Sports stats



CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Melville Looks Sharp as Rocks Win

September 4, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - Tim Melville equaled the longest outing of his season by turning in seven frames of one-run ball as the Wilmington Blue Rocks clinched a win in their final series of 2011 courtesy of Sunday's 4-1 victory over the Frederick Keys.

Melville (11-10) was magnificent, as the right-hander struck out six and walked only two. He was perfect in his first and last frame of the day. In between the 14th-ranked prospect on the Kansas City farm according to Baseball America used a pair of double plays to help stifle the Frederick offense.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball Wilmington jumped out to an early lead with a single tally in the third and then padded that advantage with two more scores in the fourth.

Back-to-back two-out doubles by Whit Merrifield and Carlo Testa in the third got the Rocks on the board. Wilmington then used two more two-out knocks an inning later to increase its lead. With men at first and second, Joey Lewis tomahawked a liner to left that plated Ryan Stovall and made it, 2-0 Blue Crew. Deivy Batista then sent a seeing-eye single to left which plated Adrian Morales to put the Rocks up by three runs.

The Keys pulled to within 3-1 in the fifth on an RBI fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Bobby Stevens, but Melville and Allen Caldwellcombined to keep the Keys scoreless the rest of the way. Caldwell posted goose eggs in the eighth and ninth frames to earn his first Advanced-A save.

Tim Ferguson capped the scoring with his solo homer to left in the eighth.

The Rocks close out their 2011 season on Monday against the Frederick Keys, with a special holiday start time of 1:05 p.m. Justin Marks (7-8, 4.18) hits the hill for Wilmington against Frederick southpaw Nathan Moreau (11-11, 4.38). Broadcast coverage begins at 12:35 p.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. For tickets call 302-888-BLUE or visit bluerocks.com.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Sunday's scariest moment came on Tim Ferguson's solo home run in the eighth. The Blue Rocks outfielder sent a high fly ball toward the Frederick bullpen in left. Keys' outfielder Kipp Schutz backpedaled to the fence and then made a leaping attempt to rob Ferguson of a dinger. Schutz's jump carried him over the four-foot wall and he fell with his body vulnerable into the Frederick bullpen. Keys manager Orlando Gomez said after the game that Schutz slammed his head against the ground and that he thought his player would be okay. The outfielder was taken off the field on a stretcher and was transported to the hospital as a precaution.

Carlo Testa has picked up in September right where he left off in August. Last month the outfielder hit .378 with three doubles, five of his seven home runs and 14 RBIs, On Sunday he doubled twice, singled and drove in a run. The reigning Carolina League Player of the Week has reached base safely via hit and/or walk in 42 of his last 44 games. His three-hit afternoon extended his hitting streak to 11 games, during which Testa has hit .442 (19-for-43) with three homers, nine RBIs and eight runs scored.

For the second consecutive day the bottom of the order came through for the Blue Crew. Wilmington's seven, eight and nine-hole hitters went 7-for-12 in Saturday's win. On Sunday the trio of Adrian Morales, Joey Lewis and Deivy Batista combined to go 4-for-11 with two RBIs and a run scored.

Lewis' run-scoring single in the fourth ended an 0-for-20 drought at the plate for the infielder. Lewis added a double in the sixth as he finished the afternoon 2-for-4.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...

Carolina League Stories from September 4, 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.

Other Recent Wilmington Blue Rocks Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central