CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Take Walk-Off Win in Extras

Published on June 19, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Winston-Salem Dash will have to wait at least one more day to celebrate. Jamie Romak's one-out single scored Eric Homser in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Wilmington Blue Rocks a 4-3 victory on Saturday night at Frawley Stadium. The Wilmington triumph, along with Salem's win over the Kinston Indians, means Winston-Salem's lead atop the Carolina League Southern Division is down to one game with just one contest remaining in the season's first half. The Rocks will have another chance to play spoiler on Sunday afternoon.

After Dash hurler Gregory Infante fanned Nick Francis to open the 10th, Hosmer drew a full count free pass. He then swiped his 10th bag of the season to move into scoring position. That allowed Romak's single, which deflected off the tip of shortstop Eduardo Escobar's glove and trickled into left field, to score Hosmer without a throw.

For a time it looked like the Dash might not even manage a single hit on Saturday. Buddy Baumann was making a spot start for Wilmington thanks to Friday night's doubleheader fouling up the Rocks' rotation. It turned out to be an incredible break for the Blue Crew, as Baumann tossed five hitless innings.

The left-hander retired each of the first 13 batters he faced, before finally issuing a one-out walk to Logan Johnson in the fifth. Baumann worked his way around that free pass by retiring the next two men up to end the inning. He fanned five and allowed only four fly balls in his five frames of work.

Wilmington tried to take advantage of Baumann's sterling outing by plating an unearned tally in the third. Patrick Norris opened the frame with a walk and went to second on Adrian Ortiz's subsequent bunt-single. The Rocks momentum seemed to stall when Francis grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, and Hosmer followed with a sharp grounder to first. But Johnson had the ball short-hop off his glove and bounce far enough away to let Hosmer reach safely and Norris come into score.

Henry Barrera replaced Baumann in the sixth and had initial success. The right-hander retired each of the first two batters he faced on one pitch, and jumped in front of Brandon Short, 1-2. But Short blooped a single up the right-field line for Winston-Salem's first hit of the night.

It seemed to open the flood gates for the Dash.

Short stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. He then came home on Escobar's sinking liner to left. The Dash shortstop wasted little time moving into scoring position as he quickly stole second despite a called pitchout by the Blue Crew. He came home one pitch later, as Jon Gilmore smashed an RBI double into the left-field corner. Ozzie Lewis followed with a run-scoring single, which gave the Dash a 3-1 advantage.

Wilmington was ready with an immediate response. Hosmer led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, and one out later, Rey Navarro lofted a fly ball to deep left that carried into the Winston-Salem bullpen. It was Navarro's third homer as a Blue Rock, and his second in a seven-day span against the Dash. Most importantly, it tied the game at, 3-3.

The bullpens settled down from that point forward, however. Kyle Bellamy tossed 3.2 scoreless frames for the Dash, fanning six while walking none. His Wilmington counterpart, Brendan Lafferty, pitched his way around danger in the ninth and 10th. Lafferty (1-1) moved a man into scoring position with one out in the ninth, but stranded him at third thanks to consecutive fly balls. One frame later he put two runners on with one down before inducing a 6-4-3 twin killing off the bat of Escobar.

The Dash will hope to celebrate on Sunday at Frawley Stadium, as the teams commemorate Father's Day with a 1:35 p.m. matinee. A Dash win or a Salem loss will clinch a postseason berth for Winston. The Rocks will send southpaw Ivor Hodgson (2-6, 5.61) to the mound, while Winston-Salem will counter with right-hander Terry Doyle (2-2, 3.82)

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Carolina League Stories from June 19, 2010


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