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CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Smash Dash In 11-10 Slugfest

April 24, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Winston-Salem, NC - Most days, a 7-1 lead feels safe regardless of when a team grabs it. On a warm and windy Easter Sunday in Winston-Salem, NC, that second-inning margin did not make for nearly the usual confidence. A softball-like slugfest saw the Wilmington Blue Rocks' lead whittled down to one, but never erased in an 11-10 win over the Dash (7-9). The teams' combined for 27 hits including 15 for extra bases as the first-place Blue Rocks (11-5) took three of four on the series.

Only one run-scoring led factored into a three-run first frame for the Blue Crew, Nick Francis' double. The other scores came on a bases-loaded bruise taken by Tim Ferguson and an RBI fielder's choice courtesy of Jose Bonilla.

A Daniel Wagner triple and one-out whiff of Jared Mitchell combined to put the Dash on the board in the bottom half of the inning. Wagner took two hard steps toward the plate on the ball in the dirt. As Mitchell bolted for first, Bonilla stared down Wagner before throwing to first to complete the strikeout. Wagner then bolted for the plate and scored on a bouncing throw from first baseman Joey Lewis.

Wilmington loaded the bases with two outs against Justin Collop (0-2) in the second. The last of those ducks on the pond came when Francis reached on fielder's choice that did not produce an out. Alex McClure barely evaded a tag try en route to third base while coming dangerously close to running out of the baseline. John Whittleman made the missed tag cost the Dash when he socked the next pitch to right-center for the team's first grand slam of the season and a 7-1 margin.

However, Winston-Salem would score four of the game's next five runs. The run included a two-run homer by Austin Yount in the bottom of the second, an RBI groundout by former University of Delaware star Kyle Davis in the fourth and a solo homer from Nick Cioli that same frame.

During that time Nick Francis powered his team-leading fourth homer of the year over the left-center fence in the fourth, a solo shot. Whittleman doubled in his fifth RBI of the game in the sixth and Whit Merrifield singled in a score the next inning before the Dash made its push.

In the bottom of the seventh, all nine men in the lineup came to the plate against reliever Kevin Chapman, combining for four runs on four hits and a pair of walks. Prospect first baseman Andy Wilkins delivered the big blow with a fly ball to right that went off the glove of Francis in right for a base hit and a subsequent error in chasing down the loose ball. Two runs scored on the play to make it a one-run game, 10-9.

Chapman settled though, inducing a pop out to short from Yount and striking out Davis to strand a pair of men on the bases.

Ferguson helped his hurlers out with a line-drive two-out homer to left the next inning, his second of the series and season. The run proved pivotal when Iac Gac tattooed a more than 400-foot homer to left against lefty Ryan Dennick in the ninth. However, the solo shot made it 11-10, and Dennick rebounded.

He absorbed a hard comeback liner from Wilkins of his calf, but rallied to retired him at first base. Yount then flied out to center to end the game as Dennick recorded his first save as a Blue Rock. Starter Elisaul Pimentel (2-0) got the win with six innings of five-run ball.

The Blue Rocks' eight-game road trip shifts to Lynchburg, VA for a four-game set starting on Monday at 6:05 p.m. Wilmington right-hander Tim Melville (1-2, 5.02) gets the ball in the opener against fellow righty Arodys Vizcaino (1-1, 2.93). Broadcast coverage begins at 5:35 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.

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