gosselin's two-out single was followed by a titanic homer over the scoreboard in left-center by Joey Terdoslavich, his team-leading seventh blast, for the 5-2 final.

Marks went six innings and gave up five runs on eight hits and a walk. He struck out two before suffering his first loss since July 31, 2010 while with Stockton in the California League.

The Blue Rocks' eight-game road trip and four-game series concludes at 11:05 a.m. on Thursday morning. Wilmington right-hander Jake Odorizzi (0-0, 3.46) faces lefty Matt Crim (1-1, 2.31). Broadcast coverage begins at 10:35 a.m. as studio host Adam Dobrowolski brings fans the Rocks Report Pre-game Show, presented by Wawa, on 89.7 WGLS-FM and online at wgls.rowan.edu.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from April 27, 2011


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.

OurSports Central