CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Pelicans Diamond & Rohrbough Both Go Distance

August 26, 2008 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Myrtle Beach, SC - The Wilmington Blue Rocks entered Tuesday night's doubleheader with a chance to clinch a playoff spot. All they needed was a sweep and some help. A sweep happened, yes, but the Blue Crew stood on the wrong side that sweep, blanked in both games by the host Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 6-0 and 2-0. Also, Wilmington did not get help, as Frederick defeated Lynchburg, keeping the Rocks' magic number at three. Southpaws Scott Diamond (12-2) and Cole Rohrbough (2-1) each posted complete-game victories for the Pelicans. The Rocks had seven base hits on the day as they fell to 0-8 in doubleheader games this season, incurring their fourth sweep defeat overall and first on the second half.

Defensive foibles plagued the team in both games, along with subpar offensive showings. Both games saw Myrtle Beach take the lead with unearned runs on the Wilmington starters. In game one, Travis Jones reached against Matt Kniginyzky (9-8) on a one-out error by Josh Johnson. The third baseman made a rare miscue, just his eighth in 113 games played, by fumbling the exchange after charging a grounder. Kniginyzky then walked Tyler Flowers and struck out Ernest Mejia. But Eric Campbell followed, fighting back from an 0-2 count to work it full and ultimately bash a three-run homer to left-center, his 18th of the season, for three unearned runs on Kniginyzky and a 3-0 deficit.

Concepcion Rodriguez drilled a solo shot to a similar spot in the fourth on a 3-1 pitch and the Pelicans tacked on another two runs in the fifth with a run-scoring single by Mejia and a sacrifice fly from Brandon Hicks. Kniginyzky went 4.1 innings, allowing five runs (two earned) on four hits (two homers) and two walks while striking out three. The sixth run went to reliever Russ Haltiwanger who relieved the Canadian right-hander in the fifth.

Offensively, Wilmington managed just five hits on Diamond over his seven innings. Diamond walked one, struck out one and issued a wild pitch. Defense spoiled the Rocks' best chances to score in the third and fourth. Derrick Robinson hit a two-out single to center in the third and Adrian Ortiz attempted to score from second base. But center fielder Gorkys Hernandez scooped the ball up and fired a bullet to the plate where Flowers applied a swipe tag on the right foot of the wide-sliding Ortiz to end the inning.

In the fourth, Paulo Orlando belted a one-out double and worked his way to third with two outs. Jeff Bianchi drilled a Diamond pitch to right where Jon Mark Owings made an over-the-shoulder catch on the warning track to end the frame.

Diamond posted his first complete game and shutout in the triumph, setting a high bar for his counterpart, Rohrbough. Rated by Baseball America as the seventh-best prospect in the Braves minor league system entering the season, Rohrbough hurled an even more dominating game than league's new outright wins leader. He allowed just two hits, no walks and struck out four over his complete-game blanking.

Cody Strait doubled with one out in the second, but back-to-back outs on the ground stranded him in scoring position. Wilmington would not put another man beyond first base all night. The only other hit belonged to Chris McConnell, a line drive that hit the glove of second baseman Randy Gress in the fourth. The only other batter that earned his way to the bases did it the hard way when catcher Matt Morizio took a fastball off his batting helmet in the fifth. He would leave the game under his own power thereafter.

Starter Ray Liotta (1-1) fell prey to the same untimely defensive mistakes as Kniginyzky. In the second inning, Orlando missed a Jason Heyward fly ball that hit the right fielder's glove for a one-out error. It marked his first glove miscue as a Blue Rock, with the prior two coming on throws. Liotta walked Rodriguez on four straight pitches and Owings reached on a fielder's choice, putting men at the corners. Back-to-back RBI hits followed from Phillip Britton and Gress as Britton singled to center and Gress to left for two unearned runs.

Liotta gave up just four hits and those two unearned tallies over his five innings, walking two (one intentionally) and striking out one. Closer Tyler Chambliss kept the game in striking distance with a 1-2-3 sixth inning.

The series ends on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. Southpaw Everett Teaford (8-6, 3.83) toes the rubber for Wilmington against right-hander Ryne Reynoso (10-6, 3.15).

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE: Wilmington entered the doubleheader with a league-low 120 errors and a league-best .976 fielding percentage before making five mistakes on the two games.

The Blue Rocks have been blanked eight times on the season with four coming courtesy of Myrtle Beach. The Pelicans also held the Rocks scoreless in the season opener at Frawley Stadium on April 4 (2-0, 13 innings) and at Coastal Field on July 5 (1-0) in a game started by rehabbing big leaguer Mike Hampton.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics



Carolina League Stories from August 26, 2008


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