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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rain Suspends Play at Potomac

July 3, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Woodbridge, VA - Rain delayed and eventually suspended play at Pfitzner Stadium on Sunday night, with the Wilmington Blue Rocks (40-39, 4-6) leading the Potomac Nationals (34-45, 5-5), 4-2. With one out and the bases clear, bright flashes of lightning, booming thunder and hard rains began to assault the field and its surrounding area. The teams will conclude the game at 5 p.m. on Monday with a seven-inning affair to follow.

A day after their worst loss since 2005, the Blue Rocks plated three runs in the very first inning for a lead they have yet to relinquish. Whit Merrifield busted out of his 1-for-28 slide with a leadoff triple and later scored on Nick Van Stratten's single to left-center. John Whittleman followed with his team-leading ninth home run of the season, a well-hit liner to right off fellow lefty Danny Rosenbaum, that gave the Blue Rocks a 3-0 advantage.

Potomac got an unearned run against Tim Melville without a hit in the third. J.R. Higley got hit by a pitch to start the frame and Cutter Dykstra joined him on the bases when he reached on a fielding error by Kurt Mertins. Francisco Soriano laid down a sacrifice to advance the runners and Jeff Kobernus knocked in a run with a fielder's choice that nipped Dykstra between second and third.

Each team added a run in the fourth. Wilmington sent four men to the plate, each of whom saw just one pitch. Ryan Stovall got his first hit as a Blue Rock this season with a double to left-center on the first pitch. Yem Prades advanced him to third on a fly-out to center and Mertins sent Stovall in with his groundout to second. Potomac's Justin Bloxom doubled to ignite the bottom half of the inning and scored on a two-out single by J.P. Ramirez.

The bottom of the fifth began in rain with Dykstra grounding out to second. The next hitter, Soriano, never saw a pitch before home plate umpire Matt Jones called for the tarp.

After Sunday's suspended game concludes, the teams will play a seven-inning contest. In that game, Wilmington southpaw Noel Arguelles (2-3, 2.32) will face right-hander Adam Olbrychowski (2-3, 4.76). Broadcast coverage begins at 4:30 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.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Ryan Stovall ended an 0-for-8 slide as a Blue Rock this season with his fourth-inning double.

Whit Merrifield stands 2-for-3 so far in the game with his first triple of the season. It marks his first multi-hit game since June 23.

Nick Van Stratten has two hits including a double and an RBI in the contest. He has hits in all four of his games with this year's Blue Crew, amassing 6-for-14 performance thus far.

Tim Melville allowed just one earned run over his 4.1 innings before rain delayed and eventually suspended play. He struck out four, walked none, and picked off Steven Souza at first base in the second. Once the game becomes official, Melville will own a 1.98 ERA over his last five starts. The Blue Rocks have won all of the first four and are in line to win the fifth.

Potomac's Jeff Kobernus singled, drove in a run and stole two more bases in the game. The CL All-Star has four swipes in as many attempts on the series and a league-best 33 on the year. He's 6-for-6 in theft tries against the Rocks on the year.

The rain delay lasted the league-minimum 30 minutes before play was suspended.

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