CarL1 Potomac Nationals

Rocks hand P-Nats season's worst loss

Published on August 30, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Potomac Nationals News Release


WILMINGTON, Del..- The night after experiencing the high of winning another half title, the Potomac Nationals were handed their worst defeat of the season, dropping Saturday night's contest to the Wilmington Blue Rocks 14-1.

It didn't take long for Wilmington to burry Potomac in an early hole. Jeff Bianchi led off the bottom of the second with a base hit to left field. Josh Johnson followed by hitting a ground ball to second. Matt Rogelstad fielded the ball cleanly and fired to Dan Lyons at second base in an effort to turn a double play, but Lyons couldn't hold on to the ball long enough to get the out on Bianchi and was charged with an error.

The Blue Rocks took advantage of the extra out as Anthony Seratelli followed a Kurt Mertins walk to load the bases with a base hit to left-center plating the first run of the game. Nationals' starter Hassan Pena (2-2) then walked Jeff Howell to drive in another run making it 2-0. Mertins came in to score a ground ball double play off of the bat of Jarod Dyson to add another run. Derrick Robinson then doubled to left-center driving in Seratelli with the fourth run of the frame. Robinson hustled in from second on an Adrian Ortiz infield single making it 5-0 Rocks.

Wilmington added another run in the third as Pena was flagged for a balk with Bianchi at third base to increase Potomac's deficit to 6-0.

Matt Rogelstad took advantage of Wilmington starter Mario Santiago's wildness in the top of the fourth. After the right-hander walked the first two batters he faced in the inning, Santiago gave up a RBI single to Rogelstad getting the P-Nats on the board and cutting the lead to 6-1. Santiago then hit Francisco Plasencia to load the bases with just one out, but Michael Burgess struck out swinging and Stephen King struck out looking to end the inning. Potomac manager Randy Knorr was ejected by home plate umpire Will Little for arguing King's called third strike.

The Blue Rocks added another run in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out RBI single from Bianchi, his third hit in as many innings, to regain a six-run advantage at 7-1.

Wilmington turned the game into a laugher as the Rocks plated seven runs on just four hits in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of Martin Beno's five walks and a King error, making it 14-1.

The loss was Potomac's worst of the season, topping a 14-3 thumping by the Lynchburg Hillcats on June 3.

After tossing 7 2/3 scoreless innings in a 10-0 shutout win over the Salem Avalanche on Monday, Pena was charged with seven runs of which only three were earned, on nine hits in just five innings. Santiago (8-8) picked up his first win since July 2, limiting the P-Nats to just the one run on only four hits over six innings of work. Russ Haltiwanger tossed the final three innings and was credited with a save.

The P-Nats will resume their four-game series with the Rocks on Sunday as right-hander Jeff Mandel (6-5, 3.73) gets the start opposite left-hander Everett Teaford (8-6, 3.86). First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.

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Carolina League Stories from August 30, 2008


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