Stellar Pitching Secures Series Win for Wilmington in 2-0 Victory

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SAL Wilmington Blue Rocks

Stellar Pitching Secures Series Win for Wilmington in 2-0 Victory

May 17, 2025 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


WILMINGTON, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (14-24) defeated the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (13-23) by a final score of 2-0 on Saturday, May 17 at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium, marking the team's fourth win in their last five games.

The first half of the game was quiet, as both teams combined for just four hits heading into the bottom of the fifth. That's where the Blue Rocks' fortune changed, as after Caleb Lomavita reached base on a throwing error by Bryan Rincon, Branden Boissiere immediately stepped up to the plate and blasted a two-run home run to dead center, breaking the scoreless tie and giving Wilmington a 2-0 lead.

"It was huge, we needed to get something going," Boissiere said. "We were hitting the ball, just not at the right times, so I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and put it in play to help us win."

That's all the run support that the Rocks needed, as starting pitcher Riley Cornelio was dominant on the mound. In his first start back in Wilmington after a brief stint with the Harrisburg Senators, the 24-year-old tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out five, lowering his ERA to 3.03 on the season with the Blue Rocks.

"I was getting ahead early. They were aggressive coming up those first two innings which helped keep the pitch count down," Cornelio said. "Just continued to attack them when I could. It helped keep the defenders on their feet, they made some great plays tonight. Just able to get ahead of them and put them away when we needed to."

After that spot-start in AA, pitching coach Mark DiFelice was more than pleased to see Cornelio back on the bump in Wilmington.

"Riley's been working hard all year," DiFelice said. "He had an opportunity to pitch in AA his last start, and it went really well, so that gave him some confidence coming in tonight. We have a bullpen day tomorrow, so being able to go deep tonight was awesome, and only having to use one reliever out of the bullpen. Him [Cornelio] and Austin [Amaral] did a great job tonight, filling the zone, throwing strikes. Can't hope for more from an outing from Riley tonight."

Cornelio was lifted after throwing 88 pitches throughout those seven innings, which led to Amaral entering the game and picking up exactly where Cornelio left off, closing the game with two clean innings of work which included two strikeouts.

Boissiere led Wilmington's lineup, putting together a 2-4 evening at the plate which featured his game-deciding home run. Armando Cruz also tallied a multi-hit game, and the trio of Lomavita, Elijah Green, and Gavin Dugas all recorded singles as well.

The Blue Rocks have now secured their first series victory since late April, and will look to put the finishing touches on their 12-game homestand tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

"That's just baseball," Boissiere said. "It's tough. Just sticking with it everyday and coming out here and competing with each other. We're doing a good job of that this week."

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 17, 2025


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