Sports stats



CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Strousborger's Homer Hands Rocks Heartbreak

July 19, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Myrtle Beach, SC - Only once did the Wilmington Blue Rocks (45-48, 9-15) trail on Tuesday night. Alas, the lone deficit came as the game went final. Carolina League All-Star Ryan Strousborger's only hit was his eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot that cleared the bleachers in left field for a 6-4 Myrtle Beach win in 14 innings. While Wilmington lost its fifth straight game, the Pelicans (54-40, 14-11) won their sixth in a row and lifted their home record to a league best 32-12 (.727).

The Blue Rocks led 2-0 after Yem Prades, Tim Ferguson and Jose Bonilla combined on three straight two-out doubles in the fourth against southpaw Miguel De Los Santos. Jared Bolden's single got Myrtle Beach on the board in the bottom half of the frame before Nick Van Stratten doubled in a run to make it 3-1 a half-inning later.

Wilmington's first of two errors on the night, a throwing miscue by Deivy Batista, led to an unearned run in a two-run fifth that tied the game. David Paisano's infield hit sent one run in before the blunder plated Santiago Chirino from second during a sacrifice bunt by Leury Garcia.

Again, the Blue Rocks owned an advantage the next inning. Prades began things with a triple and Ferguson's groundout to shortstop got him home for a 4-3 lead. De Los Santos struck out eight men but allowed the four runs over his six innings of work to depart on the hook. Elisaul Pimentel lasted one inning longer, but also allowed four scores after Bolden's sacrifice fly to left tied it up in the seventh. Pimentel whiffed seven while walking only one.

Neither team would score again until Strausborger's blast, but both had their chances. Wilmington loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh and failed to score. That started a run of 12 straight Blue Rocks retired by the Pelicans' bullpen before a Chirino error and a Batista single put a go-ahead run in scoring position in the 11th against Joe Ortiz. A pair of infield hits bookended a sac bunt to begin the visiting 12th. Later, Ferguson received a two-out intentional walk before the team left the bases loaded for a second time on Bonilla's groundout to first.

The Pelicans got the bases loaded with one out in the eighth against Tim Melville, who then struck our Chirino and induced a fly-out to center by Paisano. A leadoff hit batter led to a minimum-faced 10th for Bryan Paukovits in the 10th. Kurt Mertins' third error coupled with a wild pitch by Paukovits to place Chirino at third with one out in the 11th. A very unique 4-2-5-1-6-4 fielder's choice followed off the bat of Paisano, who was stranded at third when Garcia struck out. The Pelicans placed two on with one out in the 12th only to strand them at second and third. In the final frame, Bolen singled with one out before Strausborger's death blow.

Ryan Kelly (3-4) tossed just one perfect inning, but the Pelicans' fifth hurler on the night secured the win. Dusty Odenbach (2-2) suffered the loss with 1.1 innings of work for the Blue Rocks. The home run is just the second allowed by the right-hander in 23 innings with Wilmington.

The four-game set continues at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday night. Wilmington right-hander Michael Mariot (5-2, 3.25) faces fellow righty Wilfredo Boscan (3-6, 4.50). Broadcast coverage begins at 6:35 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.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...

Carolina League Stories from July 19, 2011


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.

Other Recent Wilmington Blue Rocks Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central