CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Walk-Off Wild Pitch Wins It for Wilmington

Published on May 25, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks earned their first walk-off win of the 2011 season in unorthodox fashion on Wednesday afternoon at Frawley Stadium. Yem Prades scored from third as an attempted pitch-out from Frederick reliever Sean Gleason got by catcher Brian Ward, and the Rocks had a 6-5 come-from-behind victory.

Prades began the final frame with a double that snuck just inside the third-base chalk. He was then sacrificed to third on a perfect bunt by Tim Ferguson. Evidently the Keys thought another bunt was coming, as they called for the pitch-out that ended the game.

The win was made possible by a three-run eighth inning from the Blue Crew.

Down 5-2, Ferguson opened the eighth with a soft liner to left off Frederick starter Oliver Drake. A wild pitch moved him to second and then a grounder to the right side of the infield advanced him to third with one out. Jose Bonilla legged out an RBI infield single that cut the deficit to 5-3. That was all for Drake, who got the hook in favor of Gleason.

Whit Merrifield followed with a bloop-single to left and then Carlo Testa, who had struck out in each of his first three trips to the plate, laced an opposite-field ground-rule double over the wall in left-center. Testa's big bop plated Bonilla and put men at second and third with only one out. With a base open, Frederick elected to intentionally walk Rey Navarro and pitch to John Whittleman. The third baseman made him pay with a game-tying sacrifice fly to deep-center.

Brendan Lafferty entered in the top of the ninth and retired all three batters he faced. The effort was enough to give Lafferty (1-1) his first win of the year.

Wilmington gets a day off on Thursday before embarking on a seven-game two-city road trip that opens Friday in Myrtle Beach. First pitch of Friday 's contest with the Pelicans is slated for

7:05 p.m. Jake Odorizzi (4-0, 2.28) hits the hill for the Rocks against Myrtle Beach right-hander Wilfredo Boscan (0-2, 6.75). 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.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Carlo Testa continues to excel in the two-spot of manager Brian Rupp's batting order. Testa had another extra-base knock on Wednesday and finished the six-game homestand 11-for-24 with five extra-base hits and seven RBIs. Since being elevated to second in the lineup, Testa is hitting .359 (23-for-64) with 11 extra-base hits and 12 RBIs in 17 games.

Jose Bonilla's incredible month of May continued on Wednesday. The catcher went 2-for-3 and added two RBIs during the Rocks' 6-5 win. After hitting just .191 (9-for-47) during April, Bonilla is batting an impressive .372 (16-for-43) in May. With the victory, the Rocks improved to 19-6 in games when he starts behind the plate.

Frederick's struggles in clutch spots continued on Wednesday as it failed 10 times with runners in scoring position. The Keys batted just .171 (6-for-35) in those situations during the three-game series at Frawley Stadium.

Delaware native Tyler Townsend, who starred at Cape Henlopen High School, had a big weekend in his return to the First State with Frederick. Townsend went 4-for-4 with an RBI in Wednesday's loss at finished the three-game set, 7-for-13 with two extra-base hits three RBIs, and a run scored.

The Blue Rocks earned their first walk-off win of the season as well as their first rubber-match victory of the campaign. Wilmington had been 0-4 in each scenario entering Wednesday. The victory increased the Blue Crew's lead in the division to four games over Frederick.

Check out the Wilmington Blue Rocks Statistics

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



Carolina League Stories from May 25, 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.

OurSports Central