CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Rocks Win, But Suffer Elimination

Published on September 4, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (67-69, 35-31) might have been eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday night, but they went down fighting. The Rocks responded to a two-run first-inning deficit with a five-run bottom half of the frame, batting around en route to a 6-3 double-up of the Frederick Keys (71-67, 30-38). Alas, the Potomac Nationals also proved victorious in game one of their doubleheader against Kinston, 2-0, clinching the second-half Northern Division title and the playoff spot. Wilmington will miss postseason play for just the fourth time in its 18 years of Carolina League action.

Starter Will Smith (4-1) allowed just one earned run over seven innings to post a win. A Christian Colon error led to two unearned runs against Smith though in the opening frame and a 2-0 hole.

In the bottom half of the inning, Adrian Ortiz homered to spark an impressive rally. His wind-aided mammoth moonshot cleared the right-field fence by a considerable margin and bounded over 40 feet in the air in the parking lot. Wil Myers' RBI single, an Eddie Prasch bases-loaded walk, Rey Navarro's run-scoring single and a Patrick Norris sacrifice fly each accounted for single tallies in the same frame as Wilmington batted around in grabbing a 5-2 lead.

In the fourth, starter Ryan O'Shea (7-8) walked Ortiz at the start and tossed two wild pitches, the second of which plated Ortiz for a 6-2 score. Bobby Stevens singled in Jonathan Schoop in the Frederick fifth to round out the scoring.

Kevin Chapman tossed two scoreless innings behind Smith for his first professional save in his first attempt. He struck out the side in the ninth.

The Blue Rocks' final series of the season continues on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. Right-hander Tim Melville (2-12, 4.96) will oppose righty Kenny Moreland (2-2, 5.04). Gates open at 12:30 p.m. The activities include a rock, paper, scissors tournament and Zumba Day, with instructions and dancing for Zumba. Also, before the game, a pre-game parent-child catch will be held on the field, a pre-game autograph session will take place on the concourse, and on the field post-game a run the bases for kids will round out the day.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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



Carolina League Stories from September 4, 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