Wilmington Wins 8-0 in Wet Fayetteville

June 2, 2015 - Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Wilmington Sharks News Release


In a game with on-and-off rain showers and a 27-minute rain delay in Fayetteville, the Wilmington Sharks (4-2) picked up their fourth consecutive victory after defeating the SwampDogs (3-3) by a score of 8-0 Tuesday night. The Sharks tallied eleven hits on the evening, with four Sharks having two each. Wilmington's first shutout of the season was the cumulative effort of six Sharks pitchers. The victory was Wilmington's first win in Fayetteville since July 29th, 2013.

Wilmington got the offensive ball rolling in the top of the second, following a leadoff walk issued to Joe Bialkowski (Georgetown), who would move up to second on a wild pitch. A John Fallon (Harvard) single up the middle would score Bialkowski.

Sharks starter, Hunter Smith, took the mound knowing he would see limited action, being placed on a pitch count by Coach Parker Bangs to allow Smith to safely recover from a minor injury. Smith produced three solid innings, allowing a single hit, walking one, and striking out three SwampDogs.

Hayes Nelson (Longwood) and Sam Foy (Davidson) singled to lead off the fourth. Fallon would ground into a double play, giving the SwampDogs two outs, but moving Nelson up to third. Nelson would score easily on a wild pitch.

Wilmington carried their 2-0 lead into the seventh, supported by the pitching efforts of Cory Herndon (Central Arkansas), Bill Little (Erskine College), and Mike Castellani (Bucknell). Each pitcher would contribute at least an inning of work, with each relenting one hit. Considering Hunter Smith did not throw the required five innings to qualify for the win, it was rewarded to Cory Herndon. Tyler Jones (Wichita State) and Brian Fortier (Davidson) would pitch the eighth and ninth, taking care of business by striking out two and one respectively.

While the Sharks picked up an insurance run in the seventh following a Nick Rotola (Oral Roberts) RBI sac-fly, it was the ninth inning that was the difference Tuesday night. With one out, John Fallon collected his second hit of the evening on a single to left field, and would promptly scamper to second on a wild pitch from SwampDogs reliever Deese. An error by the third baseman would put Robbins on first and Fallon on third, and the Sharks smelled blood in the water.

Nick Rotola put one up the middle on a ball that could have ended the inning, but a favorable hop put the baseball into the outfield, scoring Fallon and Robbins to give Rotola 3 RBIs on the night. Brett Smith (Bucknell) coaxed Deese into a two-out walk to put runners on first and second, and a successful double would move each runner up a base. Alex Destino (S. Carolina) drove the 0-2 fastball to right field, clearing the fence for the first home run hit by a Wilmington Shark for the 2015 season. Destino's homer in the ninth extended his hitting streak to four games.

The Wilmington Sharks host the Peninsula Pilots Wednesday night, weather permitting. Wednesday night will be the first "Wild Wing Wednesday" of the season, where fans can take advantage of 50 €šÂµ wing specials.



Coastal Plain League Stories from June 2, 2015


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