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UD/ DE HS and DE Ath News and Blue Rocks

ATTENTION: SPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 2014

CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580
Stumpf's Gem Spoiled As Dash Hand Blue Rocks Their First Shutout Loss Of The Season
Lefty Allowed One Run And Struck Out Five Over 5.2 Innings

Wilmington, DE -
After the Wilmington Blue Rocks shut out the Winston Salem Dash in two
consecutive games, the Dash returned the favor Saturday by blanking the
Rocks 1-0 in a closely contested ballgame. Daniel Stumpf turned
in the third straight stellar outing by a Wilmington starting pitcher
Saturday. He pitched 5.2 innings, struck out five and allowed just one
run on six hits. With the loss, the Blue Crew falls back to two games
below the .500 mark.

Like Christian Binford
the night before, Stumpf worked quickly on the mound and was able to
establish a rhythm early in the ballgame. The first ? and only ? run he
allowed Saturday came on a two-out RBI double in the third inning by
Dash shortstop Tim Anderson. The two-bagger plated third baseman Nick
Basto, who had singled to lead off the frame and advanced to second on a
wild pitch by Stumpf. Basto's run snapped a string of 21.2 scoreless
innings by Blue Rocks pitching.

Wilmington
had two scoring chances off of Winston-Salem starter Mike Recchia and
failed to convert either of them. In the bottom of the third inning, Beau Maggi drew a one-out walk in his first plate appearance since being activated off of the disabled list earlier in the week. After Kenny Diekroeger flew out to right for the second out, Raul A. Mondesi pulled a double into the right field corner. Manager Darryl Kennedy gave
Maggi the green light to try and score from first, but a perfect relay
throw to the plate gunned down Maggi to retire the side and keep the
Rocks off the board.

In the sixth inning[/URL], a Diekroeger single and walks to Mondesi and Hunter Dozier loaded the bases with two outs for Johermyn Chavez.
Dash manager Tommy Thompson elected to remove Recchia from the game for
reliever Euclides Leyer. Chavez then hit a slow chopper up the third
base line and was thrown out on a fantastic defensive play by Basto to
retire the side. Basto bare-handed the ball and then fired an
off-balance strike to first to get Chavez.
Stumpf
(0-2, 3.52) took the tough-luck loss Sunday while Mike Recchia (1-1,
6.48), who pitched 5.2 scoreless innings and struck out seven, picked up
his first win of the season for the Dash. Jarrett Casey recorded the
final two outs of the game for Winston-Salem to notch his second save of
the season.
The Blue Rocks return to action Monday night as they wrap up a four-game series against the Winston-Salem Dash. Southpaw Sean Manaea (0-1,
8.10) will make his second start of the season for Wilmington, while
right-hander J.B. Wendelkin (1-1, 3.27) will take the bump for the Dash.
First pitch for the series finale is slated for 6:35 p.m., and fans can
listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. For ticket information, call
302-888-BLUE.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Cody Stubbs saw
his six-game hitting streak come to an end Sunday with an 0-for-4
performance at the plate. Stubbs has quietly established himself as one
of Wilmington's most consistent and productive hitters. Sunday's loss
was the first time this season that Stubbs appeared in a game but failed
to record a base hit. With the 0-for-4 day, Stubbs' batting average
fell from .364 to .308. However, his six-game hitting streak remains a
Blue Rocks season high. Mondesi returned to the Wilmington lineup Sunday
and lashed a double into the right field corner in the third inning to
extend his own hitting streak to five games. He had missed the previous
two ballgames after getting hit by a pitch on Thursday.

As
a team, the Blue Rocks have stolen 14 bases this season, which puts
them atop the Carolina League in the stolen base department. The Potomac
Nationals currently sit in second place with 12 steals as a team. What
really stands out, though, is that not a single Wilmington base stealer
has been thrown out; the Blue Crew is a perfect 14-for-14 on the
basepaths. Terrance Gore currently leads the Rocks in stolen bases with four. Jack Lopez, Diekroeger and Mondesi
are tied for second on the team with three steals apiece. After swiping
a bag Sunday, Diekroeger has now stolen a base in three consecutive
games. The final Wilmington steal belongs to Tyler Chism, who is currently on the disabled list.

Blue Rocks starting pitching has been stellar during the first three games of this weekend's series against Winston-Salem. Jonathan Dziedzic opened
up the four-game set by tossing six shutout innings on Friday and
striking out eight. Saturday, Binford topped Dziedzic's totals in
innings and in strikeouts when he threw seven shutout innings and struck
out ten. Though Stumpf did not manage to keep Winston-Salem off the
board Sunday, his 5.2 innings pitched, five strikeouts and one run
allowed continued the trend of great Blue Rocks starting pitching.
Dziedzic, Binford and Stumpf posted a combined 0.49 ERA and walked just
two over the 18.2 innings they spent on the mound during the past three
ballgames.

Prior
to Saturday's 1-0 loss to Winston-Salem, Wilmington had not been shut
out in 2014. The Blue Rocks' last shutout loss came on on August 29,
2013, in game one of a doubleheader against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
In that seven-inning contest, the Pelicans handed the Blue Crew a 3-0
loss as the trio of Alex Gonzalez, Randol Rojas and Tyler Smith managed
to keep the Rocks off the board and hold Vance Wilson's squad to
just two hits. No current Blue Rocks appeared in that game. The last
time Wilmington was shut out in a full nine-inning game came three days
earlier, when the Potomac Nationals beat the Rocks 2-0. Potomac's
starting pitcher that day, Paul Demny, pitched six shutout innings,
while Greg Holt, Colin Bates and Robert Benincasa kept the Blue Crew off
of the board during the final three frames. The Blue Rocks had six hits
that night, and Lopez, the team's current second baseman, was
responsible for two of them.

THEY SAID IT:

Manager Darryl Kennedy:

"The
biggest play of the day was that little chopped base hit down the third
base line. The third baseman comes in and bare-hands and throws a
strike to first base. That was a big play and really that was our only
scoring opportunity of the game. It's hard to win with only three hits.
Our pitching and our defense was still there; we just need to get some
timely hits."

"I
thought [Daniel Stumpf] did a very good job. He faced those guys last
time and they got him pretty good. He only threw two innings, I think,
that day. He went out there today and did a much better job, went deep
in the game for us. Ali [Williams] came in and did a great job. [Kyle] Bartsch right there in the ninth inning gave us a chance to win the ballgame."

Starting Pitcher Daniel Stumpf:

"I
felt like I was working the zone. I was still up a little bit but I
didn't feel like it hurt me as much. That was my main deal. My off-speed
was working. Also, being able to get ahead a little bit let me throw my
off-speed more than I did the other day."

"[My]
first start I was a little amped up and was really fast. My times to
the plate were super fast, especially for being from the left side. I
think I was throwing like a 1.1 to home plate. I had runners on, I
wasn't loading so I'd get up in the zone, I'd get in hitter's counts and
then I'd give up a little hit or I'd ending up giving up a ground ball.
But, I mean, getting in a hitter's count is going to run your pitch
count up and you're not going to be able to last long. That was a prime
example of it the other day against Winston-Salem with 2 innings. That
was my main problem there."
 
Delaware High School Spring Sports Recaps for 4-17-14


Baseball-Austin
Sawyer was 1-2 with a run scored. Mike McCracken had 9 strikeouts in a
winning effort to pace Conrad to a 11-7 win over Brandywine. Paul Groome
was 2-2 with a triple for Brandywine.


Oliver
Campbell earned his 2'nd win of the season as his record goes to
2-1, allowing 2 hits and an unearned run strking out 4 Westtown batters
as Tatnall prevailed 15-1. Campbell also added 2 hits and 3 rbi.
Peyton Keen was 2-4 with 3 rbi. Zach Roseman was 3-4 with 2 rbi. Brandon
Goodge added 2 hits and 2 rbi.

An impressive
two-way performance from CJ Morton led the Rams to a 11-1 win Thursday
over Howard, as CJ came up huge at the dish and on the mound. CJ racked
up three RBIs on two hits for the Rams. CJ had eight strikeouts while
allowing one earned run on two hits and one walk over four innings. Ryan
Devine also contributed two hits for Dickinson and Troy Thomas doubled
in the lone run for Howard in the third inning. Freshmen Duncan Stevens
and John Morganstern recorded their first high school varsity hits for
Dickinson.


A.I. duPont defeated Mt.
Pleasant 9-0 behind a tremendous pitching performance by Connor Pijuan.
Pijuan hurled a no-hitter while strking out 12. He didn't allow a
baserunner until the 6th when the leadoff man reached on an error. At
the plate Pete Gillette went 2-2 and scored twice. Gilbert Peralta made
several good defensive plays in the game for Mt. Pleasant.

Billy
Stranahan and Will Barrier each had a double and RBI's, while Chase
Houck had 2 RBI's as Newark held on to win over Glasgow 9-8. John Conner
picked up the save for Newark. Mike Hand had 3 hits and 2 RBI's for
Glasgow.

Tim Miller had 4 hits and scored 3
runs. Jeff Wood had 2 hits for Charter as they defeated William Penn
12-2 and Brandon Dooley had a hit for the Colonials.

Salesianum's
Chad Harbaugh had the only extra base hit and scored off of an RBI
single by Joe Coyle as they defeated St. Elizabeth 1-0. Kyle Hinton
pitched a no-hitter. St. Elizabeth's pitcher, Jared Harrison, allowed
only three hits and one run in six innings of work.

Julian
Kurych drove in the winning runs with a two-out double in the top of
the 7th inning to lead Appoquinimink past Middletown 4-2. Chris Hurd
picked up the win in relief, and Brett Willett had two hits and scored
two runs for the Jaguars. Spencer Harbert had two hits and scored two
runs for Middletown.

Offensively, the Hawks had
Sean McGrath and Shane Feehery contribute 2 hits and 2 RBIs each. Bryan
Porter had 2 RBIs and Chandler Foulk had 2 hits. Bradley Ulmer pitched
five innings giving up 2 hits as St. Georges defeated McKean 12-2.

Chad
Bell led the Hodgson offense with 2 hits, 2 rbi, and 2 runs scored as
they defeated Christiana 9-1. Shawn Pacana added 2 hits and Billy
Becker had 2 rbi's. Scott Henry had a hit and rbi for Christiana.

Brannon
McHugh led the Concord offense with two hits and three RBI's to pace
Concord to a 10-1 win over Delcastle. Tommy Welch added two doubles and
two runs scored. Bailey Matthews had a RBI single for Delcastle.

Henry
Gise hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 8th to lift the Quakers
to the win an 5-4 win over St. Andrews. Gise finished with 3 hits and
picked up the win on the mound in relief. Scott Davis threw 5 strong
innings for the Quakers, striking out 7.Will Brown struck out 11 in the
loss.

Winning pitcher Eddie Moore tossed a
three hitter to record the pitching win as his record goes to 1-0 to
pace Delmar to a 12-1 win over Washington High School of MD.

The
Spartans scored five runs in the fifth inning taking a 6-3 lead. Billy
Phillips had a single with 2 RBI S and Tommy Freeland had a 2 RBI
triple all in the fifth. Billy Phillips pitched 6 innings striking out
9. Connor Corbitt had two hits for Caravel.

4-14-14:The A.I. duPont Tigers, behind the strong pitching performance of Brian Kasey defeated St. Georges 3-1 in the championship game of the Tiger Classic. Kasey went the distance allowing 2 hits while striking out 9. Andrew Tunnell drove home the go ahead run for the Tigers in the 4th. Corey Alaburda followed with a suicide squeeze to complete the scoring
for A.I. Tyler Campbell pitched 6 strong innings for St. Georges, scattering 5 hits.

4-13-14 (CR) Quinton Ivy 2-2, Grand Slam, 5 RBIs, 2 runs scored. Seth Brosius 2-3, 2 RBIs. CR to a 17-5 win over the Indians of IR) Colby Dean 2-3, 2 HRs, 2 RBIs, 2 runs scored

Kai Vitella pitched a 2-hitter for the win while going 2 for 3 with 2 doubles. Jon Warren added a pair of RBI's and 2 hits. Cape hitters had 9 extra base hits. Travis Nealy added a double for Laurel. Cape defeated Laurel 14-0

Dover's Tyler Cullen pitched a complete game shutout with 8 strikeouts to pick up the conference win for the Senators in a 5-0 win over the Eagles of Smyrna. Dover's Kendall Small was 3 for 3 and had 3 RBI. Jordan Hutchins also had 3 hits with 3 runs and Tevin Thomas chipped in with 2 hits. Smyrna's Justin Jones contribute a double for the Eagles.

:CJ Baker Piteched six innings with 8 strikeouts for the win a 10-2 win over Milford. Baker also added a two run homerun in the fifth. Adrian Hill was 3-4 with a homerun and 3 rbis and Tre Obermire was 2-2 for the panthers. Dustin Reeder added a two run homerun for milford in the fourth

Matt Fleming pitched a complete game 6 hitter to pick up the win for Newark in a 12-2 win over Red Lion Christian. Fleming also had 3 hits including a triple and 3 RBI's. Billy Stranahan had 2 doubles and 5 RBI's. JT MacDonnell, Connor Knight, and Will Barrier had 2 hits each. For RCLA Jacob Stollings had 2 hits inlcluding a double and 2 RBI's.

The Hawks were led offensively by Shane Feehery's 2 hits, 2, RBIs, and 2 runs scored. Sean McGrath and Quenton Hamrick chipped in 3 hits a piece as they defeated Dickinson 7-1. The Hawks will play tomorrow at 3:30 at AI for the Tiger Classic Championship.

Matt Smith picked up the win on the mound, going 6 innings with 5 strikeouts and giving up only 2 hits. Zach Swain singled and doubled for the Hillers a 6-2 win over Milford. Garret Coverdale had a hit and two RBI's for Milford.

Steven Clavier pitched 6 strong innings and scattered 5 hits to lead the Riders to a 6-1 win over Middletown. Travis Dill was 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBIs. Steven Clavier and Seth Brosius each had doubles and an RBI while Gabe Rivera added an RBI. Chandler Swalm was 2 for 4 for the Cavaliers. Robert Pitroli, Colin Peluse, and Chris Whitlock each had hits for MIddletown.

Shawn Dulin earned the victory over a 3-2 win over Newark. Corey Everage led Smyrna with 3 hits including a double, and run scored. Nolan Henderson also had 2 hits and 2 rbi's. Billy Stranahan had 2 hits including a double and homerun for Newark.

Cape Henlopen battters combined for five hits in the top of the first inning, resulting in five runs for a 5-3 win over Salesianum. Alec McCoy gave a solid performance pitching a complete game and earning the win. Chad Harbaugh went 2 for 3 and Dan Garner went 2 for 2 with a double for Salesianum. Joe Coyle pitched 7 innings allowing only 3 hits and no runs.

Ben Woodring pitched a three-hit, complete game shutout for Sanford a 5-0 win over Tatnall and was facing only 24 batters. Eric Duerr had two RBIs for Sanford.

Aaron Holiday went the distance for RLCA striking out six and giving up 2 runs and defeated Howard 12-2. Daniel McNeil led the Lions offense with 3 runs scored and a double. Jacob Couden and Troy Thomas both went 2-3 at the plate for Howard.

Shawn Pacana led the Hodgson offense with 3 hits including a double and triple, 5 rbi's and 3 runs scored as they defeated Brandeywine 13-3. Joey Nepi added 2 hits and Brandon Walter had 2 rbi. Brandywine's Chris Mako had 2 hits and 3 rbi and Joe Wahl had 2 hits

Connor Pijuan struck out 7 and allowed only 2 earned runs in going 6 strong innings for the Tigers in the first round of the Tiger Classic Tournament as they defeated St. Elizabeth 6-2. Regan Hidalgo pitched a scoreless 7th for A.I. Pijuan also had a big day at the plate, hitting 2 doubles and driving in 2 runs. Corey Alaburda had 2 hits including a double for A.I. William Vernon had 3 hits for St. E's. A.I. will play St. Georges Sunday at 3:00pm in the championship game.

4-11-14 The Glasgow Dragons defeated the Highlanders of McKean by a 25-1 victory on Friday at McKean High School. A two-run triple by Raymond Mangold, and a two-run double by Mike Davis during the second inning supplied the early offense for Glasgow Dragons Varsity. Mike Davis racked up five RBIs on three hits for Glasgow Dragons Varsity.Wayne's 10 strikeouts helped Glasgow Dragons Varsity to the victory. Wayne allowed no earned runs, four hits and one walk over five innings.
Glasgow Dragons

Josh Oliphant led the Knights offensively with a 3 run blast as well as a sac fly as Sussex Central defeated Woodbridge by a 10-1 score. Robbie Marcelle and Brian Carroll pitched in with 2 hits a piece. Dustin Reynolds earned his first win of the year pitching 5 strong innings. The Raiders were led by Christopher Eck and Justin Hignutt who both went 2-3 on the day.

William Jarrell threw 7.2 strong innings for the Vikings allowing 7 hits and striking out 5 to pick up the win as Cape Henlopen defeated Seaford by a 4-3 score. Cape Henlopen was lead at the plate by David Kennedy who homered and scored twice. Bruce Mosley went the distance for Seaford allowing 4 hits and striking out 3. Mosley also lead the Blue Jays at the plate collecting 2 hits and scoring twice. Adam Absher also chipped in 2 hits for Seaford.

Sussex Tech had a strong offensive game, led by Wyatt Richardson with 2 doubles and Derek Magee with 2 HR’s including a grand slam and 9 RBI’s to pace Sussex Tech to a 17-0 win over Indian River. Richardson also pitched 3 strong innings, giving up 2 hits with 6 strikeouts. The Indians were led by Edward Hogan, Avery McCormick and Joseph Anderson who all had a hit each.

Sanford defeated Tatnall by a 6-2 score as Warrior pitcher pitcher Cody Denham 3-0 threw a complete game three-hitter for the win. Denham also had a HR. Jake Freeman had a triple, a single, two runs scored and two RBI. Tatnall pitcher Brandon Goodge had 11 K's.

Archmere rallied from behind late in the game to win 11-10. Kevin Reardon drove in Andrew Orzel in the 5th inning. A 3-run Home Run from Sean Deely in the 6th inning cut the gap. The Auks scored 6 in the Bottom of the 7th inning with Vinnie Manetti getting the game winning RBI.

Jonathan Harris, Maxwell Carney, and Christopher Scorziello each had 2 hits for Concord. Carney, Thomas Welch, and Brannon McHugh all had 2 RBI's a piece.

Evan Moser Pitched 6 Innings for Concord Striking out 3

Joey Voge, Derek Calabrese, Andrew Orzel, and Kevin Reardon all had 2 hits in the game for the Auks.

Andrew Orzel 1-0 pitched 3 solid innings in relief, striking out 4 to get the Win

4-18-14 Baseball Sussex Central scored 5 runs in the 5th inning to help beat the Caesar Rodney 6-2. The Knights had six hits in the fifth. Brian Carroll was 2 for 3 with and RBI and MIchael Williams was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Justin Mears and Robert Macelle each had two hits.The Riders were lead offensively by Quintin Ivy who was 2 for 4 Seth Brosius and Gabe Rivera each added hits. River and Steven Clavier each had an RBI for the Riders.

4-19-14-Cole Wenzel's RBI single in the bottom of the 7th plated Harry Quimby
for the game winning run. Matt Smith picked up the win, scattering 4
hits with 6 strikeouts. Wenzel and Pat Fagan had two hits each for the
Hillers. Matt Lupton had two hits for Sanford.

In the second game of the doubleheader at Ruly Carpenter Stadium, Brendan Harris picked up his third win of the season as his record goes to 3-0 throwing a one it
shutout with 7 strikeouts to pace Tower Hill to a 2-0 win over Sanford. After a lead off Double by Sanfords' Jake
Freeman, Harris retired 21 out of the next 22 hitters.

Hodgson-Brandon Walter pitched a complete game allowing two hits while
striking out 13 in a dominating performance. Cody Meddings had 3 hits to pace Hodgson to a 1-0 win over DMA.
DMA- Trampas Henderson pitched a complete game scattering seven hits
while striking out 6 in the loss.

Billy Stranahan pitched a 5 hitter leading Newark to the win a 13-2 victory over Mt. Pleasant. For
Newark, Will Barrier and Chase Houck each had 3 hits and 3 rbi's.
Gianluca Stanchi, and Gilbert Peralta each had 2 hits for Mt. Pleasant.


Jon Steele picked up the win while striking out 6. Chris Sipple was 3-3
and Logan Simpson hit his second homerun of the season a 5-1 win over the Rams of Dickinson. For Dickinson,
Anthony Ratasiewicz had 2 hits.

This post was edited on 4/19 1:47 AM by dawrestling

This post was edited on 4/19 10:56 PM by dawrestling
 
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Department of Intercollegiate Athletics




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: DAVE WHIGHAM

443-235-6647
APRIL 14, 2014




STEPHEN BULL CLAIMS TWO NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Senior goes 15-for-22 (.681) in five games, 10-for-10 at one point to fall just short of NCAA
record


TUCSON, Ariz. -It was a historic week for senior outfielder Stephen Bull (Millsboro, Del.) and he was rewarded on
Monday afternoon, as two different publications selected him as a National Player of the Week. The achievement is the first
in the history of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball program after he was named a Louisville Slugger
National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball and NCAA.com Player of the Week, it was announced today.


His accolades come after he went 15-for-22 across a five-game span. Bull was one of four players named by Collegiate
Baseball and he claimed NCAA.com Player of the Week laurels after hitting .681 to lead the Hawks to their first three-game
win streak since 2012.


"It's hard to find words of how excited and appreciative I am to receive these honors," said Bull. "I really just thank God
for it all."


The senior fell just four hits shy of the NCAA Division I record for most consecutive hits after he was 10-for-10 between
four games. He is currently riding a 19-game hit streak that dates back until March 2nd and has atleast three hits in five of
the past nine games.

He highlighted his week with a 5-for-5 performance against Navy, where he had two RBI and one run to lead the Hawks to
their first sweep of the Midshipmen in program history. Bull was also 4-for-4 with three runs in Saturday's 6-5 victory over
Norfolk State. He finished the NSU series going 9-for-12 with two doubles and six runs.

Courtesy of his phenomenal week, Bull saw his batting average rise .78 points from .258 to .336. He was also a force in
centerfield with several big catches in the gaps. He posted 19 putouts altogether, including a season-high eight on
Wednesday in the Hawks' 8-7 win vs. Navy.
 
SUBJECT: Winning Streak Snapped but No. 20 Wilmington Baseball Earns CACC Split, 0-2 and 1-0, at Felician
DATE: April 14, 2014
djl
LYNDHURST, N.J. - - The No. 20 Wilmington University baseball team saw its 10-game winning streak snapped but came back to split a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader, 0-2 and 1-0, at Felician to remain in second place on Monday at Lyndhurst Recreation.
Felician's (18-14, 10-4 CACC) Jerry Vasto silenced the bats of the Wildcats (24-5-1, 13-3 CACC) in the opener, as the Wildcats were only able to collect three hits. The Wildcats fought back behind the arm of Frank Samluk in game two, capturing a seventh inning run to earn the doubleheader split in the nightcap.
Wilmington's starter Ray Gambone went the distance in the first game, striking seven batters out while allowing three walks and eight hits. Felician picked up an early run and that was all Vasto needed as he struck out nine batters without issuing a walk in the complete game shutout.
With one out in the first, the Golden Falcons put the next three batters on base, getting an RBI double down the right field line by Joe Petosa. Gambone battled back to get the next two batters on strikeouts to end the threat and leave two runners on.
The Golden Falcons added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth, as Petosa was at it again with a double, this time of the ground-rule variety to score a run. Again, Gambone got the next batter out to escape the jam and leave two runners on.
Frank Samluk, Josh Hampton, and Jon Castro were the only Wildcats to record hits off Vasto, as they were only able to leave a runner on base in the third and seventh innings, not getting a runner into scoring position all game long.
The Wildcats produced more opportunities to score in the nightcap, but only cracked the scoreboard in the top of the seventh frame.
With two outs and Brody Tennant on second, Josh Swirchak singled back up the middle, allowing Tennant to race home and beat the throw.
The rest was up to starter Frank Samluk and the bullpen, as Samluk shut the down the Golden Falcons in the seventh, his final of the game. Nick Marics came on and worked around a leadoff single, stranding a man on third in the eighth. Tyler Fries finished off the victory by working around a leadoff single in the ninth, stranding the game-tying run at first base.
Samluk struck out a career best 11 batters on Monday, allowing three walks and only three hits to improve to 4-0 on the year. Fries picked up his fourth save of the season, striking out the final two batters to close the win.
Swirchak finished with a pair of hits and an RBI for the Wildcats, while Matt Lopes, Mike Jerminski, and Tennant added one hit each in the nightcap.
The busy week for the Wildcats continues on Tuesday, as they head to St. Thomas Aquinas for a nonconference doubleheader in Sparkill, N.Y. The first pitch of the two seven-inning games is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
Rocks Get Better End Of Another Pitchers' Duel At Frawley
Wilmington Captures First Series-Triumph Of Season

Wilmington, DE ? With the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Raul A. Mondesi delivered a go-ahead RBI fielder's choice to hand the Wilmington Blue Rocks their first series-win of the 2014 campaign courtesy of a 3-1 victory over the Winston-Salem Dash on Monday. The Rocks took three of four from the Dash to improve to 5-6 on the season.

Mondesi's heroics were made possible when left-handed reliever Evan Crawford struggled to find the strike zone. He allowed catcher Cam Gallagher to reach on a leadoff-single and then walked first baseman Mark Donato and hit center fielder Terrance Gore with a pitch. That forced the Dash to bring the infield in. Mondesi then rolled a ball to second base that Joey DeMichele fielded on his knees courtesy of a backhand dive. His throw home got away from catcher Martin Medina, allowing both Gallagher and Donato to score.[/URL]

The rally came after Wilmington took a one-run lead into the eighth inning, and let it slip away. It looked like the Rocks were on their way to tossing a third shutout in four games, something they had not accomplished in a half-decade. However, Winston-Salem managed to tie the game in the top of the frame on a two-out RBI single from slugger Courtney Hawkins off reliever Aroni Nina.

The Blue Rocks scored their first run in the fifth frame, when Gallagher doubled to the wall in right-center. Daniel Rockett, who had singled with one out in the inning, turned on the afterburners and raced around the bases to score from first without a throw.

The Blue Crew's dramatic win overshadowed another great pitcher's duel between Sean Manaea and Winston-Salem starter J.B. Wendelken. Manaea, the sixth-ranked prospect in the Kansas City Royals organization according to Baseball America, pitched five scoreless frames Monday and struck out five. He also issued just one free pass. Wendelken worked into the seventh inning for the Dash and set a new career high by working 6.1 frames. He allowed just one run on four hits and struck out six.

The Blue Rocks return to action Tuesday as they begin a seven-game road trip with a three-game series in Lynchburg against the Hillcats. Right-hander Yender Caramo (0-1, 7.20) will make his second start of the season for Wilmington, while Mauricio Cabrera (0-0, 3.68) will take the bump for the Hillcats. First pitch for the series opener is slated for 6:05 p.m., and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Sean Manaea's dominant outing Monday was just the latest by a Blue Rocks starting pitcher. All four Wilmington starters that appeared in the four-game series against the Dash pitched well. They allowed a combined one run over 23.2 innings pitched, which is good for a 0.39 ERA. Jonathan Dziedzic opened up the series by tossing six shutout innings Friday and striking out seven. Christian Binford topped Dziedzic on Saturday and pitched seven scoreless frames while fanning 10. On Sunday, Daniel Stumpf threw 5.2 innings and allowed just one run while whiffing five.

Despite coming up in the clutch with a go-ahead RBI fielder's choice in the eighth inning, Raul Mondesi saw his five-game hitting streak snapped Monday night with an 0-for-4 performance at the plate. Mondesi's streak was the second longest by a Wilmington Blue Rock this season, behind only Cody Stubbs' six-game streak, which the Dash put an end to on Sunday. Stubbs was able to bounce back Monday night by hitting an opposite-field double into the left-centerfield gap.

Wilmington has had its share of trouble with Winston-Salem over the past couple of years ? until this week. The Rocks sported just a 5-15 record in both the 2012 and 2013 campaigns against the Dash. Last season, Wilmington only managed to win one series against its rivals from the Tar Heel state, in a series played at Frawley Stadium. After winning the first two games of 2014, the Rocks had a shot to win their first series down in Winston-Salem since 2011. They lost the final two contests of the four-game set and had to settle for a split. The Blue Crew was finally able to pick up its first series-triumph of the campaign against the Dash this season

THEY SAID IT

Manager Darryl Kennedy:
"I'll take it. Right now I'll take anything we can get. That kid made a great play on Mondesi [on the game-tying RBI fielder's choice] in the eighth. That could have easily been up the middle, but the guy made a great play and threw from his knees. I was just hoping that the catcher wouldn't hold onto it because it seems like every time we've had a play at the plate that catcher has done a really good job. Fortunately, it kicked away and we got two runs out of it. We still could have gotten a few more there that we didn't, but a win is a win.

"This is a tough league. No doubt about it, it's a tough league. Pitchers who make it to this league know what they're doing. They're able to hit their spots and right now pitchers aren't making mistakes. They're pitching Bubba [Starling] and Hunter [Dozier] and even [Johermyn] Chavez, those guys with strength, they're pitching them well. It's an adjustment period we've got to go through. Fortunately, our pitching and defense is keeping us alive until we make the adjustment. But I have all the confidence in the world with our hitters. They'll make the adjustment and when they do we should be in business."

"Our pitching staff pretty much carried us this whole season, and our defense behind them. They work fast and they throw strikes and they pound the zone. They're pitching their butts off and it shows…You can tell [Sean Manaea] was a lot more relaxed on the mound than his first outing, a little more comfortable and was able to relax and do some things with his pitches. He's got a power fastball and a good changeup as well and tonight he showed it."
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports


LSU Baseball Report

For Immediate Release ? April 15, 2014




LSU DEFEATS SOUTHERN MISS 13-5 IN WALLY PONTTIFF JR. CLASSIC



METAIRIE, La.? LSU defeated Southern Miss 13-5 in the 11th Wally Pontiff Jr. Baseball Foundation Classic Tuesday night at Zephyr Field.




The Tigers, winners of eight of their last nine games, improved to 28-9-1. Southern Miss dropped to 21-17.



LSU travels to Oxford, Miss. to face Ole Miss
beginning Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Fans can listen to the game on the LSU Sports Radio Network (98.1 in
Baton Rouge).




"This was a good night for us, we got to use a lot
of players and we generated some offense," said LSU coach Paul Mainieri.
"It was tough to play in the very cold, very windy conditions we had
tonight, but our players overcame it and did
a nice job. Hopefully, this give us some momentum heading into the
weekend, because we're facing a tremendous challenge at Ole Miss.
They're probably the most balanced club in the SEC, and they're
especially tough to beat in their ball park."



LSU led off the first inning Tuesday with
back-to-back singles by Sean McMullen and Mark Laird. Shortstop Alex
Bregman then hit an RBI single into shallow centerfield to plate
McMullen. With two outs, Conner Hale reached base on a fielder's
choice and Bregman scored from second. Centerfielder Andrew Stevenson
then hit an RBI single to right field to score Jake Fraley and make it a
3-0 game.




The Golden Eagles tied the game in the top of the
second on a three-run home run by catcher Austin Roussel off of LSU
starter Alden Cartwright.



Second baseman Kramer Robertson led off the second
inning by reaching first on an error by the third baseman, Tim Lynch.
Laird then hit an RBI single through the first baseman to plate
Robertson. After Laird moved to second on a wild pitch,
Bregman hit an RBI double over the left fielder's head to make it a 5-3
game.



Southern Miss responded in the third inning. Breck
Kline and Michael Sterling hit a single and double respectively to lead
off the inning. Tim Lynch then hit an RBI single to center field to
plate Kline. With the bases loaded, reliever
Nate Fury walked Austin Roussel to tie the game.



In the bottom of the third, Southern Miss' Jake Winston walked Mark Laird with the bases loaded to score Conner Hale.




LSU took a 10-5 lead in the fourth inning. With the
bases loaded, Fraley scored on a wild pitch. Third baseman Christian
Ibarra then hit a double over the center fielder's head to plate Hale
and Stevenson. McMullen hit a sacrifice fly to
right field to score Ibarra.



The Tigers added three run in the bottom of the
seventh to make it 13-5. With the bases loaded, Southern Miss reliever
James McMahon walked the bases loaded to score Laird. Ibarra then hit an
infield single to score




Reliever Henri Faucheux (3-0), the third of seven
LSU pitchers, was credited with the win as he worked 1.1 innings and
allowed no runs with no hits.



USM reliever Jake Winston (3-3) was charged with
the loss as he surrendered five runs on five hits in 1.1 innings with
two walks and two strikeouts.
 
LSU Baseball Report

For Immediate Release ? April 15, 2014




LSU DEFEATS SOUTHERN MISS 13-5 IN WALLY PONTTIFF JR. CLASSIC



METAIRIE, La.? LSU defeated Southern Miss 13-5 in the 11th Wally Pontiff Jr. Baseball Foundation Classic Tuesday night at Zephyr Field.




The Tigers, winners of eight of their last nine games, improved to 28-9-1. Southern Miss dropped to 21-17.



LSU travels to Oxford, Miss. to face Ole Miss
beginning Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Fans can listen to the game on the LSU Sports Radio Network (98.1 in
Baton Rouge).




"This was a good night for us, we got to use a lot
of players and we generated some offense," said LSU coach Paul Mainieri.
"It was tough to play in the very cold, very windy conditions we had
tonight, but our players overcame it and did
a nice job. Hopefully, this give us some momentum heading into the
weekend, because we're facing a tremendous challenge at Ole Miss.
They're probably the most balanced club in the SEC, and they're
especially tough to beat in their ball park."



LSU led off the first inning Tuesday with
back-to-back singles by Sean McMullen and Mark Laird. Shortstop Alex
Bregman then hit an RBI single into shallow centerfield to plate
McMullen. With two outs, Conner Hale reached base on a fielder's
choice and Bregman scored from second. Centerfielder Andrew Stevenson
then hit an RBI single to right field to score Jake Fraley and make it a
3-0 game.




The Golden Eagles tied the game in the top of the
second on a three-run home run by catcher Austin Roussel off of LSU
starter Alden Cartwright.



Second baseman Kramer Robertson led off the second
inning by reaching first on an error by the third baseman, Tim Lynch.
Laird then hit an RBI single through the first baseman to plate
Robertson. After Laird moved to second on a wild pitch,
Bregman hit an RBI double over the left fielder's head to make it a 5-3
game.



Southern Miss responded in the third inning. Breck
Kline and Michael Sterling hit a single and double respectively to lead
off the inning. Tim Lynch then hit an RBI single to center field to
plate Kline. With the bases loaded, reliever
Nate Fury walked Austin Roussel to tie the game.



In the bottom of the third, Southern Miss' Jake Winston walked Mark Laird with the bases loaded to score Conner Hale.




LSU took a 10-5 lead in the fourth inning. With the
bases loaded, Fraley scored on a wild pitch. Third baseman Christian
Ibarra then hit a double over the center fielder's head to plate Hale
and Stevenson. McMullen hit a sacrifice fly to
right field to score Ibarra.



The Tigers added three run in the bottom of the
seventh to make it 13-5. With the bases loaded, Southern Miss reliever
James McMahon walked the bases loaded to score Laird. Ibarra then hit an
infield single to score




Reliever Henri Faucheux (3-0), the third of seven
LSU pitchers, was credited with the win as he worked 1.1 innings and
allowed no runs with no hits.



USM reliever Jake Winston (3-3) was charged with
the loss as he surrendered five runs on five hits in 1.1 innings with
two walks and two strikeouts.
 
Wilmington Victorious In Game One Blowout, Falls In Nightcap Nail-Biter


Wilmington, DE ? The Wilmington Blue Rocks remain one game below the .500 mark after splitting Wednesday's doubleheader with the Lynchburg Hillcats. Wilmington took game one, 7-2, thanks to a stellar pitching performance from righty Miguel Almonte and a seven-run sixth inning. Lynchburg bounced back to win game two, 3-2, behind five shutout innings from right-hander Greg Ross.



Almonte (2-0, 2.60) turned in perhaps the best outing by a Blue Rocks pitcher this season. Wednesday was Almonte's deepest outing of the campaign, as he tossed six shutout innings. The right-hander allowed just one hit, fanned seven and walked only two. He struck out the side in the fourth and retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.



The Rocks backed up Almonte's sterling effort with an avalanche of runs in the top of the sixth inning. Wilmington sent 10 men to the plate in the frame, got six hits and scored seven times to blow open what had been a scoreless tie. Raul A. Mondesi got it started when he snuck a grounder inside the bag at first and into the right-field corner for a leadoff triple. He came home one out later on Hunter Dozier's RBI liner into right. That started a string of seven straight Rocks reaching base. Johermyn Chavez singled and Cody Stubbs walked to load the bases. That chased Lynchburg starter Wes Parsons (1-1, 3.45), who was replaced by lefty reliever Eric Pfisterer.


Wilmington greeted him rather rudely as Jack Lopez laced a double down the line in left that scored a pair. After a Cam Gallagher walk, Daniel Rockett plated two more when he doubled off the base of the left-field fence. Terrance Gore capped the inning's scoring with a double to left that brought Gallagher and Rockett home.


Right-hander Yender Caramo got the nod in the nightcap for the Blue Crew and showed improvement over his first outing. He yielded three runs on six hits over four frames while striking out two and issuing two free passes. The Hillcats were never able to string together a significant rally off of Caramo (0-2, 7.00), but instead nickel-and-dimed him to score one run in the first and two in the fourth. Caramo left the game with the Rocks trailing, 3-0, and was replaced by righty Matthew Murray.


Thanks to Ross's dominance, the Rocks were held off of the scoreboard through the first five innings, much like in game one. When Ross (1-0, 2.08) was lifted before the sixth inning for right-handed reliever Alex Wilson, the Blue Rocks offense pounced on the opportunity. Mondesi led off the frame with a single. Bubba Starling was then hit by a pitch and Hunter Dozier took a free pass. After Cody Stubbs struck out, Johermyn Chavez drove in Mondesi with an RBI single and Mark Donato hit a sacrifice fly to pull the Blue Rocks to within 3-2.


In the seventh and final inning of the nightcap, Wilmington attempted to mount one last rally. With two outs in the frame, Mondesi singled to right, his third hit of the ballgame, and then Starling followed it up with a single of his own through the hole on the left side of the Hillcats infield. That put runners at first and third for Dozier, who struck out to end the ballgame.


The Blue Rocks return to action Thursday in Lynchburg for the rubber match of against the Hillcats. Left-hander Jonathan Dziedzic (2-0, 1.64) will make his third start of the season for Wilmington, while righty Jarrett Miller (0-0, 2.10) will take the bump for the Hillcats. First pitch for the series finale is slated for 6:05 p.m., and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM.


PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:


Wilmington's doubleheader Wednesday was its first of the 2014 campaign. The Blue Crew's last twin-bill was on August 29, 2013, when they split one with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Frawley Stadium. Both halves of that doubleheader were shutouts, with Myrtle Beach victorious in game one, 3-0, and the Blue Rocks taking the second contest, 1-0. The Rocks played a total of seven doubleheaders a year ago; they won both games twice, lost both games twice, and split three.


Mondesi put together a solid day at the plate in Wednesday's twin-bill after seeing his five-game hitting streak come to an end Monday. He finished a combined 4-for-8 at the plate and is now 12-for-41 (.291) this season. Despite his recent struggles with the bat, Starling has also managed to find ways to reach base for Wilmington. He was aboard the basepaths a combined four times between the two games. In game one, Starling was hit by a pitch and walked; in the nightcap, he was hit by a pitch a second time and singled.


With both Almonte and Caramo pitching well Wednesday, Wilmington has now received six consecutive exceptional starts from its rotation. Over the past full turn through the Blue Rocks rotation, the team's starting pitchers have allowed a combined four runs over 33.2 innings pitched. That is good for a 1.08 ERA. Jonathan Dziedzic opened on the stretch by tossing six shutout innings Friday and striking out seven. Christian Binford topped Dziedzic on Saturday and pitched seven scoreless frames while fanning 10. On Sunday, Daniel Stumpf threw 5.2 innings and allowed just one run while whiffing five. Sean Manaea delivered five shutout innings Monday with five punchouts.



THEY SAID IT:


Manager Darryl Kennedy:


"[Miguel Almonte] did a good job. He established the fastball early in the game and then used his breaking ball later in the game. He just kept them off balance. He did a good job commanding the zone pretty well."


"That's one guy out of nine that we are getting hot. We'll be okay. I'm not worried about our offense. I think we'll be fine. It's just a matter of getting guys ABs and getting the season going. [Raul A. Mondesi] swung the bat well today. Now we just have to get some other guys going. We'll be all right."


"It was nice. I was happy to get the one. Then, the next thing you know we get another big hit there and another double and another double and get a 7-0 lead. It was pretty nice going into that last inning with a seven-run cushion."
 
taten Island, NY - On
a chilly night at Richmond County Bank Ballpark it was the red hot
Wagner offense that was the story of the game as the Seahawks rolled to a
13-7 win over Saint Peter's.

The Green & White recorded
season-highs in runs (13) and hits (20) while the first four hitters
combined to go 14-for-21 with nine RBI and seven runs while to improving
to 9-22 as the Peacocks fall to 10-22.

In the top of the third,
the visitors opened the scoring with two runs before Wagner stormed back
with four while batting around in the bottom part of the frame. Senior Shaun Flynn
(Tabernacle, NJ / Burlington CC) delivered the big hit with a bases
loaded two-run single, to tie the game up at 2-2. Sophomore John Lynn
(Wallingford, PA / Salesianum School (DE)) then continued his torrid
hitting of late with a RBI single before Flynn scored on an error to
make it a 4-2 game.

After Danny Marsh
(Fr., Monroe Township, NJ / Monroe Township) made quick work of Saint
Peter's in the top of the fourth, the offense was right back at it in
the bottom of inning. The Seahawks again batted around while adding four
runs to the lead in jumping out to an insurmountable 8-2 advantage.

The
Peacocks got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth only to see
the Green & White answer with three more in the bottom part of the
frame in extending the lead to 11-3.

In the top of the sixth, Saint Peter's batted around in trimming the deficit to 11-6 but left the bases loaded as junior RHP Max Schmardel (Eatontown, NJ / Monmouth Regional) induced a weak fly out to end the frame.


Wagner used a two-out rally in the bottom part of the sixth to add two more runs as junior Dan Wasilick
(Toms River, NJ / Toms River East), who had doubled for the
second-straight inning with one out. Gordon would then come in to score
on junior Nick Dini's (Monroe Township, NJ / Monroe Township) second double of the game.


The
Peacocks would get one more run back but nothing else against
Schmardel, who struck out two and yielded just an unearned run in
collecting his first collegiate save. With the stop, the Garden State
native becomes the sixth different Seahawk to record a save this season.

Marsh
(3-2) earned his team-best third victory of the season, striking out
six while not walking a batter over 5.0 solid inning of three-run ball.

Dini
went 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBI while Flynn was 4-for-6 with
three RBI and two runs to lead the the powerful Green & White
attack. Freshman Nick Mascelli (Clifton, NJ / Seton Hall Prep), Gordon and Lynn all also notched three hits apiece.


Rob
Moore went 2-for-4 with three RBI to pace a Peacock unit that saw all
nine regulars hit safely en route to rapping out 14 hits.

Wagner returns to action tomorrow with a 1:00 pm doubleheader against NJIT at the ballpark.
 
O'Grady, Bullets Walk Off Winners Versus Hopkins

Senior Hits Game-Winning Single, Makes Two Defensive Gems

GETTYSBURG, Pa. ? Senior
Patrick O'Grady (Floral Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) hit a
walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to cap an outstanding
all-around performance and the 22nd-ranked Gettysburg College baseball
team rallied for the second game in a row, topping Johns
Hopkins University 4-3 in Centennial Conference (CC) baseball action
Thursday afternoon at Kirchhoff Field.



With the victory, the
Bullets (26-3, 11-0 CC) ran their winning streak to 23, the longest in
Division III since Christopher Newport University won 26 straight in
2011. Gettysburg, which outhit Johns Hopkins 13-4,
also captured its 20th win in a row at Kirchhoff Field.



After erasing a six-run
deficit versus Penn State-Harrisburg on Monday, the Bullets overcame a
3-0 hole against the Blue Jays (16-11, 4-6 CC). Hopkins scored all of
its runs in the fifth inning before Gettysburg
tied it with a three-run sixth.



In the bottom of the ninth, junior
Scott Zanghellini (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) led off with a single
down the rightfield line versus reliever Justin Drechsel, who had
retired nine of the 10 batters he faced up to that point. Two batters
later, senior
Cam MacDonald (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) lifted a single into left,
prompting a pitching change. Closer Thomas Harper came on to face
pinch-hitter
Cory Kargjozi (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville), who went after
the first pitch and grounded a ball into the left side. Shortstop Conor
Reynolds came up with the ball, but his only play was at third and
Zanghellini slid in just ahead of the throw to
load the bases.



O'Grady worked a 1-2
count before flipping a single just over the reach of leaping second
baseman Kyle Gillen, who was playing on the edge of the grass.




"I was just looking to
put into play," said O'Grady. "I had two strikes on me so I just didn't
want to go down swinging. It wasn't a great pitch but I put just enough
of the bat on the ball to put it over his head
at second."



O'Grady, who finished 2-for-5, also made two incredible defensive plays and sparked Gettysburg's three-run sixth.




Senior Tommy LeNoir (Bear,
Del./Red Lion Christian Academy) finished 2-for-3 with a pair of
doubles, including a two-run double that tied it in the sixth, while
senior
Nate Simon (Gwynedd Valley, Pa./Abington Friends School), Zanghellini, and MacDonald all collected two hits.



Junior Eric Hungerford (New
Preston, Conn./Shepaug Valley) started on the mound for the Bullets and
came away with a no-decision, allowing three runs on four hits and
three walks while striking out two.
Sophomore Luke Lawrence (West Chester, Pa./West Chester East) came on fire a perfect ninth to pick up the win.



It was a pitcher's duel
early on between Hungerford and Tyler Goldstein, who threw four shutout
innings to open the game. Hungerford retired his first eight batters and
took a no-hitter into the fifth, when Reynolds
reached on a two-out infield single to open the door for a three-run
inning. Reynolds would steal second before scoring on a Jonathan
Hettleman. John Maxwell also singled, and both Hettleman and Maxwell
would come around to score following three Hungerford
wild pitches.



Goldstein, in the
meantime, was sharp through his first five innings, when he blanked the
Bullets while striking out eight. However, O'Grady led off the sixth
with a bunt single. Senior
Al Posch (Hopedale, Mass./Hopedale) followed up with a single of
his own before Simon blasted a double into right-center to score
O'Grady. LeNoir then stepped to the plate and launched a double into the
same spot to clear the bases and make it a 3-3
game.



Drechsel was called out
of the bullpen and retired the next eight batters he faced before LeNoir
stroked another double in the eighth. But Drechsel got the final out of
the inning before the Bullets rallied in
the ninth.



Hungerford worked a
three-up, three-down sixth before running into trouble in the seventh.
Reynolds was hit by a pitch with one out, then stole second before
Hettleman lifted a single into center. But O'Grady charged
in and rifled a throw to home that hit MacDonald on the fly. MacDonald
was knocked over by Reynolds but held onto the ball for the out, and
Hungerford would escape with a line-out. He also left a runner on third
with two outs in the eighth.



Lawrence (2-0) came on in
the ninth and was the beneficiary of another tremendous defensive play
by O'Grady, who covered a tremendous amount of ground in right-center to
haul in a would-be extra-base hit off the
bat of Gillen leading off. Lawrence would get the next two outs,
including a strikeout to end the frame, and has now worked 18 1/3
innings without allowing a run this season.



The same two teams conclude their two-game season series tomorrow when they meet at Towson University beginning at 3:30 p.m.



-Go Bullets-
 
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Department of Intercollegiate Athletics




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: DAVE WHIGHAM

443-235-6647
APRIL 17, 2014




STEPHEN BULL NAMED CORVIAS ECAC BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Outfielder picks up fourth award this week, hits .681 over five games

CENTERVILLE, Mass. - The awards continue to pile up for senior Stephen Bull (Millsboro, Del.) this week as he was
named a Corvias ECAC Baseball Player of the Week. The honor is the fourth of the week for the outfielder after he was
named NCAA Player of the Week, Louisville Slugger Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball and MEAC Player of the
Week over the past three days.


His was named Co-Player of the Week for the South with College of Charleston junior infielder, Gunner Heidt


The honor comes after he went 15-for-22 across a five-game span. Bull claims the award after hitting .681 to lead the
Hawks to their first three-game win streak since 2012. The senior fell just four hits shy of the NCAA Division I record for
most consecutive hits after he was 10-for-10 between four games.


He is currently riding a 21-game hit streak that dates back until March 2nd and has multi-hit games in four of his last six
contests.


He highlighted last week with a 5-for-5 performance against Navy, where he had two RBI and one run to lead the Hawks to
their first sweep of the Midshipmen in program history. Bull was also 4-for-4 with three runs in Saturday's 6-5 victory over
Norfolk State. He finished the NSU series going 9-for-12 with two doubles and six runs.


Courtesy of his phenomenal week, Bull saw his batting average rise .78 points from .258 to .336. He was also a force in
centerfield with several big catches in the gaps. He posted 19 putouts altogether, including a season-high eight on
Wednesday in the Hawks' 8-7 win vs. Navy.
 
Mondesi, Dziedzic Stay Hot As Rocks Win Rubber Match In Lynchburg
Victory Is Team's Fifth Over The Last Seven Games


Lynchburg, VA ? For the second consecutive day, Raul A. Mondesi hit a clutch triple that led directly to a Wilmington Blue Rocks win. Mondesi stepped to the plate in the top of the third inning with one out, runners at second and third and the Blue Crew down, 1-0. He proceeded to launch a triple off of the right field fence that gave the Rocks a 2-1 lead, one they would never relinquish in a 4-2 win Thursday over the Lynchburg Hillcats. The Rocks took two out of three from Lynchburg this week and improved to 7-7 on the season.


Though it was evident early on in the ballgame that Jonathan Dziedzic did not have his best stuff, he battled through five solid innings to hold Lynchburg to just one run on five hits. Lynchburg scored their lone run off of Dziedzic in the first inning, when Kyle Wren scored from second on an infield single by Kevin Ahrens. Wren had been running with the pitch and never stopped when he saw the play developing slowly. Dziedzic (3-0, 1.69) is the first Blue Rocks starting pitcher to reach three wins this season and remains undefeated as a pro. Dziedzic now owns a 5-0 career record.


Wilmington's third inning rally began with a Cam Gallagher single to lead off the frame. After Daniel Rockett flew out to the warning track in center for the first out, Terrance Gore pulled a ball fair past the third base bag into the left field corner for a one-out double. That put runners at second and third for Mondesi. Hunter Dozier followed up Mondesi's triple by lifting a sacrifice fly to left, which plated Mondesi for Wilmington's third and final run of the frame. All three runs in the inning came off of Lynchburg starter Jarrett Miller (0-1, 3.00), who settled down to allow only those three runs over 6.2 innings pitched.


Still leading, 3-1, as they entered the top of the eighth, the Blue Crew added an insurance run off of right-handed reliever Patrick Scoggin to extend their lead to 4-1. The rally was made possible when Lynchburg botched a couple of routine defensive plays. With one out in the inning, Bubba Starling blooped a ball into left field that could have been caught but instead turned into a double. Dozier then popped out to first before Zane Evans drew a walk. A double steal put runners at second and third for Cody Stubbs, who grounded a ball softly to second base that Jose Peraza could not handle, which allowed Starling to score.


Lynchburg added one final run to their total in the bottom of the eighth inning off of lefty Kyle Bartsch. Wren led off the inning with his second single of the day and promptly stole both second and third base. Ahrens drove him in for the second time in the ballgame with a sacrifice fly to center. Wren stole four bases off of Wilmington pitching on Thursday, the most by a Blue Rocks opponent this season.

The Blue Rocks return to action Friday in Myrtle Beach as they open up a four-game set against the Pelicans. Right-hander Christian Binford (1-0, 0.00) will make his third start of the season for Wilmington, while southpaw Luis Parra (2-0, 4.09) will take the bump for the Hillcats. First pitch for the series opener is slated for 7:05 p.m., and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM.


PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:


As a team, the Blue Rocks have stolen 18 bases this season, which is second in the Carolina League. What really stands out, though, is that not a single Wilmington base stealer has been thrown out; the Blue Crew is a perfect 18-for-18 on the basepaths. Terrance Gore and Jack Lopez currently lead the Rocks in stolen bases with four apiece. Mondesi and Kenny Diekroeger both have three steals, tying them for second on the team, while Dozier, Starling, Evans and Tyler Chism have all contributed one stolen base each. The Hillcats currently lead the Carolina League with 20 steals.


With Dziedzic's excellent start Thursday, Wilmington has now received seven consecutive exceptional starts from its rotation. Over the past seven ballgames, the team's starting pitchers have allowed a combined five runs over 38.2 innings pitched. That is good for a 1.16 ERA. Dziedzic opened up the stretch himself by tossing six shutout innings last Friday and striking out seven. Christian Binford topped Dziedzic on Saturday and pitched seven scoreless frames while fanning 10. On Sunday, Daniel Stumpf threw 5.2 innings and allowed just one run while whiffing five. Sean Manaea delivered five shutout innings of his own Monday with five punchouts. Miguel Almonte pitched six shutout innings in game one of Wednesday's doubleheader and struck out seven while yielding just one hit. In game two, Yender Caramo tossed four innings and allowed three runs while striking out a pair.


After beating Lynchburg on Thursday, Wilmington has now won back-to-back series for the first time since last August. The Blue Rocks won their final two series of the 2013 campaign, taking two out of three from both Myrtle Beach Pelicans and the Winston-Salem Dash. The Blue Crew's 2014 schedule began with the same two opponents, but the Rocks split their opening series against the Dash and were swept by the Pelicans in their second series. Wilmington finally picked up its first series win of 2014 by taking three out of four from Winston-Salem at home before moving on to take two out of three from Lynchburg on the road.


Catcher Zane Evans was activated off of the disabled list prior to Thursday's first pitch and went 0-for-3 at the plate in his return to the lineup. Evans also walked and stole a base in the eighth inning, which helped Wilmington score a crucial insurance run. Evans had been sidelined since April 9, when Myrtle Beach third baseman Joey Gallo accidentally struck him in the back of the head with the follow through of his swing. In a corresponding roster move, catcher Beau Maggi was transferred to Rookie-Level Idaho Falls.


THEY SAID IT:


Manager Darryl Kennedy:


"[Jonathan Dziedzic] had to work for this win, no doubt about it. That third inning, they had a lot of action going on. For him to keep them off the scoreboard there, that was huge. He didn't have his best stuff and it looked like he changed his game plan a little bit at the beginning and then settled in after that and started pitching a little better and mixing up speeds and using his off-speed [pitches]. The first couple of innings it looked like he was trying to establish the fastball a little too much and that got him out of rhythm."


"I think [Raul A. Mondesi] has pretty much been there all year for us. The biggest thing is now he's coming up with runners in scoring position. The bottom of the lineup did a good job of getting on for him and setting it up. He's pretty much been our hottest hitter all year and now he's just getting a chance to drive runners in."


"Our pitching, again, is keeping us in ballgames and giving us the chance to win. It's just a matter of time before our offense starts heating up a little bit. Hopefully we'll get to Myrtle [Beach] and the weather will be nice and our offense will start taking off."
 
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Department of Intercollegiate Athletics




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: DAVE WHIGHAM
443-235-6647

APRIL 18, 2014




HAWKS MAKE STATEMENT WITH DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP OF DELAWARE ST.
Parker picks up the win in both games, Bull ups hit streak to 23 games

DOVER, Del. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team made a bold statement on Friday afternoon as the
Hawks swept both end of a doubleheader with Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference North leader, Delaware State. UMES
opened with a 3-2 win in 11 innings, before pinning a 5-1 decision on the Hornets in the nightcap.

It was the collective pitching effort of UMES that was the difference as four UMES pitchers combined to limit the MEAC's
best offense to just three runs total. DSU came into the contest averaging 10 runs-per-game in MEAC play. The Hornets
also featured two of the top three hitters in NCAA Division I baseball and were hitting 60 points higher than the closest
team in the league.


The win is the first for the Hawks in the past six games against DSU as the Hornets swept the season series in 2013.

UMES was paced in the doubleheader by senior Stephen Bull (Millsboro, Del.), who went 5-for-9 combined with two runs
and two RBI. His hit streak is now at 23 games, which is the most in recent history for the Hawks. Senior Byron Campbell
(Waldorf, Md.) was 4-for-7 between the two, including a perfect 3-for-3 effort in the nightcap. Junior Joshua James
(Milford, Del.) came through in the clutch, while freshman Skylar Murray (Georgetown, Del.) went 2-for-3 in the nightcap
with one run and one RBI.


Freshman right handed pitcher Jesse Stinnett (Madison Heights, Va.) and Delaware State's Matt McClain engaged in a
brilliant pitcher's duel in the opener. After two scoreless innings, DSU made the score 1-0 with a solo tally in the third. It
did not take UMES long to even up the score after Bull led off with a single and advanced to third on a throwing error.
Campbell sent Bull home the next batter on an RBI groundout.


Stinnett and McClain each retired the side in order the next two innings, before UMES came knocking once more. The
Hawks loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but McClain dug deep with a strikeout and groundout to thwart the Hawk
rally.


Ron Farley gave DSU the 2-1 lead in the seventh after he led off with a homer to left, but the Hawks responded their next
at bat when James doubled and scored on an RBI single by Bull.

After UMES went quiet in the ninth, Delaware State put a runner on second with one out in the last. Stinnett responded
with a big strikeout of Alex Nardone, who came into the doubleheader hitting .379. He then coaxed an early grounder to
sophomore Mike Escanilla (Waldorf, Md.) to send the game into extras.

Both starters were pulled after the ninth and the game was placed in the hands of each bullpen. Senior Bernard Parker
Waldorf, Md.) fired a scoreless ninth and UMES took the lead in the top of the 11th on an RBI by sophomore Connor
Breslin (Saylorsburg, Pa.) as he sent home junior Greg Turlik (Gaithersburg, Md.), who led off with a walk.


Junior Devin Repine (Salisbury, Md.) threw a scoreless ninth to record his third save of the season. The loss was the first
for DSU in MEAC play in nearly two weeks.


The second contest mirrored the opener early as the game was scoreless into the third inning. Cameron Cecil singled home
Kweston Smith to take the 1-0 lead. The game went quiet into the fifth, before UMES scored a pair of runs.


Breslin led off with a single and moved over on a walk by freshman Skylar Murray (Georgetown, Del.). With one away,
freshman Troy Anderson (Bridgeport, W.V.) singled to load the bases. DSU's Harry Thomas would then fan the next
UMES hitter for the second out, but consecutive RBI singles by Bull and Campbell gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead.


Parker would then come in relief of starter J.P. Black (Elkton, Md.). He did not disappoint as he fired 2.1 innings of
scoreless relief to post his second win of the day.


Three runs by UMES in the bottom of the seventh would up its lead to four. Repine came on to finish his second game of
the day and give the Hawks their second doubleheader sweep of the season.


DSU's lethal combination of DJ Miller and Mike Alexander, who were hitting .438 and .435, respectively, combined to go
just 3-for-11. Cameron Cecil led the way in game one with a 3-for-5 effort from the plate, while reigning MEAC Rookie of
the Week, Ron Farley homered. McClain and Harry Thomas each threw well in starts for DSU, while the Hornet bullpen
took both losses.


The two teams resume play tomorrow, when they engage in a pair of doubleheaders at Solider Field. First pitch is set for 1
p.m., with the second contest beginning 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first.


For complete recaps, results and news of Hawk athletics, please visit www.umeshawks.com
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports


MONMOUTH BASEBALL UPENDS LAFAYETTE, 9-2
Lamberton goes 5-for-5

EASTON, Pa. ? Freshman Grant Lamberton (Newark, Del./Salesianum) went 5-for-5, and Jeff Singer (Riverton, N.J./Gloucester C.C./Holy Cross) won his third straight start as Monmouth University baseball defeated Lafayette on Wednesday afternoon, 9-2. The Hawks improve to 12-19, while Lafayette falls to 11-23 on the year.
Singer worked six innings, allowing a run on six hits, walking nobody and striking out four. Singer worked his scoreless innings streak to 17 before allowing a run in the third. Adam Yunginger (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) worked a scoreless seventh and struck out two, while Ricky Dennis (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) struck out three in the eighth. Harry Paytas (Sea Girt, N.J./Wall) allowed a run in the ninth. Seven Lafayette pitchers combined to allow nine runs on 14 hits.
Lamberton went 5-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Connor White (Wall, N.J./Wall) and Jon Guida (Martinsville, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) drove in two runs apiece and Chris Gaetano (Madison Township, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) scored twice. Jackson Kramer had two hits for Lafayette.
Monmouth got things started early, when Joe Bamford (Washington, N.J./Northampton C.C./Warren Hills Regional) beat out a single to shortstop and went to second on an errant pickoff throw. He moved to third on a ground out, and scored when Lafayette shortstop Andrew Landolfi booted Jake Gronsky (Danville, Pa./Danville Area)'s ground ball. Andrew Santamauro doubled with one down in the fifth for Lafayette, and after Kramer singled him to third, Alex Woinski lined a sacrifice fly to tie the game at three.
The rest of the afternoon proved to be all Monmouth, beginning with a three-run fourth. Craig Sweeney (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) struck out for what should have been the second out, but the ball skipped away from the catcher, Austen Maggin, and Sweeney reached first. Lamberton singled to left, and Gaetano was hit by a pitch to fill the bases with two outs. White singled into the hole at shortstop, and Guida lined a two-run single to left to give the Hawks a 4-1 lead.
Gronsky ripped a one-out double that one-hopped the right center field fence with one out in the fifth, and Sweeney wasted no time depositing the first pitch he saw into left center for a run-scoring single. After working a perfect fourth, Singer allowed a leadoff base runner in the bottom of the fifth, but White promptly picked off Maggin to erase any threat.
The Hawks broke the game open in the seventh, scoring four in the inning. Sweeney and Danny Avella (Matawan, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) walked to start things, and Lamberton put a run-scoring single into left. Gaetano followed by dropping a single into right to score a run, and White got another run across, reaching on an error. With Guida batting and one out, Gaetano sprinted home on a wild pitch to make it 9-1 Hawks.
The Leopards added a ninth inning run against Paytas, when Nick Murray was hit by a pitch and worked his way around the bases to score.

Monmouth returns to action at home on Friday, with a non-conference game at 3:00 p.m. at the MU Baseball Field against Temple.
 
Delaware High School Baseball Recaps for 4-24-14



Baseball-Winning pitcher Oliver Campbell 2-0 along with teammates, Zach Roseman, and Brad Keen each had 2 hits for the Hornets who scored 3 times in the bottom of the 7th to tie the score on Roseman's triple. Dan Murphy's walk off RBI single in the bottom of ninth plated Ty Taschner with the winning run as Tatnall defeated St. Andrews 6-5. For St. Andrew's, Donovan Simpson was 4-5 and Will Brown added 3 hits and struck out nine batters.



Winning pitcher for Archmere Sean Deeley improves his record to 3-0 and threw a three hit shutout with six strike outs as they defeated St. Elizabeth 2-0.



Mike McCracken struck out 8 batters in 5 1/3 innings of work picking up the win to pace Conrad to a 7-5 win over Dickinson. Bret Nowell was strong in an inning and 2/3 relief on the mound.


Chandler Swalm pitches 5 strong innings giving up 3 hits. Dennis Berger had 2 hits and 2 stolen bases for Middletown as they defeated Newark 5-1



Alex Marrs pitched a complete game no hit shut out striking out 13 he also had 2 hits and scored 2 runs to pace William Penn to a 14-0 win over McKean. Brandon Dooley went 2 for 2 with 2 run and 2 rbi's. Zach Burton , Dizhae Henriques and Tyler Owens all had 2 hits. Frank Burton scored 2 runs and 3 rbis.


Conner Chasanov pitched six strong innings for the win and contributed with a grand slam home run and went 3 for 4 with 5 rbi to pace the Panthers of. Polytech to a 13-2 win over the Force of Charter and scored six runs in the third inning. Sean Hanhauser and brother Carter Chasanov were also 3-4 for Polytech.



Jake Freeman pitched a complete game three-hitter for the win for Sanford as they defeated Westtown 13-1. Ben Woodring had two doubles and a single and three RBI. Chris Friedkin was three-for-three with two RBI. Jake Freeman had two hits. Tre Armstrong had a double and a single. Cody Denham had a triple and a single and three RBI.


Caesar Rodney scored three runs in the sixth inning to pull ahead for a 4-3 non-conference win over Concord. The Riders were led by TJ Jefferson who went 3 for 3 with an RBI. Nick Butto was 2 for 3 with an RBI while Seth Brosius went 2 for 4 and Steven Clavier added an RBI. Travis Dill pitched a complete game with 8 strikeouts for the Riders. For the Raiders of Concord, they were led by Max Carney. who was 3 for 4 with a double. Jon Harris drove in 2 RBIs while Chris Scorziello was 1 for 3 with an RBI.


Matt Taylor had two extra base hits including a homerun for Salesianum as they beat Glasgow 11-1. Kyle Hinton earned the win pitching five scoreless innings and allowing just one hit.

4-25-14-Joe Yovanovich threw a no hitter with 7 strike outs in the win for Appoquinimink 24-0 win over Christiana. Chris Hurd scored 4 runs and Jude Kurych, Julian Kurych and Josh Silvestri had 3 hits each to lead the Jaguar offense.

Zach Stevenson went 2 for 3 with a 2 run double to open up the game for Cape as they defeated Waimea 6-4. Griffin Kammerer pitched a complete game to get the win.

Ben Woodring pitched a complete game, two-hitter to pace Sanford to a 10-0 win over Red Lion. He struck out six for the win. Woodring also had three hits and four RBI. Cody Denham had two doubles and a single. Vince Leo had a double and a triple. Jake Freeman had a double and a single.
Chris Friedkin had two hits.

The Riders held off a last inning charge by Archmere to win 8-7 in non-conference action. The Riders were lead by Brennen Brown who was 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs and walk. Travis Dill collected 2 RBIs for the Riders. Steven Clavier and Branden Briggs each had an RBI. Gabe Rivera threw 6 strong innings while giving up only 2 runs on 2 hits.

The Auks were lead by Chris Deely who was 2 for 3 with an RBI. Pat Spillan and Fran McVey drove in two runs of the five runs in the 7th inning. Joey Voge also had a hit and an RBI for Archmere.

Brendan Harris picked up his 4th win of the season, scattering 3 hits with 3 strikeouts over 5 innings as Tower Hill defeated Friends 11-2. Offensively, the Hillers were led by Harry Quimby, Patrick Fagan and Peter Smith, all with three hits each. Devonte Church had an RBI single for Friends.

Brett Hillsgrove earned the win for Mount Pleasant a 9-7 win over Brandywine. He went 5 innings, allowed 2 runs, 4 hits and struck out 6. Gilbert Peralta went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles. Mike Tate went 3 for 3, and Maurice Parson went 2 for 3 with a triple and 2 RBI. Phillip Hudson went 2 for 2 with an RBI for Brandywine.

Justin Mears lead Sussex Central with 2 hits and a RBI as they defeated Seaford 3-2. Derek Murphy lead the Blue Jays with 2 hits.

Billy Phillips pitched complete game with 14 strikeouts to pick up the non-conference win over Dover by a 3-1 score. Calvin Scott had 3 hits to lead the spartan offense. Nick Spadafino pitched complete game with 9 strikeouts for Dover.

4-26-14-Baseball-Dustin Reeder singled in Tommy Jordan to plate the winning run with 1 out in the bottom of the 7th inning to pace Milford to a 5-4 win over St. Georges. Reeder had 3 hits and picked up the victory pitching 2 innings of scoreless relief. Holden Bailey threw 5 strong innings in his first varsity start. Jan Parson had 2 hits, including a double to help pace Milford. Logan GIlbert struck out 6 for St. Georges. Chandler Foulk and Charles Ciafardo each had 2 hits for the Hawks. Riley Hall chipped in 2 rbi.


Connor Pijuan led the Tigers scattering 7 hits in a complete game win to pace AI to an 8-5 win over St. Marks. Matt Geist led AI at the plate with 3 hits, 2 RBI and 2 stolen bases. Dominic DiSabatino had a three run home run for St. Marks.

Tower Hill scored 4 runs in the third inning highlighted by Brendan Harris' 3 RBI double as they defeated Friends 5-2. Matt Smith picked up the win on the mound, going 5 innings giving up 2 hits. Peter Smith and Austin Rafetto each had two hits for the Hillers. Jake erskine had a triple and scored a run for Friends.

Brandon Goodge pitched 5 innings, striking out six, while walking only one for the win as Tatnall defeated St. Andrews 11-0. Ty Taschner and Peyton Keen had two hits apiece and both scored three runs. With the win, Tatnall stays close to Tower Hill in the league standings.

Jeffrey Gillis lead off the game with a solo home run going 3 for 3 with 3 rbi's. Brennan Hazewski was 2 for 2 with 2 runs scored and 2 rbi's to pace Delaware Military Academy to an 11-0 win over Wilmington Christian School. Alex Brittingham picked up the win allowing one hit while striking out 7. WCS- Ryan Williams had a double.


Zach Cooney threw a two hitter with thirteen strikeouts as his record improves to 2-3 along with 2 hits to pace St. Elizabeth to a 6-1 win over the Colonials of William Penn. Michael Dunning had three hits and three RBI's for St. Elizabeth.

Brendan Erne had 2 hits and 2 RBIs for Caravel as they defeated Hodgson 4-2. Ryan Zwier added an RBI for the Bucs.

Andrew Emory pitched Newark to victory throwing a 3-hitter with 5 strikeouts as they defeated Brandywine 13-3. Joe Burton led Newark with two hits including a home run and 4 RBI's. Chandler Irwin and JT MacDonnell each added 2 hits and an RBI.

Glasgow Dragons Varsity continued to pile up the runs on Saturday, scoring four runs in the seventh inning, en route to the 15-4 win over DelMarVa Christian.

Dragons Varsity scored six runs in the third on , a hit by pitch, a passed ball, a two-run single by Jack McCann, and an RBI double by Aaron Coates.
Aaron had a busy day at the plate, collecting four extra-base hits.
Wayne Watson pitched lights out for Glasgow Dragons Varsity. DelMarVa Christian High School managed just one hit off of Watson, who allowed no earned runs, walked none and struck out four during his two innings of work.
Ben Rivera recorded the win for Glasgow Dragons Varsity. He allowed four runs over four innings. He struck out six, walked four and surrendered one hit.
Glasgow Dragons Varsity's Aaron, Jack and Ray Manigold combined for 10 hits and seven RBIs.
Andrew Mitchell, Delmarva Christian High School pitcher, takes a the loss. He lasted just one-third of an inning, walked none, struck out none, and allowed no runs.
The game's last lead went to Glasgow Dragons Varsity thanks to a first inning rally that saw three runs cross the plate on an RBI double by Aaron and an error. Micah Magee had 2 RBI's for Delmarva.


5-2-14


Baseball-The Panthers scored three in the top of the ninth to beat
Delmar 5-2. Conner Chasanov went the distance striking out 11 and going
3-4 at the plate. CJ baker was 2-4 with a double and two rbis. Trey
Obermire added a RBI double in the ninth.

Red
Lion was led offensively by Michael Collins and Jacob Stollings who both
went 1 for 2, including a double by Stollings. Sussex Tech was led
offensively by Trent Hearn who went 2 for 3 with a three run HR and a
total of 4 RBI’s to pace Sussex Tech to a 13-0 win over Red Lion. Kole
Hearn pitched three perfect innings for the Ravens, striking out six of
nine batters faced.



Baseball-Dover's
Tyler Cullen pitched 5 innings with 8 strikeouts to pick up the
conference win for the Senators as they defeated Polytech 10-0. Kendall
Small had a solo homerun and sac fly for Dover. Tevin Thomas had 2 RBI
double for Dover. Sean Hanhauser had a base hit for Polytech.


Wyatt
Richardson got the complete game win striking out 12 and hit a grand
slam in the first inning to jump start the Ravens to a 9-0 win over Lake
Forest. Derek McGee also added two hits in the win.


The
Riders scored 3 runs in the first inning enroute to a 5-2 conference
win over Smyrna. The Riders were lead by Seth Brosius (2 for 3 with an
RBI) and Quintin Ivy (2 for 2 with 2 RBIs). Gabe Rivera pitched into
the fifth inning for the victory. Steven Clavier had 2 RBIs for CR.
For Smyrna, Ryan Seymour was 1 for 2 and Justin Jones had 2 RBIs. Corey
Everage, Jared Gillis, Thomas Penuel, and Dario Anderson each had a hit
for the Eagles.


Winning
pitcher Brandon Goodge improves his record to 4-2 and struck out 9
batters in the complete game victory for Tatnall as they defeated the
Quakers of Friends 2-1. Stephen Kramer's 1 out, pinch hit single
sparked a 2 run rally in the bottom of the seventh. Both runs scored on
Dan Murphy's hard hit ground ball with 2 outs.


Sean
Mazzio led the Sals with a double, triple and 2 RBIs to pace the Sals
of Salesianum to a 7-0 win over Tower Hill. Matt Shackleford pitched 6
shutout innings for the win.


Mitch
Clemons has a solo HR in the bottom of the 3rd for Middletown as they
defeated Delaware Military Academy 1-0. Colin Peluse got the win
throwing a one hitter. James Brittingham threw a 2 hitter for DMA.


Jake
Bertelson threw six shutout innings to earn the win as St. Marks
defeated Seaford 10-0. Dominic DiSabatino had two hits including a two
run homerun. Ethan Brancato had three RBIS. Bruce Mosley had two hits
for Seaford.


In
a well played, non-conference, baseball game the St. Georges Hawks
defeated the Cape Henlopen Vikings 7-6. In the top of the 7th inning
Tyler Campbell led off with a double, stole 3rd base, and scored the
game winning run. Lance Gilbert struck out the side in the bottom of the
7th for the win. Campbell went 3-3 with 2 RBIs while Quenton Hamrick
and Logan Gilbert contributed 2 hits and an RBI each. David Kennedy had a
great day for Cape going 2-4 including a homer with 3 RBIs and David
Kwan contributed 3 hits.


Evan
Moser led Concord by pitching a complete game and scattering five hits
as they defeated Charter 6-1. The offense was led by Brannon McHugh's
two hits and two RBI's. Max Carney added two hits for Concord. Shayne
Linkhorst had two RBI's for the Raiders. Jeff Wood led Charter with two
hits.


Joey
Voge allowed 1 hit in 3 innings on the mound to get the win and had a
3-run home run in the 3rd inning paced the Auks of Archmere to a 15-0
win over St. Thomas More. Derek Calabrese added 2 hits and scored 2
runs.


Caleb
Todd picks up the win pitching 5 innings with 10 strikeouts while
allowing 3 runs on 4 hits to pace the Rams of Dickinson to a 12-3 win
over Christiana. Caleb also lead Dickinson offensively with 3 hits and 3
runs scored. Dickinson's Kyle Gray & Adam Gerdeman had 2 hits each
while CJ Morton had 3 runs batted in.
Eric Rowe had 2 hits and 2 runs batted in for Christiana.




5-1-14


Baseball-The
Panthers scored three in the top of the ninth to beat Delmar 5-2.
Conner Chasanov went the distance striking out 11 and going 3-4 at the
plate. CJ baker was 2-4 with a double and two rbis. Trey Obermire added a
RBI double in the ninth.


Red
Lion was led offensively by Michael Collins and Jacob Stollings who
both went 1 for 2, including a double by Stollings. Sussex Tech was led
offensively by Trent Hearn who went 2 for 3 with a three run HR and a
total of 4 RBI's to pace Sussex Tech to a 13-0 win over Red Lion. Kole
Hearn pitched three perfect innings for the Ravens, striking out six of
nine batters faced.














This post was edited on 5/4 1:25 AM by dawrestling
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SUNDAY MAY 4, 2014


CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580Stumpf Dominates, Leads Blue Rocks To Third Consecutive Victory Over Carolina
Southpaw Allowed Just One Run Over 6.2 Frames and Struck Out Seven


Zebulon, NC ? Southpaw Daniel Stumpf turned in his best start of the season Sunday, leading the Wilmington Blue Rocks to a 2-1 victory over the Carolina Mudcats at Five County Stadium. Stumpf tossed 6.2 sterling frames and allowed just one run on four hits while punching out seven. The win was the Blue Crew's third straight, and pulled the team back to within one of the .500 mark.


Wilmington scored both of its runs in the top of the seventh inning, courtesy of an infield single from Jack Lopez. With the bases loaded and two outs, Lopez was able to beat out a grounder to shortstop, plating Cam Gallagher to put the Rocks up, 1-0. Kenny Diekroeger, who was at second base, also scored on the play when Mudcats shortstop Yhoxian Medina threw the ball away attempting to gun down Lopez at first.


The Mudcats scored their lone run of the ballgame with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Stumpf retired the first two batters of the frame with ease, inducing a groundout and a lineout. The lefty then gave up a base hit to Anthony Gallas and a walk to Jerrud Sabourin, putting runners at first and second for Alex Monsalve. Darryl Kennedy then elected to remove Stumpf from the ballgame for right-hander Glenn Sparkman. Monsalve greeted Sparkman by crushing a double to left, which scored Gallas easily. However, Sabourin was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first a perfect relay throw to the dish from Terrance Gore to Jack Lopez to Cam Gallagher.


Carolina continued to apply pressure in each of the final two frames of the ballgame. The Mudcats put a pair of runners aboard in both the eighth and the ninth innings off of Sparkman and Blue Rocks closer Mark Peterson. Peterson was able to escape both jams without allowing any further damage.
Stumpf (1-4, 4.37) snapped a personal four-game losing streak Sunday to record his first win of the season. D.J. Brown (2-1, 1.75) suffered the tough-luck loss for Carolina. Peterson tossed 1.1 scoreless innings to close out the game and earn his sixth save of the season.
The Blue Rocks continue their seven-game road trip on Monday when they open up a three-game series with the Salem Red Sox. Wilmington will send southpaw Sean Manaea (1-2, 6.46) to the mound in game one and first pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. Fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Blue Crew will return to Frawley Stadium on Thursday, May 8. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.


PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:


Hunter Dozier has now reached base safely in 13 straight games. He has hits in 12 of those contests as the infielder went 1-for-4 on Sunday. Dozier is batting .386 (17-for-44) during this torrid stretch with one homer, and seven RBIs. As a result, Kansas City's 2013 first-round pick has raised his batting average by 106 points from .157 to .263. Dozier appears to favor the road where he is batting .327 on the season, as opposed to the .186 average he sports at home this year.


The Blue Rocks have been the most efficient team in the Carolina League on the basepaths this season. After a Hunter Dozier theft Sunday, Wilmington is a remarkable 29-for-30 in stolen-base attempts. Not a single Blue Rocks baserunner has been thrown out by a catcher this season. The only blemish on the Rocks' pristine record came April 26, when Kenny Diekroeger was picked off first base. Terrance Gore currently leads the Blue Crew with eight thefts, while Jack Lopez and Raul Mondesi are tied for second on the team with five. Diekroeger and Bubba Starling have three steals, which puts them third. Hunter Dozier ranks fourth with two, while Daniel Rockett, Zane Evans and Tyler Chism have all contributed one stolen base each. Lynchburg currently leads the Carolina League with 36 steals.


Wilmington's 2-1 victory Sunday gave the team its first three-game winning streak of the season. Prior Sunday Blue Rocks' most recent three-game winning had been August 29 - September 1 of last season. Before Saturday's 8-1 win, the Rocks had not won consecutive games in almost three weeks. The Blue Crew last strung together back-to-back victories on April 11 and 12, when it beat the Winston-Salem Dash twice. Wilmington's longest losing streak of 2014 is five games.
Blue Rocks closer Mark Peterson has been on a roll. Peterson, who has made 10 appearances out of the bullpen this season, has not yielded a run over his past eight outings. The only two runs he has given up all season came on April 6 at Winston-Salem. Over that stretch, Peterson has amassed a 12.1-inning scoreless streak. The righty's six saves tie him for the Carolina League lead. Peterson's impressive numbers are just one part of what has been an impressive bullpen for the Rocks. Collectively, the Wilmington bullpen has yielded just 29 runs, 27 of which have been earned, and posted an ERA of 2.61.
After his RBI single in the seventh inning Sunday afternoon, Jack Lopez is now an astounding 7-for-8 at the plate this season when he comes up in the seventh frame of a ballgame. Lopez was 2-for-4 overall in Sunday's game. The seventh inning has also been Wilmington's frame best offensively, as a team. The Rocks scored twice in the seventh Sunday and have now plated 18 runs in the frame this season. The Blue Crew is 11-0 in 2014 when leading after seven innings.
THEY SAID IT:
Manager Darryl Kennedy:
"That was a big outing for [Daniel Stumpf], being 0-4. He really hadn't had much luck. To go out today and do what he did was impressive. He was pitch-efficient; even though I took him out there in the seventh inning, he had a low pitch count. He could have kept going. I just felt like he worked hard enough and went to the bullpen that I trust [a lot] and it paid off for us…He used [the slider] a couple of times. I don't think he got too crazy with it, but it definitely gives him another angle against the hitters. He pitched well. The one thing I liked about today is he was able to keep the fastball down and spot it. He did a very good job holding runners, got the pickoff there; overall, just a solid job."
"I'm very proud of the guys. We're starting to swing the bat better, no doubt. [Hunter] Dozier hit a ball on the screws that went right to the left fielder. Bubba [Starling] is starting to get rolling a little bit. [He's] swinging the bat very well. I applaud the guys for just working through it and sticking with things. Again, you know, the hustle part, that's what this game is all about. It takes absolutely no talent to run a ball out and they've really bought in and I'm very proud of the way they're playing right now."
Starting Pitcher Daniel Stumpf:
"I broke out the slider today. It was the first time I was going to throw it. I was pretty confident with that. That was one that we had talked about being one of the better pitches I had, so I was pretty excited to get to throw it. Today, my main focus was just to spot up the fastball [and] go back to being the finesse guy I am and not try to overpower people. I was hitting my spots, I was working in and out and I was working up and down."
"I threw it the last day of spring training. I had talked to some of our head guys and they thought it was one of my better breaking balls. I had the okay to go ahead and start throwing it again, so I've been working on it. [I've been] throwing it in [side sessions and] throwing it on flat ground and this was the first time I brought it out in the game. There's still some stuff I need to do with it but I was pleased with the outcome of it."
"Like I said, our bats are coming around and our pitching staff, they've been pretty good already. We're starting to tune in. It's all about confidence. We needed these three to win the series. It's just building off that and having the confidence to go out there and do it."
Catcher Cam Gallagher:
"In the bullpen [Daniel Stumpf] was throwing really well. I knew today was going to be something pretty good. I knew he wasn't too happy about his first couple of starts. Today was a day game [and] he looked like he brought his A-game."


"It's kind of interesting because, about half of this staff I've played with for about three years and the other half I just started playing with them in spring training. So some of them I know really well and some of them I'm still kind of getting to know. The pitching has been keeping us in the game the whole season."


"We started off a little slow with the bats and started to come around in the seventh inning. We saw that guy previously and finally started to get on him in the seventh inning so we scratched some runs across. That's scrappy baseball and we found a way to win."
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


MAY 6, 2014




monmouth baseball's grant lamberton earns second maac weekly award of season

Hit first career home run on Saturday



WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ?
Monmouth University baseball freshman infielder Grant Lamberton
(Newark, Del./Salesianum) has been named Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference (MAAC) Rookie of the Week, league officials announced Tuesday
morning. Lamberton hit his first career home run on
Saturday, and wins his second Rookie of the Week honor this year.

Lamberton
continued to produce as one of the top hitters in the Monmouth lineup,
hitting .400 last week. He went 4-for-10, driving in five runs and
scoring six, getting on base at a .533 clip
and slugging a whopping .800. Against Hofstra on Tuesday, Lamberton
scored three runs, going 2-for-5 and driving in a run as well. His big
moment came in the first game on Saturday against Rider, when he ripped
his first career home run over the right field
wall, a three-run shot to give the Hawks a five-run opening inning. On
Sunday vs. Rider, he was 1-for-2 but was the catalyst of MU's walk-off
win in the 11th. He walked leading off, and on Jon Guida's
sacrifice bunt attempt, the throw went to second
and Lamberton slid under the second baseman when the throw was high. He
would ultimately score the game-winning run on Robbie
Alessandrine(Sewell, N.J./Gloucester Catholic)'s walk off single.
Lamberton was also named MAAC Rookie of the Week on April 22 also.



The
Hawks return to the diamond on Saturday against Iona with the first
pitch of the doubleheader set for noon at the MU Baseball Field.


 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports


ATTENTION: SPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY MAY 8, 2014


CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580Hillcats Score Seven Times In Eighth Inning To Hand Blue Rocks 9-2 Loss

Defeat Spoiled Another Gem From Starter Jonathan Dziedzic


Wilmington, DE ? The Lynchburg Hillcats scored seven times in the eighth inning to break open what had been a close game and hand the Wilmington Blue Rocks a 9-2 loss. The defeat was the Blue Crew's second straight and dropped the Rocks back to three games below the .500 mark.



Lynchburg sent 12 men to the plate in the eighth inning, including the first seven batters in a row. They recorded four base hits, three walks and a pair of hit batsmen in the frame. A bases-clearing triple by designated hitter Tyler Tewell broke the game open. At the end of the inning, Lynchburg held a 9-1 lead.


Entering the eighth, Wilmington trailed just 2-1. The Rocks scored in the bottom half of the seventh on a solo home run by right-fielder Johermyn Chavez, his third of the year, and even had the tying run at second after a one-out double by second-baseman Jack Lopez.


Blue Rocks starting pitcher Jonathan Dziedzic tossed another gem Thursday. The southpaw starter pitched six sterling frames and yielded just two runs, one of which was earned. He also struck out two. Dziedzic's 1.65 ERA remains the best among Wilmington's six starting pitchers.


The Hillcats went ahead, 1-0, in the first inning on an RBI single from third-baseman Kevin Ahrens. The single drove in left-fielder David Nick from third base. Nick had tripled with two outs in the inning. Lynchburg added an insurance run in the sixth inning, to take a 2-0 lead.



Wilmington scored once more, in the ninth inning, to draw to within 9-2 on an RBI groundout from Donato. Zane Evans led off the frame with a single to left and was stationed at third when Donato stepped to the plate with just one out in the inning.



Lay Batista (1-0, 1.00) picked up his first win of the season for the Hillcats while Dziedzic (3-2, 1.65) absorbed the tough-luck defeat for Wilmington.


The Blue Rocks return to action Friday at Frawley Stadium for game two against the Lynchburg Hillcats. The Blue Rocks will send right-hander Christian Binford (2-1, 1.91) to the mound while Greg Ross (2-1, 2.59) will take the bump for the Hillcats. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.


PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:


Zane Evans broke an 0-for-19 skid at the plate with a single in the ninth inning Thursday. Through the first sixteen games this season, Evans batted .319. Over the past five contests in which he has played, Evans is a combined 1-for-19 at the plate with one walk and four strikeouts. Evans caught the final two ballgames against Salem, the first time this season he has been behind the plate on back-to-back days. On Thursday, he returned to the DH spot he has occupied for a lot of the season. Evans has split duties behind the plate with Cam Gallagher, with Gallagher receiving the majority of the starts there defensively. Evans is batting .283 (17-for-60) as a designated hitter but just .219 (7-for-32) when he works behind the plate.


With his 3-for-4 performance Thursday night, Jack Lopez extended his hitting streak to a personal season-best six games. During the stretch, he is batting .455 (10-for-22) and his batting average has risen 55 points, from .208 to .263. One of Lopez's hits Thursday was a double in the seventh inning. He is now an astounding 8-for-9 at the plate this season when he comes up in the seventh frame of a ballgame. The seventh inning has also been Wilmington's frame best offensively, as a team. The Rocks scored once in the seventh Thursday and have now plated 19 runs in the frame this season.



Johermyn Chavez has been red-hot at the plate over the past four ballgames. Chavez went 1-for-3 Thursday with his third homer of the season, giving him the Blue Rocks team lead. Over the past four ballgames, the slugging right fielder has gone 5-for-13 at the plate with two homers, a double, three RBIs and two walks. Prior to the Blue Crew's recent trip to Salem, the slugging right fielder had slumped to the tune of a .120 (3-for-25) batting average over his previous seven games. His average now sits 88 points higher, at .208. Chavez's best contest of the campaign came on April 4 at Winston-Salem. Against the Dash, he went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs. Those four RBIs are still tied for an individual Blue Rocks season-high.


Wilmington's three errors on Thursday night set a new Blue Rocks season-high for defensive miscues in a game. Hunter Dozier, Raul Mondesi and Mark Donato each recorded one error in the ballgame. The Blue Rocks went errorless in six of the seven games on the recently-completed road trip to Carolina and to Salem. The Blue Crew has committed a Carolina League-low 20 errors in 2014 and has yielded just eight unearned runs, also the lowest total in the league.


Lynchburg's seven runs in the eighth inning were the most scored in a single frame by a Blue Rocks opponent this season. The previous season-high had been four, last done by the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on April 20 at TicketReturn.com Field. The Hillcats' nine runs in Thursday's contest also set a new opponent season-high for the Blue Crew. Until Thursday, only the eight runs scored by Myrtle Beach on April 21, also at TicketReturn.com Field, had rivaled that total.


THEY SAID IT:


Manager Darryl Kennedy:


"We were a little flat tonight. I think tonight might have been the first day we had to play after a long bus trip; we got in at around 4:30 in the morning. Usually, we've had a day off every time we travel. We were in the ballgame until that eighth inning just killed us. It got away from us. [Aroni] Nina kind of lost his control and things just snowballed. Hey, we're going to come back and get them tomorrow. Their pitcher, he was very stingy. He loaded the bases and then struck out the side. He didn't want to give up any runs. You've got to credit them a little bit."


"Another great game [for Jonathan Dziedzic]…He pitched a really good ballgame. I thought he was very sharp, as sharp as I've seen him in awhile. He had everything working tonight; he spotted down. Again, he has to take the tough loss."


"Yeah, [Johermyn Chavez] is definitely [finding his swing]. He had a pretty good road trip. He's starting to do what we were hoping he would do. The weather's heating up and hopefully his bat will rub off on some other guys and we can get things going."


Starting Pitcher Jonathan Dziedzic:


"I felt like at the beginning I was kind of struggling with the curveball but towards the end I felt like I started throwing it for strikes. Steve Luebber told me to go out and throw a few more in the warm-ups because I didn't have a good feel for it early on. I felt like towards the end I was able to throw all three pitches for strikes."


"The biggest thing [against Lynchburg] is we had a better game plan. We knew that a couple of guys really like to run so you try to keep those guys off base as much as possible because they pretty much ran at will against me last time we faced them. Other than that you just stick to the game plan. You have a certain game plan going in for certain hitters and you just try to stick to that as best you can. "


Blue Rocks Baseball = AffordaFUNability!
www.bluerocks.com

 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports




SUBJECT: Delaware Baseball Rallies from Five-Run Deficit with Nine Runs in Final Two Innings to Defeat Towson 14-10





DATE: May 9, 2014

jhw:





TOWSON,
Md. - The University of Delaware baseball squad exploded for nine runs
in the final two innings to overcome a five-run deficit and defeat host
Towson 14-10 Friday in a Colonial Athletic Association battle at
Schuerholz
Park.





After
managing just five runs over the first seven innings, the Delaware bats
caught fire late as the Hens (22-22, 8-7 CAA) scored three runs in the
eighth inning and added six more in the ninth to pull out the win and
move
into sole possession of third place in the CAA standings. The 14 runs
scored by Delaware were the most for the Blue Hens since April 9.





The two teams will face each other again Saturday at 1 p.m. and close out the three-game set Sunday at 1 p.m.





Delaware
batted around in the ninth inning to take control of the game as Alex
Mottle, Jake Clark, and Nick Liggett each drove in a run and catcher Ty
Warrington punctuated the comeback with a three-run home run to
rightfield
to push the lead to 14-10.





Taylor
Mahoney picked up his first victory of the season for the Blue Hens by
getting the final two outs in the eighth inning and closer Luke
Alicknavitch finished off the win with a scoreless ninth inning. Brandon
Gonnella
took the loss for Towson.





Blue
Hens starter Dan Gatto gave up seven earned runs on nine hits in six
innings as the senior and was credited with a no-decision.





The
Tigers (20-25, 2-13 CAA) drew first blood with a four-run second
inning. Kurt Wertz led off the inning with his team-leading ninth home
run of the year. Pat Fitzgerald then batted in a run with an RBI single.
Gonnella
capped off the Tiger scoring in the inning with a two-run double.





The
four runs in the second inning were the most runs Gatto had given up in
an inning since he gave up four runs in the second inning against
Bryant on March 21.





The
Blue Hens answered the Tigers' scoring barrage with a three-run third
inning, which was highlighted by an RBI double from E.J. Stoltzfus.





After
Towson added another run in the third, the Blue Hens scored a run in
the fourth inning on a Doug Trimble groundout and tied the game in the
sixth inning on Ryan Hartley's team-leading fifth home run of the year.





The
Tigers seemingly put the game out of reach with a five-run seventh
inning. Dominic Fratantuono broke the tie with a solo home run and
Hunter Bennett knocked in two more runs on a double to right field.
Fitzgerald knocked
in the fifth and final run of the inning on an RBI single.





But
Delaware answered mightily in the eighth and ninth innings. A three-run
home run by Clark, his second of the season, pulled the Hens to within
10-8 after eight innings and the Hens followed with six more in the
ninth
to take control.





Delaware
loaded the bases in the ninth on singles by EJ Stoltzfus and Norm
Donkin and a hit by pitch by Zach Lopes. Alex Mottle brought a run home
on a sacrifice fly and Clark was able to beat out a potential
game-ending
double play as Donkin scored from third base for the tying run.





After
Hartley reached on an error, Liggett batted in the go-ahead run with an
RBI single. Warrington then put an exclamation point on the comeback
with a three-run home run to put the game out of reach.





Joe
Giacchino went 1-for-4 on the day and has now reached base safely in 22
consecutive games. Hartley led the Blue Hens with three hits on the
day, while Clark registered a team-high four RBI.





Wertz finished with a team-high three hits for Towson, while five different Tiger batters accounted for two RBI each.








AGATE:

Delaware………….003 101 036 ? 14 ? 12 ? 0

Towson…………….041 000 500 ? 10 ? 12 ? 1

D:
Gatto, Milley (7), Geffre (7), Mahoney (8) and Alicknavitch; T: Ross,
Zimmermann (5), Gonella (8), Baruka (9), Sapp (9) and Fisher; E:
Policelli (T); DP ? D ? 0, T ? 0; LOB ? D ? 5, T ? 6; 2B: Stoltzfus (D),
Clark (D),
Gonnella (T), Wertz (T), Bennett (T); HR: Clark (D), Hartley (D),
Warrington (D), Fratantuono (T), Wertz 2 (T); HBP: Lopes (D), Hartley
(D); CS: Donkin (D); SF: Donkin (D), Mottle (D) WP: Mahoney (1-0); LP:
Gonnella (1-5); Attendance: 251.

-DDD -
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

[Rocks Media] Blue Rocks Sweep Wednesday-Night Doubleheader Against Mudcats



ATTENTION: SPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WEDNESDAY MAY 21, 2014


CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580Blue Rocks Sweep Wednesday-Night Doubleheader Against Mudcats
Rocks Return To .500 With Rout In The Opener And Walk-Off In The Nightcap
Wilmington, DE ? The Wilmington Blue Rocks climbed back to the .500 mark Wednesday night in dramatic fashion by sweeping a doubleheader against the Carolina Mudcats. Wilmington took the opener in a rout, 9-4, and then walked-off on Carolina in the nightcap, 3-2. The pair of victories brought the Blue Rocks' record to 22-22 and helped the team establish a season-high four-game winning streak.
Trailing, 2-1, and down to their final out in the seventh inning of game two, the Blue Rocks mounted a furious rally off of Mudcats closer Louis Head. Kenny Diekroeger began the comeback with a one-out single. After Terrance Gore struck out for the second out of the frame, Jack Lopez delivered a base hit to bring up Bubba Starling. Starling delivered his biggest hit of the season and smashed a triple to right-center field. The three-bagger plated Diekroeger from second and Lopez from first, giving Wilmington the 3-2 victory.
The Blue Rocks first broke through against Carolina starter Clayton Cook in the sixth inning of game two. Cook held the Rocks off the scoreboard for the first five frames but, with one out in the sixth, Starling singled to left, ultimately leading to Wilmington's first run of the ballgame. The speedy outfielder moved to second on a balk by Cook and scored on an RBI double from Zane Evans, drawing the Blue Crew to within one. Cook threw 5.2 innings and gave up one run on four hits.
Carolina broke the nightcap's scoreless tie in the top of the fifth inning by scoring a pair of runs off of reliever Kyle Bartsch. Bartsch struggled with his command and, despite only yielding one hit, issued four free passes. The Mudcats took a 1-0 lead on an RBI walk from Todd Hankins and went ahead, 2-0, when Jeremy Lucas delivered an RBI groundout to first. Bartsch had entered the game in relief of starter Glenn Sparkman, who tossed 3.2 scoreless frames struck out six and gave up just three hits.
Wednesday's opener was decided very early on, when the Blue Rocks scored four times in the first inning off of Carolina starter Michael Peoples. Wilmington sent eight batters to the plate and five of the first seven reached. After a one-out single from Starling, Hunter Dozier ripped an RBI double into the left-field corner to give the Rocks a 1-0 lead. Michael Antonio followed Dozier's two-bagger with a walk to put runners at first and second for Mark Donato, who singled home Dozier to make it 2-0. Daniel Rockett then struck out before Cam Gallagher delivered the big blow, a two-RBI double to left-center that plated Antonio and Donato.
Wilmington kept the pressure on throughout Wednesday's opener by adding a run in the second, a pair of runs in the fourth and two more tallies in the sixth. The back-breaker for Carolina was a two-run triple from Daniel Rockett in the sixth that plated both Starling and Dozier.
Starting pitcher Sean Manaea pitched five innings for the Blue Rocks in the first game and missed a lot of bats. Though the 6-foot-5 lefty did yield three runs, he struck out 10, tying a Blue Rocks individual season-high set by Christian Binford on April 12 against the Winston-Salem Dash. Carolina scored runs in the first, second and fifth against Manaea, but the only major mistake the southpaw made came in the fifth, when Jeremy Lucas launched a solo blast to left.
For Wilmington, Manaea (2-2, 5.40) was victorious in game one while Johnny Walter (2-0, 2.35) picked up the win in game two. Michael Peoples (2-4, 6.48) absorbed the loss in the opener for the Mudcats, while Louis Head (0-2) suffered the defeat and blew his first save in the nightcap.
The Blue Rocks return to action Thursday morning at Frawley Stadium to try and complete a four-game sweep of the Carolina Mudcats. Wilmington will send southpaw Daniel Stumpf (1-6, 4.01) to the mound while lefty Ryan Merritt (5-1, 1.65) will take the bump for Carolina. First pitch is slated for 10:35 a.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Bubba Starling's two-run, walk-off, triple gave Wilmington its third walk-off victory of the year. All three walk-off wins have been at Frawley Stadium and each has been filled with a different kind of drama. On May 12, Jack Lopez ripped a two-run homer to left that gave the Blue Rocks a 4-3 victory over the Salem Red Sox. The Blue Crew's April 27 walk-off against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans featured one of the most bizarre plays anyone had ever seen. With Terrance Gore at third, Raul Mondesi struck out, but reached on a dropped-third strike. That allowed Gore to sprint home from third and score the winning run. Catcher Jorge Alfaro attempted to tag Gore instead of throwing to first, but missed the tag, allowing Mondesi to reach and Gore to score the winning run.
Bubba Starling also extended his hitting streak to a personal and team-high 10 games Wednesday night with base hits in both ends of the doubleheader. Starling went 1-for-2 with a pair of runs and a hit-by-pitch in the opener. In the nightcap, he finished 2-for-4 and delivered a two-run, walk-off triple. During Starling's ten-game hitting streak, he is batting .343 (12-for-35) with 10 runs, a double, five walks and six RBIs. His batting average has steadily risen over the stretch from .149 to .190. Entering play Wednesday, Starling had been tied with Hunter Dozier and Johermyn Chavez for the Blue Rocks' longest hitting streak of the season with eight.
Over the course of Tuesday night's game and Wednesday night's opener, Hunter Dozier managed to reach base in nine consecutive plate appearances. The right-handed hitting third baseman went 3-for-3 with a pair of walks and two runs Tuesday, reaching base a season-best five times. In Wednesday's opener, Dozier was 2-for-2 at the plate with two more free passes and three more runs. Dozier now has eight multi-hit contests on the campaign, three of which have been three-hit games. In the nightcap Wednesday, Dozier went 0-for-3 at the plate. During this current stretch, his batting average has risen from .230 to .252. Entering play on Tuesday, he had slumped to a .086 (3-for-35) average since May 7. Dozier is hitting .313 on the road but just .197 at home.
Glenn Sparkman made the first start of his professional career in Wednesday's nightcap. He was outstanding, tossing 3.2 scoreless frames and punching out six. Sparkman gave up just three hits and one walk but took a no-decision. The right-hander now owns a sparkling 1.98 ERA to go along with his 2-1 record. Sparkman had been one of Wilmington's most reliable relievers this season, posting a 2-1 record and a 2.28 ERA in 11 relief appearances. He has now completed two or more frames in nine of the 12 total games he's appeared in. Following the conclusion of Wednesday's doubleheader, manager Darryl Kennedy announced that, for now, Sparkman will continue to be used as a starter and in piggyback situations.
In 2014, the Wilmington Blue Rocks have dominated the Carolina Mudcats more than any other team in the Carolina League. In nine games against the Mudcats, the Blue Crew has compiled a 7-2 record, a 3.20 ERA and a .262 team batting average. The wins have come in bunches for the Rocks, both at Frawley Stadium and at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, North Carolina. Wilmington is now 4-1 against Carolina at home and 3-1 against the Mudcats on the road. Against the Mudcats this year, Hunter Dozier is batting .500 (15-for-30), Raul Mondesi is hitting .381 (8-for-21), Zane Evans is batting .333 (10-for-30), and Bubba Starling is hitting .294 (10-for-34). Mondesi has not appeared in the current series as he continues to recover from minor back spasms over the weekend.
THEY SAID IT:


Manager Darryl Kennedy:


"The last four games have been outstanding. They're really starting to swing the bat well. Bubba [Starling] is seeing the ball well. Zane [Evans] is hitting the ball hard. [Hunter] Dozier is right there too, he's getting hot. Hopefully that's a sign of good things to come."


"With Sean [Manaea], there's still more in there. He battled through those five innings tonight. The good thing is he's got the stuff where he cannot be as sharp and still get guys out. I truly believe there's better things to come for Sean. He's just got to get a little more consistent in the zone. He's got no experience. Drafted last year but he didn't pitch at all. Really, this is his first true test of competition. For the most part, I think he's done a very good job. [Glenn] Sparkman, [in] his first start in professional baseball, I thought he threw the ball well. We had him on a limited pitch count because it was his first start. Just because he only went 3.2 it is not indicative of what he did, it's just limiting his pitches. He threw the ball well like he's done all year for us. He was a big part of our bullpen at the beginning of the year. My hat's off to both of those guys. They kept us in the ballgame."


"[Johnny Walter has] done a very good job. Starting the year off on the DL and then getting him activated. He's pitched some big innings for us. With the low amount of innings he has had, they've been pretty big innings for us. He's come in in some tough situations and done a good job. The bullpen, in general, has been really good for us."


Center-Fielder Bubba Starling:


"[The walk-off triple] was a fastball away and I just threw my hands out. 2-2, he threw a slider three pitches before that. Like I said, I was just staying on the fastball…I knew Lopez was hopefully getting home and that was the end of it."
"The pitchers have been pretty solid all year and it makes it easy on us outfielders. It was nice to get some hits there towards the end and in the first game, all of us up and down the order. Just takes the pressure off of them a little bit to get some runs."


"Our bats are starting to come back. Before these last couple of games we were having four, five, six hits a game and we had ten the last few times. We're battling up there but definitely feeling better."


Blue Rocks Baseball = AffordaFUNability!
www.bluerocks.com

 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports




Baseball-First Round Games-Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the 7th inning, Andrew Tunnell walked to start the A.I. rally. David Delaney followed with a double down the right field line to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. After a flyout, Kyle Phillips layed down a bunt single to bring the Tigers within 1. Corey Alaburda followed with a groundball RBI to tie the score. Winning pitcher Brian Kasey then singled threw a drawn in infield to give A.I. the walkoff win as they defeated Sussex Tech 4-3. Anthony Guinta hit a 2 run homer for Sussex Tech.


Dover's Tyler Cullen pitched 5+ strong innings with 6 k's to advance the Senators tp a 13-4 win over the Sals of Salesianum in the 2014 State Tournament. Jordan Hutchins had 3 hits, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored for Dover. Dakota Graham and Kendall Small chipped in 3 RBI for the Senators. Dan Garner had a homerun for Sallies.


Sean Deely hit a 3-run home run in the 3rd inning to help himself on the mound where he got the win, throwing a complete game where he allowed one unearned run to pace the Auks of Archmere to a 6-1 win over Tower Hill. Joey Voge, Tyler Signora and Andrew Orzel drove in the other Auk runs. Harrison Quimby and Ben Crain each had 2 hits for the Hillers.


Tommy Spagnolo pitched 5 innings striking out nine batters to pace St. Marks to a 6-1 win over the Wildcats of Delmar. Pete Berardi had two RBIS for the Spartans. Jay Perry had two doubles and an RBI. Chase Harding had a hit and RBI for Delmar.


Hodgson Vo-Tech and Conrad exchanged the lead five times on Saturday, but the Silver Eagles ended up on top with a 6-3 win in seven innings.
Hodgson Vo-Tech pulled out the win thanks to a strong sixth inning. They went up for good on an RBI triple by Billy Becker came in-in relief with the bases loaded in the 6th inning and got it done on the rubber on the way to a win. He tossed 1 1/3 innings of shutout ball.



The Eagles were led by seniors John Richardson and Nick Macey as they defeated St. George's Tech 8-2 in the first round state tournament win. Richardson scattered 5 hits with 6 strike outs, and 1 earned run over 6 innings. Corey Everage finished the contest for Smyrna. Nick Macey hit a 3 run homer to put the Eagles on top to stay. Nolan Henderson added two hits and two RBI's for Smyrna. Sean McGrath had two hits for St. George's.

Quarter finals-Baseball-The Tigers struck in the top of the first with 6 runs on 6 hits. Matt Geist, Jesse Hall and David Delaney all had 2 RBI for the Tigers. Ben Harrison pitched well in relief of David Delaney who picked up the win for AI as they defeated Hodgson 10-4. John Joines doubled for Hodgson and Nick Sayers had two RBI. [/B]


Ethan Brancato had two hits and two RBIS. Billy Phillips pitched a five inning rain shorten game given up 1 hit. Jay Perry had a 2 RBI triple to pace St. Marks to a 6-0 win over Caesar Rodney.




This post was edited on 5/27 10:39 PM by dawrestling
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

ATTENTION: SPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TUESDAY MAY 27, 2014
CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580Rocks Open Road Trip With Shutout In Carolina
Late Offensive Surge Tips Pitchers' Duel In Wilmington's Favor
Zebulon, NC ? The Wilmington Blue Rocks used late offense and excellent pitching to start their seven-game road trip in style on Tuesday night at Five County Stadium. Wilmington broke up a scoreless tie with two runs in the top of the seventh, added four more in the eighth, and watched Glenn Sparkman and Zeb Sneed combine to hold the Mudcats without a run as the Blue Crew blanked Carolina, 6-0. The victory gave Wilmington sole possession of first place in the Carolina League North, one-half game in front of the Lynchburg Hillcats and one full game clear of the Potomac Nationals. With the win, the Rocks also tied their season-high mark at two games above .500 (26-24).
After a 22-minute rain delay it looked like no one told either offense the game had started. Carolina starter Ryan Merritt and Sparkman took turns shutting down their opponent. Both pitchers faced the minimum through three frames, with Merritt needing only one pitch against six of the first nine hitters he opposed. Sparkman gave way to Sneed in the sixth, and the right-hander posted four more goose eggs, fanning three and walking none on his way to a victory.
Meanwhile, the Rocks had not had a runner reach third base entering the seventh, but things changed quickly. Wilmington got four straight one-out hits off Merritt to take a 2-0 lead. Hunter Dozier got the rally started with a bloop-single to right-center. Zane Evans followed with a bouncer to right that moved Dozier to second. Michael Antonio then doubled off the base of the fence in left to plate Dozier, and Evans came home when Daniel Rockett pulled one past the drawn in infield. More hits coupled by some sloppy defense helped the Blue Crew pull away in the eighth. Bubba Starling drove in one run with a sacrifice fly to center, Dozier brought in another with a single to right. Two errors and another sacrifice fly, this one off the bat of Daniel Rockett, capped off the four-run frame.
The Blue Rocks continue their three-game series with the Mudcats on Wednesday night in Zebulon. Wilmington will send righty Miguel Almonte (2-1, 1.98) to the mound, while Carolina will counter with righty Cole Sulser (1-4, 4.60). First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Rocks return to Frawley on June 3, when the Potomac Nationals visit town for a three-game set. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
The Carolina League announced on Tuesday that infielder Hunter Dozier was the league's Player of the Week for May 19-25. Over seven games last week, Dozier went 11-for-20 (.550) with four doubles and four RBIs. The 6-foot-4 infielder scored eight runs while also drawing six free passes and stealing a base. Dozier raised his batting average from .246 to .271 during that stretch. At one point he reached base in nine consecutive plate appearances. Dozier picked up right where he left off with two hits, two runs and an RBI in Tuesday's series opener at Carolina. He is batting .486 (17-for-35), with one homer and 10 RBIs this season against Carolina.
Bubba Starling saw his team-high 15-game hitting streak come to an end on Tuesday. The outfielder went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Wilmington's 6-0 win. During Starling's sterling stretch, the Kansas native batted .316 (18-for-57) with 10 runs, a double, two triples, six walks and 11 RBIs. His batting average rose 51 points during the streak from .149 to .200. Both Dozier and the recently-released Johermyn Chavez own the second-longest hitting streaks for Wilmington. Each recorded hits in eight straight earlier this season. Starling's 15-game streak was the second-longest in the Carolina League this season, behind only Carolina shortstop Erik Gonzalez.
Wilmington's bullpen continues to be the strength of its team in 2014. Zeb Sneed tossed four scoreless frames in relief of starter Glenn Sparkman to earn his second win of the year. As a unit, Rocks relievers have now tossed 10 consecutive scoreless innings. On the season, Wilmington's bullpen is 11-5 with a 2.49 ERA and 173 strikeouts in 169.2 innings pitched. Meanwhile, Sparkman, who made his first 11 appearances of the season in relief, tossed a career-high five innings in only his second start since turning pro. In 8.2 frames as a starter Sparkman has allowed no runs, fanned 10 and walked only one.
Wilmington's 6-0 triumph on Tuesday marked the Rocks' third shutout of the season. The Blue Crew blanked the Winston-Salem Dash in two straight games on April 11 and 12, something Wilmington had not accomplished since turning in four straight shutouts in 2009. The Rocks are in a three-way tie for the second-most shutouts in the Carolina League this season with Frederick and Carolina. Salem leads the loop with six blankings this year.
THEY SAID IT:
Manager Darryl Kennedy:
"I kept telling myself when [Ryan Merrit] was getting us out quick, 'you know this guy's doing this to the whole league when you look at his numbers so he's not just doing this to us.' I think overall the guys knew he throws a lot of strikes and we were up there trying to get a first pitch fastball, but then we weren't doing anything with it. He's probably a guy you've got to wait out a little bit and try to run up his pitch count, but we went the other way with it. He was throwing a heck of a ballgame until that seventh inning when we finally caught a couple of breaks. We got that bouncer over the head of the first-baseman, which turned out to be a big hit, and then [Michael] Antonio and [Daniel] Rockett came through. I've learned the last couple weeks to really be patient with these guys. To not overreact early in the game and to just let them do their thing and it's really paid off."
"Zeb Sneed pitched great. He came in and did a great job. The bullpen has been used the last eight-to-10 games-- not that we're short, but we're a little limited with who we could go to. He picked us up big time going four innings, giving the rest of the guys a rest and now we should be back [Wednesday] at full strength. That's been us all season though. Our bullpen has been outstanding.""Overshadowed in that deal was Glenn Sparkman going five scoreless innings. He really did a terrific job. As a long releiever he went out and gave us multiple innings so his pitch count was built up enough where we didn't have to start from scratch in transitioning him to the rotation. He really was great tonight and deserved a win."

Outfielder Bubba Starling:
"That was a big win for us there. The seventh inning was exactly what we needed. [Ryan Merritt] was tough tonight. He had some good stuff and was keeping us off balance. His dang changeup looked like a fastball coming in and then just dropping off the table, but we kept battling as a group. We finally were able to break through for a couple in the seventh, knock him out, and then got to one of their relievers the next inning.
We're doing a better job at the plate as a team. Guys are battling, they are making contact, putting balls in play and our situational hitting has been a lot better. Whatever it is, it's working right now and we've got to keep it up and keep it going.
It might have crossed my mind that the streak was on the line [in the eighth inning]. I thought that was actually going to be my last at bat, and I was just hoping to put a good swing on the ball. Unfortunately I couldn't get a hit there, but I did get a SAC fly and at least I was able to help the team out. [In the ninth inning] I was looking to hack. We were up six runs and you probably don't hack with a 3-0 count if you're not on a hitting streak, but I just wanted to see what I could do. I swung through the pitch and then swung at not a great pitch after that unfortunately. But it was fun with those 15 games, now I just have to start it over [Wednesday].
 
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Six-Run Third Dooms Blue Rocks In 6-3 Loss To Keys


ATTENTION: SPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MONDAY MAY 26, 2014
CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580Six-Run Third Dooms Blue Rocks In 6-3 Loss To Keys
Wilmington's Late Comeback Effort Falls Short


Wilmington, DE ? One big inning doomed the Wilmington Blue Rocks Monday afternoon at Frawley Stadium as the Frederick Keys scored six times off of starter Sean Manaea in the third en route to handing the Rocks a 6-3 defeat. The loss snapped a string of seven wins in eight games for Wilmington and dropped the Blue Crew to 25-24 on the season.


With two outs and nobody on base in the third inning, things began to unravel for Manaea. Eight consecutive baserunners reached as the Keys plated six to take a 6-0 lead over the Blue Crew. The key moment in that stretch came when Tucker Nathans hit a grounder to third-baseman Hunter Dozier. Dozier bobbled the ball and, instead of the inning ending with a 1-0 Frederick lead, the Keys had new life and plated five more.


Wilmington scored its first run in the sixth inning, when Cody Stubbs took Keys starter Joe Van Meter deep with a solo homer to right that drew the Blue Crew within 6-1. The long ball was Stubbs' second of the homestand and third of the year.



The Rocks scored twice in the ninth inning off of reliever Matt Hobgood and even brought the tying run to the plate as they attempted to rally back. Daniel Rockett led off the frame with a single and then Cam Gallagher doubled him home, making the score 6-2 Frederick. A wild pitch moved Gallagher to third before Kenny Diekroeger reached on an infield single.



Terrance Gore and Jack Lopez then popped out, bringing Bubba Starling to the plate with two outs and runners at the corners. Starling poked a base hit through the right side of the infield that drove in Gallagher and moved Diekroeger to second, making it 6-3 Keys. Hobgood finally escaped the jam and ended the game by striking out Dozier.
Van Meter (1-0, 3.20) picked up his first win of the season for Frederick, while Manaea (2-3, 4.91) suffered his third defeat of the year for Wilmington. Matt Hobgood earned his first save of the year for the Keys with three innings in relief of Van Meter. He allowed two runs on five hits while striking out a pair.


The Blue Rocks return to action Tuesday night at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, North Carolina, to open up a three-game series with the Carolina Mudcats. Wilmington will send righty Glenn Sparkman (2-1, 1.98) to the mound in the opener, while southpaw Ryan Merritt (6-1, 1.60) will take the bump for Carolina. First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Rocks return to Frawley on June 3, when the Potomac Nationals visit town for three games. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.


PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:


Wilmington's now-completed eight-game homestand against Carolina and Lynchburg was its most successful stretch of baseball this season. The Rocks went 6-2 on the homestand by taking three out of four from both the Mudcats and the Keys. During the eight-games, the Blue Crew outscored its opponents 39-26 and scored eight or more runs in a game three times. Wilmington went 2-1 in one-run games and 1-0 in two-run games. In the series against Carolina, the Rocks outscored the Mudcats 22-13. The Blue Crew outscored the Keys 17-13. Notable offensive performers on the homestand for Wilmington were Kenny Diekroeger (8-for-28), Hunter Dozier (11-for-25), Cam Gallagher (7-for-20) and Bubba Starling (10-for-29).
Bubba Starling extended his hitting streak to a new personal best and team-high 15 games Monday afternoon with a ninth-inning single the Keys. The base hit drove in a run in Wilmington's comeback effort. During Starling's 15-game hitting streak, he is batting .316 (18-for-57) with 10 runs, a double, two triples, six walks and 11 RBIs. His batting average has steadily risen over the stretch from .149 to .200. Both Dozier and the recently-released Johermyn Chavez own the second-longest hitting streaks for Wilmington. Each recorded hits in eight straight earlier this season.
Entering play Monday, Wilmington had won seven of its last eight games. With a 3-0 series lead and the series victory already wrapped up, the Blue Crew was looking to complete its first sweep of the season. However, for the second time on the homestand, they were unable to secure elusive final win. The defeat Monday also kept Wilmington from establishing a new season high for consecutive wins at home, letting the current record of three stand. The Rocks last swept a series when they took three in a row against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on May 25 and 26 last season.
After Monday afternoon's 6-1 loss against Frederick, Wilmington is now 8-7 in 2014 against the Carolina League Northern Division. However, Monday's contest was just the team's fourth against a division foe other than the Lynchburg Hillcats. In an odd scheduling quirk, Wilmington's has only faced nearby division rival Frederick four times and is still yet to face the Potomac Nationals. Wilmington won't do battle against Potomac until a rare home-and-home leads to six straight games with the Nationals, June 3-8.


THEY SAID IT:


Manager Darryl Kennedy:


"That's the way it is. Even though the play on the stolen base was close, we make the error; we've got to be able to stop it there. Unfortunately, Sean [Manaea] couldn't keep the damage at a minimum. The inning got away from us but he settled down and after that one inning everything was fine. Down 6-1 going into the ninth inning, a tremendous job bringing the tying run to the plate. The guys battled right there and they never quit so you've got to give them credit for hanging in there. We played eight games in seven days, a bunch of day games following night games; 6-2, I'll take it."


"Now we've just got to regroup, get on the bus, go down [to Carolina and Frederick] and start everything over. You've got to win series. We won both series at home now we've got to go win two series on the road."


Infielder Kenny Diekroeger:


"This homestand was great. Even with this loss at the end we still got a lot of confidence. This loss is just baseball, we had a horrible half inning but we feel great going into this road trip. I think you'll definitely see similar results these next seven games."


Kenny Diekroeger "It's a different routine but, honestly, we don't dread going on the road at all. It's part of the game for us and I think looking at the road trip I don't see any reason why we won't be able to continue what we're doing."
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

ATTENTION: SPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WEDNESDAY MAY 28, 2014
CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580Blue Rocks Blank Carolina For Second Straight Night
Wilmington Staff Has Strung Together 24 Consecutive Scoreless Innings
Zebulon, NC ? For a second consecutive night the Wilmington Blue Rocks pitching staff flummoxed the Carolina offense at Five County Stadium. Miguel Almonte, Kyle Bartsch and Mark Peterson combined on a five-hit shutout as Wilmington blanked the Mudcats, 3-0. The Rocks have now gone 24 consecutive innings without allowing a run, have won nine of their last 11 games and are a season-high three games above .500 (27-24). The victory also allowed the Blue Crew to remain in sole possession of first place in the Carolina League North, one-half game in front of the Lynchburg Hillcats.
Almonte (3-2) was the story. Wilmington's Opening Day starter worked a season-high 6.1 frames. The right-hander did not walk a single batter, and enjoyed his best fastball command of the season. With velocity in the mid-90's all night, Almonte fanned seven and yielded just five hits. It was his longest outing since he went a career-high 7.2 innings on June 25 of last season at Low-A Lexington.
He gave way to Bartsch after a one-out double in the seventh. The lefty stranded that inherited runner and then worked a scoreless eighth. Peterson came on in the ninth to record his 10th save in as many tries.
Wilmington got all of its offense in the second inning. Cody Stubbs and Daniel Rockett got things started with a pair of one-out singles. That set up Kenny Diekroeger, who laced an RBI liner to left. No one covered third base for the Mudcats, so when Rockett tried to go from first to third LaVon Washington's throw to the bag resulted in an error that allowed Rockett to get up and score. Terrance Gore followed with a grounder to second that Todd Hankins booted, allowing Diekroeger to score. The Mudcats finished the night with five defensive miscues.
The Blue Rocks go for the sweep on Thursday night in Zebulon. Wilmington will send southpaw Jonathan Dziedzic (5-2, 2.27) to the mound, while Carolina will counter with lefty Shawn Morimando (1-4, 4.60). First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Rocks return to Frawley on June 3, when the Potomac Nationals visit town for a three-game set. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
The Carolina League announced on Tuesday that infielder Hunter Dozier was the league's Player of the Week for May 19-25. Over seven games last week, Dozier went 11-for-20 (.550) with four doubles and four RBIs. The 6-foot-4 infielder scored eight runs while also drawing six free passes and stealing a base. Dozier raised his batting average from .246 to .271 during that stretch. At one point he reached base in nine consecutive plate appearances. On Tuesday Dozier picked up right where he left off with two hits, two runs and an RBI. Things did not go as smoothly on Wednesday. The infielder was hit by a pitch in the left hand and then injured his right hand trying to slide into second base on a subsequent stolen base attempt. Dozier was taken out of the game, but X-Rays proved negative. He is day-to-day.
Wilmington's bullpen continues to be the strength of its team in 2014. As a unit, Rocks relievers have now tossed 14 consecutive scoreless innings and have posted an 11-5 overall mark with a 2.43 ERA and 176 strikeouts in 172.1 innings pitched. Mark Peterson has worked 21 consecutive innings without allowing a run. He has walked just eight batters in 16 appearances this season and leads the Carolina League with 10 saves in as many tries. His ERA on the season is down to 0.79.
Wilmington's 3-0 triumph on Wednesday marked the Rocks' fourth shutout of the season and their second straight. The Blue Crew blanked the Winston-Salem Dash in two consecutive games on April 11 and 12, something Wilmington had not accomplished since turning in four straight shutouts in 2009. The Rocks have the second-most shutouts in the Carolina League this season behind only Salem, which leads the loop with six blankings this year.
THEY SAID IT:
Manager Darryl Kennedy:
"I'm very pleased with the way we are playing right now. Everything is starting to come together. Our offense has been very good and very consistent over the last week-and-a-half. Then what's great about it is when our offense isn't putting up many runs, our pitching has been on top of its game. That's how you get a streak going. Right now they're playing with a lot of confidence and really good things are happening."
"Tonight Miguel Almonte pitched a very good ballgame. He commanded the fastball better than he has all year, and that's what we have been harping on with him. He knows he has great breaking stuff and offspeed stuff, but he's got to be able to command the fastball to get them off of that. Tonight he did exactly that. He was able to locate his fastball to get ahead in the count, and then put them away with that outstanding curveball and changeup."
"I try not to think about their club too much. My priority is to worry about our guys because I'm not smart enough to take care of both teams. But the one thing you always expect when a team is in a funk is that they're going to be really aggressive."
"Hunter Dozier is fine. They went and got X-Rays because he slid into the guys foot and everything was negative in both hands, because he got hit by the pitch too. He'll probably be a little sore [Wednesday]. We'll see how he is, but he'll probably take a day off or so."
"It was good to see [Raul Mondesi] back in the lineup. Twelve days without seeing any kind of pitching is a long stretch. He went up there and was a little hyped up, trying to do a little too much and over-swinging. But he'll be fine. We've got to have him in that lineup, especially at shortstop. He brings an awful lot to the table defensively for our club. He'll be fine."

Catcher Zane Evans:
"That was Miguel Almonte's best outing of the year for sure. Some guys in the dugout started talking in maybe like the fourth inning about how nasty his stuff looked. He was really hitting the spots. I could put down anything and he was just painting corners. He was throwing the ball pretty hard, the changeup was nasty and the curveball he struggled with a little bit early, but even that came around."
"When he is locating his fastball it makes it so difficult on the hitter. His ball is not flat by any means. He's sitting at 95 [MPH] with really late sink on it and then when he has two other pitches that he can throw for strikes it makes it really tough for the guy at the plate. I mean you can't really sit up there and wait on a certain pitch because he can throw anything at the moment."
"We've been playing pretty well as of late. I think there's a confidence with us right now. Anytime you can win a series it's pretty good-- especially in this league where everybody's around .500 right now. Whenever you can get a series win and then go for the sweep you know you're doing something right and we've been that position more frequently lately. It definitely helps you relax on getaway day that's for sure. But I'm happy with how we're playing right now. We just need to keep it up, keep the momentum going and try and win this first half."
Blue Rocks Baseball = AffordaFUNability!
www.bluerocks.com
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

ATTENTION: SPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY MAY 29, 2014


CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580Four-Run Carolina Fifth Spoils Rocks' Bid For Sweep

Blue Crew Led, 4-1, Entering The Frame



Zebulon, NC ? A four-run fifth inning propelled the Carolina Mudcats to a 6-4 victory over the Wilmington Blue Rocks Thursday night at Five County Stadium, as the Rocks' bid for their first series sweep of the season fell short again. With the defeat, Wilmington fell back to two games above .500, at 27-25. The loss also dropped the Blue Crew into second place in the Carolina League Northern Division, a half-game behind the Lynchburg Hillcats.


The Rocks led, 4-1, entering the fifth inning of play. However, the first four Mudcats to come to the plate against Jonathan Dziedzic in the frame singled, setting up Carolina's big four-run rally. The fourth base hit was an RBI single by Yhoxian Medina to make the score 4-2, Wilmington. RBI singles by Todd Hankins and Erik Gonzalez plated two more and, by the end of the frame, Carolina led, 5-4.


Dziedzic worked 4.1 innings on the mound for the Blue Rocks and allowed five runs on seven hits while punching out four.



Wilmington jumped out to an early 3-0 lead by scoring three times in the first inning off of Adam Plutko, who was making his Advanced-A debut for Carolina. With one out in the frame, Jack Lopez drew a walk to kick-start Wilmington's offense. Bubba Starling then singled and Michael Antonio doubled. Antonio's two-bagger drove home Lopez and moved Starling to third, giving the Rocks a 1-0 lead. Cody Stubbs then singled to plate both Starling and Antonio, making it 3-0, Blue Crew.


Carolina scored its first run of the ballgame in the second inning. Jeremy Lucas led off the frame with a double and moved to third on a groundout by Alex Monsalve. Lucas scored on an RBI groundout by Luigi Rodriguez to draw the Mudcats within 3-1.


Stubbs went deep off of Plutko in the fourth to put the Blue Rocks up, 4-1, before the Mudcats' fifth-inning rally.
Dziedzic (5-3, 2.94) suffered the loss for Wilmington while Plutko (1-0, 6.00) earned his first win for Carolina. Louis Head picked up his ninth save of the year for the Mudcats with a perfect ninth.
The Blue Rocks return to action Friday night in Frederick as they open up another four-game series with the Keys. Wilmington will send righty Christian Binford (3-2, 2.21) to the mound, while Frederick will counter with right-hander Parker Bridwell (1-6, 5.13). First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Rocks return to Frawley on June 3, when the Potomac Nationals visit town for a three-game set. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:


Thursday night's contest at Carolina was Raul Mondesi's first game in the field since the nightcap of a doubleheader on May 16 against Lynchburg. The 18-year-old shortstop missed 11 games because of back spasms and returned to the lineup as the designated hitter on Wednesday. In Mondesi's first two games back, he is 0-for-8 with four strikeouts. Mondesi was Wilmington's most consistent hitter in the month of April, hitting .304 (24-for-79) for the month. However, it has been a rough month of May for him. Since the calendar flipped to the campaign's second month, Mondesi has batted just .162 (11-for-68).



Cody Stubbs went 3-for-4 at the plate Thursday night with a run and three RBIs against the Mudcats. One of those hits was his fourth homer of the season. That long ball gave Stubbs sole possession of the Blue Rocks' team lead. The left-handed hitting first baseman has hit three homers this week over the span of six games. He had not hit a homer since April 4 at Winston-Salem. The first dinger he hit this week came on Saturday against the Frederick Keys. Stubbs poked a ball down the left-field line that just stayed fair for a three-run blast in Wilmington's 8-4 win over the Keys. In the series finale against Frederick on Monday, Stubbs launched a long ball deep to right field at Frawley Stadium. The Rocks lost that one 6-3. Stubbs is 9-for-15 at the plate with four runs, three homers and nine RBIs since May 24.
Wilmington pitching saw its 25.1-inning scoreless streak snapped when the Carolina Mudcats scored a run in the second inning of Thursday night's contest. Entering play Thursday night, the Blue Rocks were riding back-to-back shutouts for the second time this season. Wilmington's 3-0 triumph on Wednesday marked the Rocks' fourth shutout of the year. The Blue Crew blanked the Winston-Salem Dash in two consecutive games on April 11 and 12, something Wilmington had not accomplished since turning in four straight shutouts in 2009. The Rocks have the second-most shutouts in the Carolina League this season behind only Salem, which leads the league with six blankings this year.
Wilmington's bullpen continues to be the strength of its team in 2014. However, the Rocks' relievers saw their 16-inning scoreless streak snapped Thursday. Yender Caramo yielded one run on two hits over 2.2 innings pitched in relief of Jonathan Dziedzic. In Thursday's contest, Daniel Stumpf also made his second relief appearance of the season. The southpaw tossed a scoreless inning but allowed two hits. As a unit, the Wilmington 'pen has posted an 11-5 overall mark with a 2.45 ERA and 177 strikeouts in 176 innings pitched. Closer Mark Peterson, who did not appear in Wednesday's contest, has worked 21 consecutive innings without allowing a run. He has walked just eight batters in 16 appearances this season and leads the Carolina League with 10 saves in as many tries. His ERA on the season is 0.79.
THEY SAID IT:
Manager Darryl Kennedy:
"We stayed too predictable and stayed on the outside part of the plate and the hitters made the adjustment and decided they were going to go the other way on him and we were never able pitch inside and get them off the plate enough. They just started diving and tip your hat to them. They made the adjustment on [Jonathan] Dziedzic and Dziedzic never changed the way he was pitching. They made him pay for it."
"The thing is, when you face guys in this league, you're going to face them two, three, four times. You're going to have to play a little chess game with them. That's any league. Baseball is a big chess game. They've got to make the adjustment, then you've got to make the adjustment to them. You've got to battle through that all year and that's the one thing that, I think, with Dziedzic, we've been talking to him about using both sides of the plate. Hopefully, now, he'll start commanding that inside of the plate a little better.
"[Cody Stubbs] has been swinging well. That kid works hard, no doubt about it. He comes to the cage every day and works with Milt [Thompson] early. He takes his BP seriously. He really gets after it. There's one guy out there that comes to play every day and comes to work every day and that's Cody Stubbs. It's paying off. He's putting good swings on the ball and the way guys were getting him out two weeks ago, now they're not able to get him out. I think he hit a changeup out tonight that he'd been swinging through a lot. Kudos to him and he deserves it, he works hard…We knew he could go [to the outfield]. In spring training we talked about him possibly being an extra outfielder for us. Tonight, I just wanted to try and get as many lefties in the lineup as I could against this right-hander. I looked up his stats and lefties seem to have success against him and that was my thinking behind that."
First-Baseman Cody Stubbs:
"I just want to go out there every day and give it everything I've got and let the chips fall where they may. At the end of the day, at least it lets me know I've tried to do everything I could to help the team win that day and prepare myself for the game."
"It's funny. It can be one little small thing in baseball and that's what it was. I changed one little thing and it's working right now so I'm going to stick with it…it was just one little thing with my leg, just getting me going before the pitch was coming. It's working right now so I'm not going to change that."
"We're playing very solid. It's tough to sweep anybody. You learn that in college. It's not easy to beat a team three times in a row. I think we're rolling pretty good. It's getting down the home stretch of this first half, so hopefully we can keep the momentum going."
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

Gamecocks Defeat Camels, 5-2, to Extend Home Postseason Win Streak


COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Behind another stellar postseason performance from starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery, top-seeded South Carolina won its 28th straight home NCAA Tournament game, defeating fourth-seeded Campbell, 5-2, on Friday in the Columbia Regional in front of a Carolina Stadium crowd of 7,382.


With the win, the Gamecocks (43-16) advance to Saturday's winner's bracket game against No. 2 seed Maryland. South Carolina improves its postseason record at Carolina Stadium to 17-0.


Montgomery (8-5) gave up two runs on five hits and matched his season high with nine strikeouts in eight innings of work. He is now 5-0 in NCAA Tournament games and has a postseason ERA of 0.70. The victory was the 20th of Montgomery's career, making him the 22nd Gamecock to reach the mark.


Offensively, South Carolina recorded 11 hits, the 31st time it has reached double digits in hits this season. Sophomore shortstop Marcus Mooney and sophomore designated hitter Max Schrock led the way with three hits apiece, while freshman left fielder Gene Cone added two hits. Mooney and junior Kyle Martin also drove in two runs each.


Campbell (40-20) finished the night with six hits, including a 2-for-4 effort from center fielder Matt Nadolski and a solo home run from Seth LaRue.


Camels' starting pitcher Heath Bowers (10-4) picked up the loss after surrendering three runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings of work.


The Gamecocks wasted no time putting runs on the board as they built a 3-0 lead in the first. Mooney and Schrock delivered back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, and Joey Pankake drew a walk in the next at bat to load the bases with no outs. Martin followed with a single to right field, driving in Mooney and Schrock to give Carolina a 2-0 lead. Second baseman DC Arendas drove home one more run with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Pankake to push the Gamecocks' lead to three runs.


Campbell got on the board in the top of the fourth, as LaRue launched a solo home run to left center to cut the Gamecocks' lead to 3-1. Prior to LaRue's homer, Montgomery had not given up a run in 27 2/3 consecutive innings in the NCAA Tournament.


South Carolina added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on a two-run single by Mooney to build a 5-1 lead.


The Camels scored a run in the ninth on a RBI triple by Will Albertson, but Gamecock closer Joel Seddon was able to record the final three outs, including two strikeouts, to secure the win.


Campbell will take on third-seeded Old Dominion in an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Gamecocks' contest against Maryland and the elimination game will both be streamed live on ESPN3. Live stats will also be available at Gamecocksonline.com.
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

HOUSTON DEFEATS BRYANT 3-2 IN 10 INNINGS




NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Game 2: Houston def. Bryant, 3-2 (10 inn.)
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Second-seeded Houston defeated third-seeded Bryant, 3-2 in 10 innings, in game two of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Friday night at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.
Houston's Ashford Fulmer led off the bottom of the 10th inning by being walked. Fulmer moved to second on a ground out and third on a passed ball. Designated hitter Justin Montemayor then hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score the game-winning run.
With the win, Houston will face top-seeded LSU on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT. Byrant will face Southeastern Louisiana in the elimination game Saturday at 2 p.m.
Bryant led off the game with back-to-back singles. Leftfielder AJ Zaronzy then hit an RBI single through the left side to score Carl Anderson to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Houston tied the game at one in the bottom the third inning. With runners on the corners, centerfielder Kyle Survance made it home on a wild pitch by McAvoy.
Houston scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Montemayor led off the inning with a double to left-center field. Third baseman Connor Hollis then reached first on an error by the Bryant pitcher, McAvoy. With runners on the corners, shortstop Frankie Ratcliff grounded into an RBI double play.
Houston's Tyler Ford (9-0) earned the win after only allowing one hit in the top of the 10th inning. Bryant's Kyle Wilcox (3-3) was charged the loss after allowing the winning run.

---30---
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

ATTENTION: SPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FRIDAY MAY 30, 2014
CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580Binford Struggles As Rocks Drop Opener In Frederick[/URL]
Wilmington Starter Yields Five In Just Four Innings To Take Loss
Frederick, MD ? For the second straight night a normally dependable starting pitcher endured a rough evening for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Just 24 hours after Jonathan Dziedzic surrendered five runs and was chased with one out in the fifth inning by the Carolina Mudcats, Christian Binford turned in his shortest outing of the season, allowing five runs in just four frames of an 8-1 loss to the Frederick Keys. The loss dropped Wilmington back to a single game above .500 (27-26) and in second place in the Carolina League North.
Binford (3-3) yielded eight hits as he suffered his first loss since May 14. The right-hander allowed two runs in the second and then gave up four straight hits and added an errant pickoff throw during a three-run fourth. The long frame ended his outing, which was his shortest since April 12, 2013 when he was pitching for Low-A Lexington. Unfortunately for Binford, the unusually subpar outing came in front of a huge throng of friends and family from his hometown, which is located less than 30 minutes from Harry Grove Stadium.
Adrian Marin was the biggest thorn in Binford's side. The Frederick shortstop got two hits and drove in three runs against the righty. He finished the night 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs. The Keys did most of their damage courtesy of one four-hitter segment of their lineup. Frederick's four-through seven hitters, Zane Chavez, Wynston Sawyer, Creede Simpson and Marin combined for eight hits, five runs, and seven RBIs in the Keys triumph. Frederick's 15 knocks as a team were the most allowed by the Blue Crew all season.
Wilmington got its lone run in the top of the fourth. Hunter Dozier opened the frame with a double to the left-field corner, moved to third on a fly ball off the bat of Zane Evans and came home on an RBI grounder to short by Cody Stubbs.
The Blue Rocks return to action Saturday night in Frederick as they contniue their four-game series with the Keys. Wilmington will send righty Luis Santos to the mound in his Advanced-A debut, while Frederick will counter with right-hander Joe Van Meter (1-0, 3.20). First pitch is slated for 6:00 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Rocks return to Frawley on June 3, when the Potomac Nationals visit town for a three-game set. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
In his third game back after missing almost two full weeks with back spasms, Raul Mondesi got his first hit since May 16. The 18-year-old shortstop was absent for 11 games due to the injury and had gone 0-or-8 with four strikeouts in his first two contests back. He finished Friday 1-for-4 with two punchouts. Mondesi was Wilmington's most consistent hitter in the month of April, hitting .304 (24-for-79) for the month. However, it has been a rough month of May for him. Since the calendar flipped to the campaign's second month, Mondesi has batted just .167 (12-for-72).
Hunter Dozier continued his recent surge at the plate on offense. Despite missing Thursday's game because he was hit by a pitch in the left hand and then injured his right hand trying to slide into second base on a subsequent stolen base attempt in Wednesday's win at Carolina, Dozier went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and scored the Rocks' only run on Friday. Dozier went for X-Rays on Wednesday, which proved negative, allowing the reigning Carolina League Player of the Week to pick up right where he left off. Since May 20, the Royals' first-round selection in the 2013 draft is hitting .441 (15-for-34) with six doubles, five RBIs and 11 runs scored. He continues to excel outside of the First State, batting .329 on the road this year as opposed to just .226 at home.
After Friday's 8-1 loss against Frederick (the Rocks' second straight to the Keys), Wilmington is now 8-8 in 2014 against the Carolina League Northern Division. However, Monday's contest was just the team's fifth against a division foe other than the Lynchburg Hillcats. In an odd scheduling quirk, Wilmington has only faced nearby division rival Frederick five times, with just one of the games coming at Harry Grove Stadium. The Rocks have still yet to play the Potomac Nationals. Wilmington won't do battle against Potomac until a rare home-and-home leads to six straight games with the Nationals, June 3-8.
THEY SAID IT:
Manager Darryl Kennedy:
"[Christian Binford] was up in the zone and he couldn't seem to get the ball down, and they made him pay for it. That's the one thing we talked about before the game, these guys can hit fastballs and if you leave the ball up they're going to make you pay for it. I know he had a lot of people in the stands [Friday] and I think maybe he got a little out of his game. He might've been a little too amped up pitching in front of his home crowd sort to speak. That can be a real tough deal. Sometimes it's a good thing, but sometimes it doesn't work out so good and then it really eats at you. but you've got to go through that, because no matter where you play eventually someone is going to come see you. Besides all that though, he just had a bad outing. As many good outings as he had strung together he was due for something like this and unfortunately it came tonight."
"We got beat tonight, there's no doubt about it. Everything they did was right. We jam a guy, he hits the ball up the third-base line for a hit. They get a chopper up the middle off the pitcher's glove, a bad-hop on a ball right at Jack [Lopez]. It's baseball. Things like that happen on a given night and we just got beat."
"[Parker Bridwell] pitched well tonight for Frederick. The thing he did well was get guys out with runners on base. He did whatever he had to do to get the batter out. He kept us off balance all night, he didn't give us many pitches to hit and he didn't miss his spot too much. The kid pitched really well and you have to tip your cap to him."
"Hunter Dozier's swinging the bat well right now. He's seeing the ball well and then putting good contact on it. He's a ballplayer. He wants to be in the lineup no matter what. Before the game I was joking with him like, 'how's your hand?' You could tell he was itching to get back in the lineup. He's swinging the bat well and is such an important part of our lineup so we are happy he's ready to go.
"The one thing you have to remember about [Raul Mondesi] is that he's only 18 years old and is going through something that he never has his whole life. These guys are making good pitches on him and are exploiting some weaknesses. He's going to get through this. The good thing is he's able to stay above water because of his speed. He got the infield single tonight off the pitcher's glove and those are key when you're struggling. When you're a guy who can't really run down the line you don't get stuff like that. He'll be okay. He's a little rusty from the layoff, but I expect he'll get going again. He's a big catalyst for us."
Starting Pitcher Christian Binford:
"This was all on me. I was up in the zone, I couldn't get ahead of guys and was frustrated all night. Usually I can make an adjustment and tonight, for whatever reason, I just didn't. It was just such an off night. Things weren't going my way. I made a bad pickoff throw, I get a groundball double play that takes a terrible hop and [Jack Lopez at second base] just had no shot because it hit the lip on him. Things weren't going our way and Frederick had a really good night. That's a tough combo."
"Not many guys get the chance to come back and pitch professionally right near your hometown. It meant so much to me, especially because there were hundreds of people here that I know aren't just supporting me because I play baseball. These people would be out supporting me no matter what I did. Being able to see them and show that I know where I came from, and to return some of the love to them, I couldn't possibly ask for anything better."
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

ATTENTION: SPORTS




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SATURDAY MAY 31, 2014





CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580


Santos Impressive In Debut But Wilmington Drops
Third Straight[/URL]





Rocks Starter Takes No-Hitter Into Sixth Inning But Frederick Offense
Heats Up Late





Frederick, MD ? Wilmington starter Luis Santos
took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but it was not enough to carry the Blue
Rocks to victory on Saturday night at Harry Grove Stadium. Frederick scored two
runs in the sixth, went ahead with one in the seventh and then got two critical
insurance tallies in the eighth on the way to a 5-4 triumph for the Keys. The
loss was Wilmington's third straight and it dropped them back to .500 (27-27)
on the season.





Santos retired the first 13 batters he faced in his Advanced-A debut,
and did not yield a hit until there was one out in the sixth. Jerome Pena sent
a bouncer to first that took a bad hop on Cody Stubbs, allowing Pena to reach
safely. It was originally scored an error, but later changed to a hit. That seemed to spur the Keys, as everything
unraveled on the Blue Crew. Frederick would score twice in the frame to tie the
game, 2-2. The first run came across on an RBI groundout by Brenden Webb while
the second scored on a passed ball by Cam
Gallagher
.





Southpaw Kyle Bartsch replaced
Santos on the mound in the seventh inning and things unraveled further for the
Blue Crew. With one out in the inning, Adrian Marin poked a solo blast to right,
giving the Keys a 3-2 lead, their first of the ballgame. Bartsch allowed two
more runs to cross the plate in the eighth inning, as Frederick extended its
lead to 5-2. The first came on a solo homer to right by Webb and the second on
an RBI single by Creede Simpson.





The Blue Rocks mounted a late rally in the ninth inning, scoring twice
and putting the tying run on base. Tyler
Chism
walked with one out in the frame and Gallagher doubled him home to
make it 5-3. After Kenny Diekroeger struck
out swinging, Daniel Rockett's pinch-hit
RBI single plated Gallagher, drawing the Rocks to within 5-4. Raul Mondesi then lined out to end the game.





Wilmington took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Terrance Gore walked and then stole second base. Raul Mondesi then walked to put runners
at first and second for Hunter Dozier,
who doubled to drive them both in.


Joe Van Meter (2-0, 3.04) picked up his second win of the campaign for
Frederick while Bartsch (3-3, 3.60) absorbed his third defeat. Matt Hobgood earned
his second save.


The Blue Rocks return to action Sunday in Frederick
as they continue their four-game series with the Keys. Wilmington will send southpaw
Sean Manaea (2-3, 4.91) to the mound, while Frederick
will counter with right-hander Mark Blackmar (2-1, 4.97). First pitch is slated
for 2:00 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Rocks
return to Frawley on June 3, when the Potomac Nationals visit town for a
three-game set. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit
BlueRocks.com.


PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:


After Saturday's 5-4
loss at Frederick, the Rocks' third straight to the Keys, Wilmington is now 8-9
in 2014 against the Carolina League Northern Division. However, Saturday's
contest was just the team's sixth against a division foe other than the
Lynchburg Hillcats. In an odd scheduling quirk, Wilmington has only faced
nearby division rival Frederick six times, with just two of the games coming at
Harry Grove Stadium. The Rocks have
still yet to play the Potomac Nationals. Wilmington won't do battle against
Potomac until a rare home-and-home leads to six straight games with the
Nationals, June 3-8.


Hunter
Dozier
continued his recent surge at the plate on offense. Despite missing Thursday's game because he was hit by a pitch in the left hand and then
injured his right hand trying to slide into second base on a subsequent stolen
base attempt in Wednesday's win at Carolina, Dozier went 1-for-4 with two RBIs
Saturday. The third-baseman went for
X-Rays on Wednesday, which proved negative, allowing the reigning Carolina
League Player of the Week to pick up right where he left off. Since May 20, the Royals' first-round
selection in the 2013 draft is hitting .421 (16-for-38) with seven doubles, seven
RBIs and 11 runs scored. He continues to excel outside of the First State,
batting .325 on the road this year as opposed to just .226 at home. Overall,
his average sits at .272 on the season.


Saturday night's contest in Frederick
was the longest the Blue Rocks have gone without allowing a hit since August
24, 2013. That night, southpaw Sam
Selman
threw eight hitless innings against the Potomac Nationals before
hitting his pitch count, which forced manager Vance Wilson to remove him from the ballgame. Andrew Edwards replaced him and allowed a double to Cutter Dykstra,
ending Wilmington's bid for a combined no-hitter. Selman did not allow a
baserunner until the fifth inning and did not yield a free pass until the
sixth. The Blue Crew won that game, 1-0, on a Sam Bates sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning.


Terrance Gore and Kenny Diekroeger both swiped a bag Saturday night, increasing
Wilmington's total on the season to 59. The Rocks are second in the Carolina
League in steals but first in efficiency; the Blue Crew has been caught just 10
times on the basepaths in 2014. No other Carolina League team has been caught
less than 13 times. Gore is now 16-for-17 in the stolen-base department, giving
him the Blue Rocks team lead. That total also ties him for third in the league
behind Lynchburg's duo of Jose Peraza (26) and Kyle Wren (24). Jack Lopez is second on the team with
10 thefts, while Bubba Starling ranks
third with nine. Raul Mondesi is
fourth with eight steals and Diekroeger's six tie him with Hunter Dozier for fifth.


Wilmington's season-long struggles
with runners in scoring position have reared their head once again over the
last two games. In the first two games of its current series with Frederick,
the Blue Crew is just 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position. The Rocks have
stranded a combined total of 13 baserunners between the two contests. On the
campaign, Wilmington is batting just .202 (102-for-506) with runners in scoring
position.


THEY
SAID IT:



Manager Darryl Kennedy:


"You have got to tip your hat to them. They battled
the whole time. No-hitter for five innings, perfect game [into the sixth], and
then an error at first base and they get a base hit to right field. It's a game
of inches and one more inch to the right and [Cody] Stubbs makes that play and it's a double play. The big one was
the high fastball that got by [Cam]
Gallagher
that tied the ballgame. [Luis]
Santos
pitched a very good ballgame; he did. He really did a good job. Kind
of lost his composure there in the sixth inning but was able to regroup and get
out of it and keep us in the ballgame. Our bullpen has been so good, it's
really a matter of time before something happens. [Kyle] Bartsch just left a couple of pitches out over the plate. In
this ballpark you can't do that and they made him pay for it and they got the
win. I'm proud of the guys for coming back there in the ninth inning and
bringing the tying run to second base. They beat us again and we've got to
regroup tomorrow and go after it."


"The thing he did today, he was behind in the count
a couple times, 2-and-1 counts and was able to throw his changeup for a strike
and got swings on it. It kept them off balance and that was the key. He dropped
his breaking ball in for strikes when he wanted to. He pitched a very good
ballgame, no doubt. I was impressed. I thought he threw the ball really well."


"We got to do a better job [with runners in scoring
position], no doubt about it. When you look at our streak of winning nine out
of 11, that's the thing we did, is do the situations [well]. There were
countless nights during that nice streak of 5-for-5 with runners at third base
and less than two outs and big two-out hits. The last two nights, we've
stranded some runners there with two outs. It's one of those things that when
you're going good, things are good, and when you're going bad, things are bad.
We'll be all right. We'll regroup tomorrow and go get them."
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

Santos Impressive In Debut But Wilmington Drops Third Straight[/URL]

Rocks Starter Takes No-Hitter Into Sixth Inning But Frederick Offense Heats Up Late


Frederick, MD ? Wilmington starter Luis Santos took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but it was not enough to carry the Blue Rocks to victory on Saturday night at Harry Grove Stadium. Frederick scored two runs in the sixth, went ahead with one in the seventh and then got two critical insurance tallies in the eighth on the way to a 5-4 triumph for the Keys. The loss was Wilmington's third straight and it dropped them back to .500 (27-27) on the season.



Santos retired the first 13 batters he faced in his Advanced-A debut, and did not yield a hit until there was one out in the sixth. Jerome Pena sent a bouncer to first that took a bad hop on Cody Stubbs, allowing Pena to reach safely. It was originally scored an error, but later changed to a hit. That seemed to spur the Keys, as everything unraveled on the Blue Crew. Frederick would score twice in the frame to tie the game, 2-2. The first run came across on an RBI groundout by Brenden Webb while the second scored on a passed ball by Cam Gallagher.



Southpaw Kyle Bartsch replaced Santos on the mound in the seventh inning and things unraveled further for the Blue Crew. With one out in the inning, Adrian Marin poked a solo blast to right, giving the Keys a 3-2 lead, their first of the ballgame. Bartsch allowed two more runs to cross the plate in the eighth inning, as Frederick extended its lead to 5-2. The first came on a solo homer to right by Webb and the second on an RBI single by Creede Simpson.



The Blue Rocks mounted a late rally in the ninth inning, scoring twice and putting the tying run on base. Tyler Chism walked with one out in the frame and Gallagher doubled him home to make it 5-3. After Kenny Diekroeger struck out swinging, Daniel Rockett's pinch-hit RBI single plated Gallagher, drawing the Rocks to within 5-4. Raul Mondesi then lined out to end the game.


Wilmington took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Terrance Gore walked and then stole second base. Raul Mondesi then walked to put runners at first and second for Hunter Dozier, who doubled to drive them both in.
Joe Van Meter (2-0, 3.04) picked up his second win of the campaign for Frederick while Bartsch (3-3, 3.60) absorbed his third defeat. Matt Hobgood earned his second save.
The Blue Rocks return to action Sunday in Frederick as they continue their four-game series with the Keys. Wilmington will send southpaw Sean Manaea (2-3, 4.91) to the mound, while Frederick will counter with right-hander Mark Blackmar (2-1, 4.97). First pitch is slated for 2:00 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Rocks return to Frawley on June 3, when the Potomac Nationals visit town for a three-game set. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
After Saturday's 5-4 loss at Frederick, the Rocks' third straight to the Keys, Wilmington is now 8-9 in 2014 against the Carolina League Northern Division. However, Saturday's contest was just the team's sixth against a division foe other than the Lynchburg Hillcats. In an odd scheduling quirk, Wilmington has only faced nearby division rival Frederick six times, with just two of the games coming at Harry Grove Stadium. The Rocks have still yet to play the Potomac Nationals. Wilmington won't do battle against Potomac until a rare home-and-home leads to six straight games with the Nationals, June 3-8.
Hunter Dozier continued his recent surge at the plate on offense. Despite missing Thursday's game because he was hit by a pitch in the left hand and then injured his right hand trying to slide into second base on a subsequent stolen base attempt in Wednesday's win at Carolina, Dozier went 1-for-4 with two RBIs Saturday. The third-baseman went for X-Rays on Wednesday, which proved negative, allowing the reigning Carolina League Player of the Week to pick up right where he left off. Since May 20, the Royals' first-round selection in the 2013 draft is hitting .421 (16-for-38) with seven doubles, seven RBIs and 11 runs scored. He continues to excel outside of the First State, batting .325 on the road this year as opposed to just .226 at home. Overall, his average sits at .272 on the season.
Saturday night's contest in Frederick was the longest the Blue Rocks have gone without allowing a hit since August 24, 2013. That night, southpaw Sam Selman threw eight hitless innings against the Potomac Nationals before hitting his pitch count, which forced manager Vance Wilson to remove him from the ballgame. Andrew Edwards replaced him and allowed a double to Cutter Dykstra, ending Wilmington's bid for a combined no-hitter. Selman did not allow a baserunner until the fifth inning and did not yield a free pass until the sixth. The Blue Crew won that game, 1-0, on a Sam Bates sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning.
Terrance Gore and Kenny Diekroeger both swiped a bag Saturday night, increasing Wilmington's total on the season to 59. The Rocks are second in the Carolina League in steals but first in efficiency; the Blue Crew has been caught just 10 times on the basepaths in 2014. No other Carolina League team has been caught less than 13 times. Gore is now 16-for-17 in the stolen-base department, giving him the Blue Rocks team lead. That total also ties him for third in the league behind Lynchburg's duo of Jose Peraza (26) and Kyle Wren (24). Jack Lopez is second on the team with 10 thefts, while Bubba Starling ranks third with nine. Raul Mondesi is fourth with eight steals and Diekroeger's six tie him with Hunter Dozier for fifth.
Wilmington's season-long struggles with runners in scoring position have reared their head once again over the last two games. In the first two games of its current series with Frederick, the Blue Crew is just 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position. The Rocks have stranded a combined total of 13 baserunners between the two contests. On the campaign, Wilmington is batting just .202 (102-for-506) with runners in scoring position.
THEY SAID IT:
Manager Darryl Kennedy:
"You have got to tip your hat to them. They battled the whole time. No-hitter for five innings, perfect game [into the sixth], and then an error at first base and they get a base hit to right field. It's a game of inches and one more inch to the right and [Cody] Stubbs makes that play and it's a double play. The big one was the high fastball that got by [Cam] Gallagher that tied the ballgame. [Luis] Santos pitched a very good ballgame; he did. He really did a good job. Kind of lost his composure there in the sixth inning but was able to regroup and get out of it and keep us in the ballgame. Our bullpen has been so good, it's really a matter of time before something happens. [Kyle] Bartsch just left a couple of pitches out over the plate. In this ballpark you can't do that and they made him pay for it and they got the win. I'm proud of the guys for coming back there in the ninth inning and bringing the tying run to second base. They beat us again and we've got to regroup tomorrow and go after it."
"The thing he did today, he was behind in the count a couple times, 2-and-1 counts and was able to throw his changeup for a strike and got swings on it. It kept them off balance and that was the key. He dropped his breaking ball in for strikes when he wanted to. He pitched a very good ballgame, no doubt. I was impressed. I thought he threw the ball really well."
"We got to do a better job [with runners in scoring position], no doubt about it. When you look at our streak of winning nine out of 11, that's the thing we did, is do the situations [well]. There were countless nights during that nice streak of 5-for-5 with runners at third base and less than two outs and big two-out hits. The last two nights, we've stranded some runners there with two outs. It's one of those things that when you're going good, things are good, and when you're going bad, things are bad. We'll be all right. We'll regroup tomorrow and go get them."
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

Dozier's Big Night Leads Wilmington To Crucial Win
Over Potomac [/URL]





Third Baseman Doubled Twice, Drove In Three





Wilmington, DE ? A pair
of seventh-inning runs helped the Wilmington Blue Rocks to a crucial 5-3 win
over the Potomac Nationals Tuesday night at Frawley Stadium. The Rocks had
surrendered the tying run in the top of the frame, but seized the lead back in
the bottom half thanks to an RBI fielder's choice by Raul Mondesi and an RBI double by Hunter Dozier. Tuesday night's victory drew the Blue Rocks back to
within one game of first-place Potomac and back to within a half game of
second-place Lynchburg in the Carolina League Northern Division. The Blue Crew
is now back over .500 at 29-28 on the season.




With the game
deadlocked at three entering the home half of the seventh, Terrance Gore ripped a one-out double down the left-field line.
Gore then advanced to third a throwing error by pitcher Gilberto Mendez, who
had tried to pick him off of second base. Potomac then brought the infield in
for Mondesi, with a runner at third and still only one away. Mondesi rolled a
ground ball weakly to second-baseman Tony Renda, who attempted to gun down Gore
at the plate. Gore was too fast, though, and beat the throw, allowing the Rocks
to regain the lead, 4-3, and Mondesi to reach safely. Bubba Starling grounded out for the second out of the frame, which
brought the red-hot Dozier to the plate. Dozier promptly launched a ball into
the left-field corner for a double, plating Mondesi to give the Blue Crew a
crucial insurance run and a 5-3 lead.




Potomac's
Khayyan Norfork's solo homer to left tied the contest, 3-3 in the top of the
seventh. The ball hugged the left-field foul pole and just barely stayed fair.


The Blue
scored three times in the bottom of the third inning to erase a 2-0 deficit and
move ahead of the Nationals, 3-2. Daniel
Rockett
kicked off the rally with a single and was replaced at first by
Gore on a fielder's choice grounder. Mondesi stepped up next and reached on an
error by Norfork, the third-baseman. Gore advanced to second on the miscue.
Starling then roped a double down the left-field line to score Gore and move
Mondesi to third. Dozier plated both Mondesi and Starling to move the Blue Crew
ahead, 3-2, when he ripped a double deep to the gap in left-center field.





Potomac scored
its first two runs of the game in the opening frame off of Blue Rocks starter Miguel Almonte. Renda drew a free pass
to lead off the game and moved to third on a one-out double by Oscar Tejeda.
Shawn Pleffner drove home Renda with an RBI groundout, which gave the Nationals
a 1-0 lead and moved Tejeda to third. Randolph Oduber's RBI single scored
Tejeda to make it 2-0, Potomac.




Almonte (4-2,
4.62) earned his fourth win of the season for the Blue Rocks with seven solid
innings on the mound. He yielded three runs and two walks on five hits while
striking out four. Mendez (2-3, 3.20) suffered his third defeat of the year for
the Nationals after allowing two runs on two hits in two innings of work. Mark Peterson earned his Carolina
League-leading 11th save by pitching a scoreless ninth.




PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:





Hunter
Dozier

continued his recent surge at the plate with two more hits on Tuesday night
against Potomac. Dozier went 2-for-4 at the plate with two doubles and three
RBIs against the Nationals, raising his batting average to .285 on the season.
Since May 20, the Royals' first-round selection in the 2013 Draft is batting
.431 (22-for-51) with nine doubles, 11 RBIs and 12 runs scored. The
third-baseman was named the Carolina League Player of the Week for May 19-25,
and has continued to do nothing but hit since. Dozier has been significantly
better outside of the First State this year, batting .337 on the road and just .237
at Frawley Stadium.




Wilmington's bullpen continues to be the strength
of its team in 2014. In Tuesday night's series-opener against Potomac, closer Mark Peterson (1-0, 0.73) earned his Carolina
League-leading 11th save by throwing a scoreless ninth. Peterson recorded two
quick outs before loading the bases by giving up a pair of hits and a walk. He
got out of it by inducing a flyout to Terrance
Gore
in left to end the game. Peterson has now worked 23 consecutive
innings without allowing a run. He has struck out 17 and walked 10 batters in
18 appearances this season. As a unit, the Wilmington 'pen has posted a 12-6
overall mark with a 2.58 ERA and 191 strikeouts in 192 innings pitched.


After
Tuesday's 5-4 victory over Potomac, Wilmington is now 10-10 in 2014 against the
Carolina League Northern Division. In an odd scheduling quirk, Tuesday night's
contest was the team's initial meeting with the Nationals ? 57 games into the
season. The Rocks are now in the midst of a stretch of six straight against the
P-Nats. Wilmington had also not faced nearby division rival Frederick until May
23, when they entered a stretch of 8 games out of 11 against the Keys.
Wilmington is 4-4 against Frederick and 5-6 against the Lynchburg Hillcats.


THEY SAID
IT:





Manager Darryl Kennedy:





"Those were
two big hits [by Bubba Starling and Hunter Dozier] for us especially after
we gave up two runs there in the first inning. Behind 2-0, it's no secret this
is a big series for us. To come back and get three there takes the pressure off
a little bit and puts the pressure on them. It was big."




"[Mark Peterson] had to work for that
one. He's been carrying the load for us. We had him up last night, as well, and
he pitched the night before one inning to get some work then we had him warming
up last night just in case we needed him and then tonight. We used him quite a
bit here these past few nights and it showed it showed a little bit. He has a
knack of finding it when he needs to and he really needed to right there."





"First inning,
fastball command wasn't quite there [for Miguel
Almonte
]. He got behind a little bit and then after we got the three runs
he really started settling in there and he pitched a very good ball game."
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

Nationals Stun Blue Rocks With 3-2 Come-From-Behind Victory

Potomac Scores Twice In Ninth Off Of Blue Rocks Closer Mark Peterson

Wilmington, DE ? Wilmington dropped a heartbreaker Thursday night to Potomac at Frawley Stadium as the Nationals stormed back with two runs in the top of the ninth inning to secure a 3-2 victory over the Blue Rocks. With the defeat, the Blue Crew fell three games behind the first-place Nationals and back to a game below .500 at 29-30.

The Nationals handed Blue Rocks closer Mark Peterson his first blown save of the year when he allowed the ninth-inning runs. Stephen Perez led off the frame with a double to left field. He came around to score with one out in the inning on an RBI double by Shawn Pleffner, who drove one over the head of center-fielder Bubba Starling. That tied the game, 2-2. Pleffner scored when Khayyan Norfork reached on a throwing error by shortstop Raul Mondesi.

Wilmington erased an early 1-0 P-Nats lead by scoring twice in the fourth inning. The rally began with a leadoff single from Hunter Dozier to left. Dozier scored from first on a one-out double to the gap in left-center by Michael Antonio, which tied the game, 1-1. Mark Donato followed Antonio's clutch hit with an RBI double of his own. The left-handed hitting first baseman poked a ball down the left-field line into the corner, which allowed Antonio to score easily from second, giving the Blue Crew a 2-1 lead.

For the third straight night, the Potomac Nationals scored first. In a shaky opening frame, Christian Binford allowed a leadoff single to Tony Renda, who advanced to second on an error by right-fielder Daniel Rockett. Oscar Tejeda then drove home Renda with a one-out single, giving the P-Nats a 1-0 lead.

Binford was masterful the rest of the way. He completed seven innings and did not allow a hit over his final six frames of work. He retired the last 11 batters he faced and punched out the final four. On the night, Binford struck out seven and did not issue a free pass.

Wander Suero (2-1, 7.78) picked up the win for Potomac with two shutout innings in relief. Peterson (1-1, 1.05) suffered the tough-luck loss for Wilmington. Gilberto Mendez threw a perfect ninth to earn his third save of the year. Both Binford and Potomac starter Dakota Bacus took a no-decision.

The Blue Rocks return to action Friday night at Pfitzner Stadium as their six-game home-and-home with the Potomac Nationals moves to Woodbridge, Virginia. Wilmington will send righty Luis Santos (0-0, 3.00) to the mound, while Potomac will counter with Major League All-Star Gio Gonzalez (0-0, 0.00), who is on a Minor League rehab assignment. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. For ticket information, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Hunter Dozier continued his recent surge at the plate with two more hits on Thursday night against Potomac. Dozier went 2-for-3 at the plate with a run and an intentional walk against the Nationals, raising his batting average to .297 on the season. Since May 20, the Royals' first-round selection in the 2013 Draft is batting .456 (26-for-57) with 10 doubles, 13 RBIs and 13 runs scored. The third-baseman was named the Carolina League Player of the Week for May 19-25, and has continued to do nothing but hit since. Dozier has been better outside of the First State this year, batting .337 on the road and .262 at Frawley Stadium.

Mark Peterson saw his incredible run of 23 consecutive scoreless innings come to an end in the ninth inning Thursday night against the P-Nats. It was Peterson's 19th outing of the season, but just the second in which he has allowed a run. The right-handed closer, who was named to the All-Star Team earlier in the week, still owns incredible numbers in 2014. He is now 1-1 with a 1.05 ERA and is 11-for-12 in save tries. Peterson has struck out 18 and walked 10 in 25.2 innings pitched. The blown save also handed Wilmington its first loss of the season when leading at the end of eight innings. The Rocks are now 21-1 in such situations.

Two of Potomac's runs were scored in large part due to Wilmington errors. However, the Rocks have been very good defensively overall this season. Wilmington has the fewest number of defensive miscues in the entire Carolina League with 45. Wilmington's 23 unearned runs are also fewest in the league, one less than Frederick's 24. Unfortunately, when they have made them, miscues have cost the Blue Rocks. Wilmington is 10-21 in games they have committed at least one error.

Thursday night's crowd of 6,073 was the largest at Frawley Stadium this season. It eclipses the previous season-high of 5,614, which came in the Blue Rocks' April 8 home opener against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Prior to Thursday night, Wilmington's most recent crowd of over 6,000 fans had been late in the 2013 campaign, on August 20. That game was a 6-2 loss to the Potomac Nationals. Ali Williams, who began the 2014 season with the Blue Rocks before getting promoted to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, took the loss in that one.

The rosters for the 2014 California League/Carolina League All-Star Game, presented by Bank of America, were announced on Wednesday by the respective leagues. The game, which will be held at Frawley Stadium on Tuesday, June 17, will feature four players from the host Blue Rocks, as well as five of the top 100 prospects in baseball according to MLB.com. Wilmington pitchers Christian Binford, Jonathan Dziedzic and Mark Peterson, as well as catcher Cam Gallagher, will represent the Blue Crew on the Carolina League squad, the second-most All-Stars from one team in the Carolina League. Binford and Dziedzic have anchored the Blue Rocks starting rotation, with each ranking in the top-10 in the Carolina League in ERA and strikeouts-per-nine-innings-pitched. Binford leads the league in total punchouts and also sits top-five in the eight-team loop in batting average against and WHIP. Dziedzic leads the Rocks in wins with five. Peterson has been the top closer in the Carolina League with a league-high 11 saves in as many tries. He has also posted a scant 0.73 ERA and has worked 23 consecutive scoreless frames. Gallagher has been one of the most consistent defensive backstops all season. On offense, he bettered his batting average by 50 points during the month of May. The Carolina League team will be skippered by Wilmington manager Darryl Kennedy. He is in his second season with the Blue Rocks and has the Blue Crew just one game out of first place in the Carolina League North. Wilmington pitching coach Steve Luebber, the longest-tenured coach in Blue Rocks history, will also be on the staff, along with trainer James Stone, who is in this third season with Wilmington and clubhouse manager Josh DiBiase, in his second year with the Rocks. Myrtle Beach has the most participants with seven.

THEY SAID IT:

Manager Darryl Kennedy:

"That's a two game swing right there. Tonight's a disappointing one. Every closer's going to blow one, it's just a matter of time. Peterson's been good for us but at times he has gotten a little wild and got away with it and tonight he didn't get away with it. A couple lefties put good swings on him when he was behind in the count, it happens."

"Really what's weird is that it's now June fifth and we're just playing Potomac. What's weird is Lynchburg has played 30-plus games in the division and we've played 22. We pretty much spent this whole half playing the other division. We've got to get it done. We've got to win these games and we've got to get better at winning close ballgames, one run games have killed us all year. It's hard to win a half; it's hard to win a championship when you're losing one run ballgames."

"Mark [Donato] put a good swing on a ball and hit it the other way. I know at times he's gotten a little pull happy but it was good to see him go the other way. That was a big hit for us which could have been the game winner. It's good to get, hopefully, the start of something for him because we need that left-handed bat in the lineup."

"It doesn't matter, [Gio Gonzalez] will be on a pitch limit anyway, probably 65 pitches. Hopefully it'll be one inning. It really doesn't matter who we face right now, we've got to take care of business. We've got to win, that's the bottom line now. Our backs against the wall. We've got to go down there and play three hard games and then go to Winston-Salem and play three more."

Starting-Pitcher Christian Binford:

"I didn't really feel like I had something to prove but I had something to prove to myself that I can bounce back from that. That first inning I was thinking to myself, 'No, not again, come on.' I went back in the dugout and just calmed down and just decided, from then on, to go pitch by pitch and think about later in the game, how far can I get. Just slowing everything down. The middle couple of innings I think I got too quick and left the ball up. Luckily they helped me out and got themselves out a couple of times. Pleffner just missed one, basically right down the middle. It's little things like that that get you deep into games. I just wanted to get quick outs in later innings to help out the bullpen."

"It's a huge honor to represent the Royals and, especially, the Blue Rocks. We've had a great pitching staff all year and to share it with Dziedzic and Peterson and Cam, he helps us get through a game with pitching and just knowing hitters and stuff like that. Being able to share it with everybody is absolutely great."

Closer Mark Peterson:

"It was a fastball over the middle of the plate [to Pleffner], right where he wanted it. All good things must come to an end."
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports


CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580


Rocks See Four-Run Lead Vanish In Final Frame[/URL]





Blue Crew Suffers Crushing Walk-Off Loss To First-Place P-Nats





Woodbridge, VA ? For the second consecutive night
the Wilmington Blue Rocks let a ninth-inning lead slip through their fingers as
they fell to the Potomac Nationals.
After watching the P-Nats rally back from a one-run deficit on Thursday,
Wilmington saw a four-tally edge go by the wayside in the ninth inning on
Friday at Pfitzner Stadium. Randolph
Oduber's infield-single gave Potomac a wild 11-10 walk-off win, and dropped the
Rocks four games out of first place in the Carolina League North with just nine
contests remaining in the season's first half.




Daniel Stumpf started the ninth inning on the mound for
Wilmington with the Rocks leading, 10-6.
After he punched out the first hitter of the frame, Randolph Oduber, the
wheels fell off Stumpf and the Rocks.
Stephen Perez walked and then both Tony Renda and Oscar Tejeda singled
to load the bases. Khayyan Norfork
followed that up by drawing a free pass to force in a run, drawing the
Nationals within 10-7. Subsequently, Stumpf
was removed from the game for Johnny Walter. Walter then surrendered back-to-back singles
to Will Piwnica-Worms and Mike McQuillan, allowing Potomac to pull within one,
10-9. Justin Miller tied the game with a
sacrifice fly to Bubba Starling in
center. Starling fired a strike to the
plate but Cam Gallagher couldn't
handle the throw. Potomac won it on a
walk-off infield single by Oduber, the 10th P-Nats hitter to come to the plate
in the inning.




The Rocks dug an
early hole and trailed 3-0 entering the third frame. Major League rehabber Gio Gonzalez needed
just 13 pitches to work through the first two innings, but ran into immediate
trouble in the third. Wilmington put its
first six batters of the frame on base, including one big swing from Bubba Starling. After Daniel
Rockett
and Raul Mondesi singled
and Terrance Gore walked, Starling
sent a Gonzalez pitch soaring well past the left-field fence for a grand
slam. The Blue Crew added four more
tallies off of Gonzalez in the next inning as Wilmington chased the southpaw
after just 3.2 frames. With two outs and
nobody on, Wilmington got walks from Starling and Hunter Dozier before three straight run-scoring hits followed off
the bats of Michael Antonio, Cody Stubbs
and Jack Lopez.




When all was said
and done, all nine Blue Rocks had at least one hit. Wilmington finished the evening with 14
knocks overall, tying its season-high total in that category as well. Dozier, Antonio, Stubbs and Rockett turned in
two hits each.


The offensive
explosion appeared to help erase a rough second start of the Advanced-A career
of Blue Rocks pitcher Luis Santos. The right-hander did not make it through the
fourth inning, yielding six runs on eight hits in just 3.2 frames. Yender
Caramo
came to the rescue, however,
coming out of the bullpen to toss 4.1 innings without surrendering a single
score. He was in line for the win until
the ninth inning.


The
Blue Rocks will continue their series with Potomac at Pfitzner Stadium on
Saturday night. Wilmington southpaw Sean
Manaea
(2-4, 5.09) takes the mound
against P-Nats righty John Simms (0-3, 4.42). First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. and fans
can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. The Blue Crew will return home for
a four-game series with the Carolina Mudcats on Thursday. For tickets, call
302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.


PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:





Hunter
Dozier
continued his recent surge at the
plate with two more hits on Thursday night against Potomac. Dozier went 2-for-4
at the plate with a run, an RBI and two free passes, raising his batting
average to .301 on the season. The Royals' first-round selection in the 2013
Draft now has an eight-game hitting streak, matching his longest of the season.
He has multiple hits in the last six of those games. During the hitting streak,
he is batting .556 (15-for-27) with seven doubles, eight RBIs and four walks.
Dozier's current hot stretch began on May 20. Since that day, he is hitting
.459 (28-for-61) with 11 doubles, 14 RBIs and 14 runs scored. The third-baseman
was named the Carolina League Player of the Week for May 19-25, and has
continued to do nothing but hit since. Dozier has been better outside of the
First State this year, batting .337 on the road and .271 at Frawley Stadium.





Bubba Starling hit his first career grand slam in the third inning. It came
off of two-time Major League All-Star Gio Gonzalez and gave the Blue Rocks a
4-3 lead at the time. Gonzalez loaded the bases to start the frame and Starling
greeted him by crushing a no-doubt-about-it shot to left-center. It was the
second grand slam of the season for the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The first came
on May 6 in Salem when Hunter Dozier hit
a go-ahead grand slam in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Blue Rocks to
a come-from-behind 6-3 victory over the Red Sox.




For
the second straight night, the Wilmington Blue Rocks blew a late lead to the
Potomac Nationals. Daniel Stumpf and
Johnny Walter combined to allow five
ninth inning runs on five hits. They threw a combined 42 pitches, only 18 of
which were for strikes. Stumpf threw 22 pitches and nine strikes while Walter
hurled 20 pitches and nine strikes. On Thursday night at Frawley Stadium closer
Mark Peterson yielded two ninth
inning runs to Potomac, as the Nationals won, 3-2, in come-from-behind fashion.
Friday night's walk-off was Wilmington's third walk-off defeat of the season.
The first was an 8-7 defeat at Myrtle Beach on April 21 and the second was a
2-1 loss at Salem on May 5. Wilmington is now 21-2 when leading after eight
innings. Both of those losses came in the last two nights.





The
Blue Rocks offense has had issues with runners in scoring position all season
long. However, on Friday, it found success in those situations. They went 7-for-15, including four extra-base
hits. The effort raised their season average with runners at second or third
base to .211 (119-for-563).




THEY SAID IT:





Manager Darryl
Kennedy:





"In the bottom of the ninth we've simply got to throw
strikes. With a four-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, if they beat
us on eight straight base hits then fine, you tip your cap to them. But you
can't give them free bases and we just walked way too many in the ninth inning
there to win a game. You don't deserve to win when you can't throw strikes and
close out a game by making them beat you."



"I'm not really sure what you say to these guys [to try and help them
bounce back tomorrow].
I do know there won't be a lot of sleep [on Friday night] I can tell you that for sure."



"We played eight-and-a-half good innings. Unfortunately you have to play
nine to win. Guys swung the bat well. Our offense executed and we put ourselves
in position to be successful until the ninth. We should have won that ball
game."


Blue Rocks Baseball = AffordaFUNability!

www.bluerocks.com
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

ATTENTION: SPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SATURDAY JUNE 7, 2014
CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580Rocks[/URL]' Bats Muffled During Fourth Straight Loss To Potomac
Blue Crew Falls Five Back Of First-Place P-Nats
Woodbridge, VA ?
Just one night after the Wilmington Blue Rocks tied their season-high
totals in hits and runs scored, the Blue Crew offense endured one of
their worst games of the campaign in a 6-1 loss to the Potomac
Nationals. Wilmington struck out 16 times, far and away the most in
2014, and managed just three singles. The loss was the Rocks' fourth in
a row against Potomac, and dropped Wilmington five games behind the
first-place P-Nats with just eight contests remaining in the season's
opening half.
John
Simms was the story of the evening. Potomac's starter earned his first
professional victory by fanning 14 over seven sterling frames. The
right-hander allowed just two hits and walked only one. Simms (1-3)
needed just 95 pitches to register the 14 punch outs. He retired the
final 14 batters he faced and turned in five different one-two-three
innings during his outing.
Cody Stubbs, Bubba Starling, Hunter Dozier and Raul Mondesi
all fanned three times each for the Blue Crew. Wilmington actually
took a brief lead, scoring its only run in the third inning on a single
by Jack Lopez, a stolen base and then an RBI single off the bat of Daniel Rockett. Wilmington would not get another base runner until there was an out in the ninth inning though.
Potomac wasted little time going in front. The P-Nats pushed four runs across against Blue Crew starter Sean Manaea
(2-5) in the bottom of the third. A Dozier error and a walk set up
Tony Renda's two-run single. That was followed by a two-run blast to
left by cleanup hitter Oscar Tejeda. Salem added two insurance runs in
the sixth against reliever Aroni Nina.
The
Blue Rocks will to avoid a sweep when they conclude their series with
Potomac at Pfitzner Stadium on Saturday night. Wilmington right-hander Glenn Sparkman (2-4, 5.09) takes
the mound against P-Nats lefty Matthew Spann (4-0, 2.03). First pitch
is slated for 1:05 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7
WGLS-FM. The Blue Crew will return home for a four-game series with the
Carolina Mudcats on Thursday. For tickets, call 302-888-BLUE or visit
BlueRocks.com.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Hunter Dozier
saw his recent surge at the plate halted on Saturday. Dozier went
0-for-3 with three strikeouts in Wilmington's 6-1 setback. The Royals'
first-round selection in the 2013 Draft had an eight-game hitting streak
ended, which matched his longest of the season. He had multiple hits in
his last six games prior to Saturday. During the hitting streak, Dozier
batted .556 (15-for-27) with seven doubles, eight RBIs and four walks.
His hot stretch really began on May 20. Since that day, he is hitting
.438 (28-for-64) with 11 doubles, 14 RBIs and 14 runs scored. The
third-baseman was named the Carolina League Player of the Week for May
19-25, and had done nothing but hit since until his rare rough night.
Wilmington reliever Aroni Nina
pitched in a game for the first time in almost a full month on
Saturday. Nina spent more than three weeks on the Disabled List with an
ailing right shoulder. He was activated on Tuesday when Rocks
outfielder Tyler Chism was released by the Royals. The
right-hander showed a little bit of rust by yielding two runs (one
earned) in the sixth, but overall fared pretty well. He finished his
night after 2.1 frames, allowing three hits while walking one and
striking out one. Nina stranded both of the runners he inherited from
starter Sean Manaea. Manaea failed to make it through five
innings for the seventh time in 11 starts. He also increased his
team-high total to 21 walks on the season.
THEY SAID IT:
Manager Darryl Kennedy:
"You
have to keep battling and you have to adjust when a guy is locating
like [John Simms] was tonight. The one thing he kept doing tonight was
going away, away, away and we never made the adjustment. We just kept
trying to hit the ball out of the park, making really aggressive
swings. You've got to hand it to the guy, he kept executing his game
plan and we got beat. It was as simple as that."
"You'd
like to think we were able to get past what happened on [Friday]. It's
baseball and there's a game every day. You're going to win big ones and
you're going to lose heartbreakers, but you've got to show up the next
day and you've got to come to play everyday. We didn't show up tonight.
It was like we weren't here."
"Mathematically
we're still in it. All it would take is basically to win eight
straight games. Even if we don't win the first half though, we've got
to start playing better to go into the second half with a little
momentum. That's the thing we've got to do, turn the page and get it
going again."
"[Sean] Manaea
had that one bad inning, but I thought he threw okay overall. The
location still isn't there, but for the most part I saw him competing
out there really well. He gave up the two-run single and then the home
run, but really settled down from there. He pitched okay, stuck it out
for us and just about got through five innings for us. This was a
positive for him, but he's just to try and eliminate that big inning."
"He was very aggressive and I liked what I saw from [Aroni] Nina [Saturday].
He went out there and went out him with his best stuff. It was good to
have him back out there and the way he was able to eat multiple innings
for us was important."
Infielder Jack Lopez:
"You
have to tip your cap to their pitcher. He had a good night and we
didn't. We've just got to keep our heads up though. We're a young
squad and we're going to be alright. We still have a week left until
the All-Star break to make our last push, we've just got to keep
battling.""We
were trying to battle, put the ball in play and spoil some pitches, we
just couldn't make it happen [Saturday]. We can't worry about it
though, because there's another game [Sunday]. We know we'll keep
battling and busting our butts to see if we can get a different result.
You can't worry about it though, because all you can control is your
effort and we have to make sure we go hard every single day and then see
what happens."
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

LSU'S JARED POCHE', JAKE FRALEY EARN FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICA REGOGNITION




LSU Baseball Report
For Immediate Release ? June 9, 2014

JARED POCHE', JAKE FRALEY NAMED FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICANS BY NCBWA

BATON ROUGE, La. ? LSU left-handed pitcher Jared Poche' and outfielder Jake Fraley were named Monday as 2014 second-team Freshmen all-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Poche', a native of Lutcher, La., was 9-3 this season with a 2.45 ERA in 16 starts, and he recorded 26 walks and 52 strikeouts in 91.2 innings.

He was named to SEC All-Tournament team after defeating Vanderbilt on May 21, allowing one run on five hits in seven innings with one walk and three strikeouts.

Poche' defeated Miss. State on April 5, limiting the Bulldogs to one unearned run on three hits in six innings with two walks and six strikeouts, as he fired a season-high 108 pitches in the outing.

He recorded his first career SEC victory on March 22 with an exceptional performance against Georgia, earning SEC Freshman of the Week honors. Poche' worked 8.2 innings, limiting UGA to one run on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

Fraley, a product of Middletown, Del., batted .372 (45-for-121) this season with seven doubles, one triple, three homers, 31 runs, eight steals and 29 RBI. He enjoyed a torrid stretch at the end of the season, batting .476 (20-for-42) over the Tigers' final 12 games with one double, one homer, eight runs, five steals and five RBI.

Fraley helped lead LSU to the SEC Tournament title, batting a team-high .500 (5-for-10) with three runs, two RBI and two steals. He was also the Tigers' leading hitter in SEC regular-season games, batting .350 (21-for-60) with four doubles, 13 runs, three steals and nine RBI.

LSU has produced nine Freshmen All-Americans in coach Paul Mainieri's eight-season tenure, including Poche', Fraley, shortstop Alex Bregman (2013), pitcher Aaron Nola (2012), second baseman JaCoby Jones (2011), pitcher Kurt McCune (2011), pitcher Matty Ott (2009), catcher Micah Gibbs (2008) and outfielder Blake Dean (2007).
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports


Games 6/14[/B]
Stahl Post 30 - 12, Post 6 Patriots - 6[/B]
[/B]After 2 quick outs, Logan Gilbert and Lonnie Funderburk both doubled to put Stahl up 1-0. Stahl put up 3 runs in the 2nd and another run in the 3rd and 4th innings, and 4 in the 5th to take a 10-0 lead. Meanwhile, Lance Gilbert was pitching a shutout until the 5th, when the Patriots answered with 3 runs. Stahl added a run in the 6th and 7th, and the Patriots added one more in the 7th to give the final of 12-4. Stahl had 19 hits in the game.

Tyler Williams tripled and doubled for Stahl batting 3 for 4, with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI's. Logan Gilbert, Lonnie Funderburk, John Joines, Nick Sayers and Trefor Hunter all doubled in the game. Lance Gilbert (5) and Billy Becker (2) combined to strike out 7 Patriots.

Stahl Post 30 - 6, Post 6 Patriots - 1[/B]
Stahl took a 2 run lead in the first inning on some sloppy fielding by the Patriots and used a 4 hit combined one run game, pitched by Tyler Campbell and Alex Marrs to beat the Post 6 Patriots 6-1 in the 2nd game. Brian Bradford batted 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI to pace Stahl at the plate.

Justin Monroe-Green doubled in the 7th Inning after Eric Wharton had scored to break up the shutout. Tyler Campbell struck out 13 Patriots in 6 innings on the mound. Justin Hill took the loss for the Pats.

Middletown Post 25 - 10, DE Post 1 - 2[/B]:
Tommy Spagnola pitched 6 strong innings striking out 13 for the win. Dominick Disabatino went 4 for 5 and Connor Stevens went 3 for 4 to pace Post 25. Zach Cooney & Seth Collete picked up hits and scored for Post 1.

Fox Post 2 - 9, Durney Post 27 - 4 (Game 1):[/B]
Seth Penniston picked up the win. Fox Post's Garrett Lawson hit for the cycle scoring 3 runs and 3 rbi's. Kyle Mace was 2 for 3 for Fox Post. Durney Post's Amero had a double.

Fox Post 2 - 14, Durney Post 27 - 0: (Game 2)[/B]
Kyle Mace and Garrett Lawson pitched a combined no hitter. Sean Pool, Seth Brosius, and Nick Spadafino ( two doubles) had 3 hits each. Also AJ Johnson was 2 for 3 for Fox Post.

Game 6/12
[/I]Durney at Delvets, Stahl Post 30 at De Post 1, Post 10 at R.C. DuPont - Postponed due to wet grounds.
[/B]
Game 6/11
[/I]Middletown Post 25 - 7, DE Post 1 - 3
[/B]
Game 6/10:
[/I]Middletown Post 25 - 9, Milford Post 3 - 1
[/B]Middletown Post 25 beat Milford 10-1 on Tuesday behind a strong pitching and consistent hitting throughout the lineup.

Middletown's Rob Petroli gave up one run on six hits while striking out nine in his six innings of work, and Matt Hooks came on to pitch a 1-2-3 7th inning. Milford took the early lead in the in the bottom of the first, but Middletown answered for two runs in the second and third innings. In the bottom of the second Milford looked to make a comeback with runners at second and third with one out, but Pitroli struck out the next two batters to end the threat.

Offensively, for Middletown, all 9 positions in the batting order collected hits. Tommy Ryrick was 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs to lead the offense. For Milford, Bryce Greenly and Justin Hignutt each had two hits.

[/B]All other games rained out

Game 6/9:
[/I]Fox Post 2 - 3, R.C. DuPont Post 18 - 1
[/B]In a tight pitching match up Fox Post's Conner Chasanov (1-0) pitched 6 innings, giving up 1 run, 3 hits and had 8Ks to lead Fox Post to a 3 to 1 win over RC DuPont.

Losing pitcher Brett Hillsgrove had 5ks for RC DuPont. Gabe Rivera scored 2 runs, Aaron Jenkins 1 RBI, Kyle Mace two RBI's provided the offense for Fox Post. Kyle Mace pitched the seventh inning to earn the save for Fox Post.

[/B]Game 6/8:
[/I]Post 6 Patriots - 3, Delvets Post 1 - 2
[/B]The Post 6 Patriots (1-1) got on the winning track Sunday, defeating Delvets Post 1 (0-3) 3-2 in a game played at Seaford High School.

Both Starting pitchers, Post 6's Eric Warton[/B] (1 hit, 2 strikeouts) and Delvets' Evan Moser[/B] (4 hits, 4 K's) kept runners off the scoreboard until the 4th when the Patriot's Taylor Bahnam[/B] tripled with 2 outs then scored on Justin Monroe-Green's [/B]RBI single. Delvets answered back in the 6th, when Matt Smith[/B] walked, and B[/B]randon Mchugh[/B] singled. Smith scored on a misplayed ball in the outfield, and Mchugh scored on an error in the infield, giving Delvets a 2-1 lead.

The Patriots answered back when Taylor Bahnam[/B] doubled to score Ryan Swingle[/B] who had led off the inning with a single. Swingle, who was the pitcher then held off Delvets in the 7th. In the bottom of the inning the Pats led off with 2 singles, but both runners were thrown out. With 2 outs, Cody Wilkerson [/B]walked, and advanced as Justin Gray[/B] singled, Ryan Swingle[/B] reached on an error and thenTaylor Bahnam [/B]drove Wilkerson with the winning run on a single to right.

Ryan Swingle[/B] (1-0) got the win in relief, Matt Fullerton[/B] took the loss.

Kole Hearn[/B] and Taylor Bahnam[/B] both batted 3 for 4 in the game. Bahnam also had 2 RBIs in the game. Delvets Matt Smith[/B] had 3 stolen bases.

[/B]Games 6/7:
[/I]Post 25 - 13, Delvets - 1
[/B]
Ryan Zwier [/B]racked up nine RBIs on three hits for Post 25 Baseball (2-1). He homered in the third and fourth innings and doubled in the fifth inning as Post 25 Baseball blew out Delvets thanks to nine hits, including five extra base hits including three home runs in the win. Home runs for Post 25 Baseball came when Shane Feehery[/B] homered in the third inning and Ryan Zwier[/B] homered in the third and fourth innings.

Anthony Modica[/B] got the win for Post 25 Baseball. He allowed one run over four innings. Anthony struck out three, walked two and gave up two hits. Schell took the loss for Delvets.

The game's last lead went to Post 25 Baseball thanks to a third inning rally that saw five runs cross the plate on two three-run home runs. Post 25 Baseball built upon its lead with five runs in the fourth. Ryan hit a grand slam, plating Connor Stevens and Dan Tovar to start the inning. That was followed up by Shane Feehery's single, plating Matt Taylor.

They later increased their lead with three runs in the fifth. A double by Ryan Zwier[/B] ignited the offense,, plating Dan Tovar[/B] and Chad Bell[/B]. That was followed up by Matt Taylor[/B]'s double, scoring Zwier

Post 25 - 2, Delvets - 1
[/B]Post 25 Baseball didn't provide Garrett Maniatis[/B] with much support, but he didn't need much. Maniatis pitched six strong innings to carry Post 25 Baseball to a 2-1 win over Delvets in seven innings on Saturday.

Post 25 Baseball pushed one run across in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Shane Horn[/B] to start the scoring for Post 25, then Ryan Zwier[/B] pushed Post 25 Baseball ahead, in the sixth inning, a lead that lasted until the final out. The run came from Connor Stevens[/B] who walked to get on base in the sixth. He then went from first to second on a groundout by Chad Bel[/B]l and scored on Horn's SAC Fly.

J Harris[/B] took the loss for Delvets. He lasted seven innings, walked two, struck out five, and allowed two runs.

Post 25 Baseball closer Shane Feehery [/B]put away Delvets for the final three outs to record the save although the potential tying run was called out at the plate to end the game.

Post 10 Generals - 6, Post 6 Patriots - 5
[/B]The Generals (1-0) had to come back twice in both the 6th and 7th innings to beat the Patriots (0-1) on a throwing error with a man on 3rd. Tony Guinta had the only double for the Patriots and drove in 2 runs. Eric Rowe batted 2 for 3 and scored twice.

C.J. Morton got the win in relief.

Post 3 Milford - 6, Durney Post 27 - 0
[/B]Milford (1-1) took advantage of Durney's (1-1) poor fielding, combined with four timely hits to get their first win of the new season. Milford pitcher Reed pitched a complete game shut-out allowing only one hit.

Durney Post 27 - 5, Post 3 Milford - 2
[/B]Durney's Matt Trincia hit a bases loaded single with and error plating 3 runs as durney erased a 2 run deficit in the bottom of the 4th inning. n the sixth inning, durney's Anthony Madonna added a 2 run single. Zac Cunningham got the complete game win.
[/B]
Game 6/5:
[/I]
[/I]R.C. DuPont - 7, Durney Post 27 - 0[/B]
[/B]
[/B]R.C. Dupont (2-0) pitcher Joey Voge pitched a complete game shutout, shutting down Durney's offense allowing just 3 hits while striking out 9. Voge also batted 2 for 4 in the game. Trincia took the loss for Durney

Game 6/2:
[/I]R.C. DuPont - 14, Middletown Post 25 - 3 (5)[/B]
[/B]
[/B]R.C. (1-0) scores 7 in the 2nd and 4 in the 3rd, to win their opener over Middletown (0-1) 14-3 in 5 innings. John Androli, Jake Blewitt, Mike Forwood & Justin Doran all had 2 hits each to lead R.C. to its first win of the season. Post 25's Matt Hooks had 2 hits in the game.



This post was edited on 6/17 1:01 AM by dawrestling
 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports

ATTENTION: SPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FRIDAY JUNE 13, 2014


CONTACT: MATT JANUS 302-888-5393 OR SETH BERNSTEIN 302-888-2580Blue Rocks, Mudcats Split Friday-Night Twin-Bill At Frawley[/URL]
Blue Crew Claims Opener While Mudcats Win Wild Nightcap
Wilmington, DE ? The Blue Rocks split a wild doubleheader with the Carolina Mudcats Friday night at Frawley Stadium. Wilmington won the opener easily, 6-0, but dropped the dramatic nightcap, 4-3, to the Mudcats. The twin-bill split left the Blue Crew four games below the .500 mark at 31-35 on the season.
A three-run blast from Hunter Dozier and outstanding pitching from starter Christian Binford helped the Blue Rocks to a 6-0 victory over the Mudcats in the opener.
The first three Blue Rocks hitters who stepped to the plate against Carolina starter Cole Sulser in the bottom of the first inning reached base. Jack Lopez led off the frame by reaching safely on an error by third-baseman Yandy Diaz. Bubba Starling then doubled, putting runners at second and third for Dozier. Dozier proceeded to yank a long three-run homer to left, putting the Rocks up 3-0.
Wilmington would not look back because of Binford's Brilliance. The right-hander tossed six shutout innings for the Rocks and yielded just three hits. He punched out five Mudcats and did not walk a batter. It was the third consecutive start for Binford without a walk; he has issued just 11 free passes over 12 starts this season.
The Blue Rocks added a trio of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Dozier lashed a one-out single to kick off the rally and then advanced to second on a base hit by Cody Stubbs. Dozier scored from second to give the Rocks a 4-0 lead when Michael Antonio bounced a ball to third that went off of Diaz's glove. A Cam Gallagher single loaded the bases for Kenny Diekroeger, who drew a base on balls to force in Stubbs and hand the Blue Crew a 5-0 lead. Daniel Rockett then lifted a sacrifice fly to left, plating Antonio to extend Wilmington's lead to 6-0.
The nightcap did not go as well for the Blue Rocks, who rallied to tie the game, 3-3, in the seventh inning, but saw the Mudcats claim a 4-3 victory in extras.
The Mudcats' eighth-inning rally began when Jeremy Lucas hit a double down the right-field line off of reliever Yender Caramo. Lucas came around to score on another double down the right-field line by Jerrud Sabourin. That put Carolina up, 4-3, for good, as Wilmington did not score in the home half of the eighth.
The Blue Rocks trailed, 3-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning but rallied, scoring three times in the frame to tie it. Terrance Gore's RBI single with two outs was the big hit of the frame, and it tied the game, 3-3. Prior to Gore's clutch hit, the Rocks strung together one of the strangest rallies of the season. A walk and three wild pitches by reliever Elvis Araujo, including a dropped-third strike, helped the Blue Crew string together its rally. Daniel Rockett plated Zane Evans for the first run with an RBI single. Araujo's third and final wild pitch prior to being lifted allowed Mark Donato to score the second tally.
Carolina jumped ahead, 1-0, with two outs in the fifth inning. LeVon Washington drew a free pass off of Blue Rocks starter Luis Santos and scored on a two-out RBI triple by Todd Hankins. Santos then walked Erik Gonzalez but got Yandy Diaz to fly out to center, avoiding further damage.
The Mudcats continued their offensive surge against Santos in the next frame, plating two more in the sixth. Lucas led off the sixth with a double and then advanced to third on a groundout by Sabourin. After an intentional walk to Joe Sever, Alex Monsalve plated Lucas with an RBI single to left. Sever moved to third and Monsalve to second on a fielding error by Terrance Gore. Santos uncorked a wild pitch to plate Sever, Carolina's second run of the frame, and hand the Mudcats a 3-0 lead.
Lost in the late-game drama was a phenomenal start by Carolina starter Adam Plutko. He pitched six shutout frames and yielded just three hits. Plutko struck out seven and walked only one. The Blue Rocks did not manage to get a single runner past second base against the right-handed UCLA product.
Binford (4-3, 2.19) picked up his fourth win of the season for Wilmington in the opener, while Sulser (2-6, 4.29) suffered the game-one loss for Carolina. In the nightcap, Grant Sides (1-0, 2.79) earned his first win for the Mudcats, while Caramo (1-4, 3.05) suffered his fourth defeat in game two for the Blue Rocks.
Wilmington returns to action Saturday night at Frawley Stadium for game three of four against Carolina. The Rocks will send southpaw Sean Manaea (2-5, 5.16) to the mound, while the Mudcats will counter with fellow-lefty Shawn Morimando (6-2, 3.43). First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. and fans can listen to the broadcast on 89.7 WGLS-FM. For tickets, call 302-888-BLUE or visit BlueRocks.com.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Christian Binford has been Wilmington's best starting pitcher this season. The 6-foot-6 hurler has been downright dominant, en route to amassing a 4-3 record and 2.19 ERA. The right-hander, one of Wilmington's four All-Stars, owns five of Wilmington's seven starts of seven innings in length this season. He also sits atop the Carolina League with 79 strikeouts on the year. Binford's stellar outing was also the Blue Crew's sixth shutout of the campaign. It was the third time Rocks' pitching has blanked the Carolina Mudcats; they have also shut out the Winston-Salem Dash twice and the Frederick Keys once. Wilmington's six shutouts are second in the Carolina League to the Salem Red Sox's eight.
Hunter Dozier's three-run homer in the first inning of game one was his fourth of the season. His four long balls tie him with Cody Stubbs for the team lead. That home run was also Dozier's first dinger at Frawley Stadium this season. His most memorable long ball is the grand slam he at Salem on May 6 at Salem. It helped lead the Rocks to a come-from-behind, 6-3, victory. The Blue Crew has hit 19 home runs this year, with 11 coming on the road and eight coming at home. Wilmington is 7-6 this season when a Blue Rock leaves the yard.
Wilmington's loss in the nightcap Friday was its second extra-inning defeat of the campaign. The Blue Rocks are now 1-2 when playing bonus baseball this season. The team's first extra-inning affair was on May 23 at Frawley Stadium against the Frederick Keys. Kenny Diekroeger's walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning handed the Rocks a walk-off victory that night, their fifth in six tries. Their second was earlier in the week, also in the nightcap of a doubleheader, against the Winston-Salem Dash. It came on a walk-off homer by Grant Buckner. The ball appeared to hit off the top of the fence and was immediately ruled a double by base umpire Travis Godec. The Dash protested and Godec conferred with home plate umpire Ben Levin and then overturned the call, awarding Winston-Salem a walk-off win on a home run. Friday night's pair of contests served as Wilmington's sixth doubleheader of the season. The Rocks are now 1-2-3 in twin-bills in 2014, with the team's lone sweep coming on May 21 against the Carolina Mudcats. The Blue Crew won the first contest that night, 9-4, while ripping 11 base hits. They were victorious in the nightcap of that contest, 3-2.
Wilmington has played well against the Carolina Mudcats in 2014. Despite splitting Friday night's twin-bill, the Rocks own a 10-5 record against Carolina. They are 5-3 at Frawley Stadium and 5-2 at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, North Carolina. In their 15 matchups this season, the Rocks are outscoring the Mudcats, 64-42. Collectively, each team is batting .245 against the other. Wilmington owns the better head-to-head ERA, though, with the Blue Crew sporting a 2.71 ERA compared with the Mudcats' 3.64 ERA. Blue Rocks pitching has struck out 127 Mudcats, while Mudcats pitching has punched out 110 Blue Rocks. At the plate, Hunter Dozier has dominated Carolina to the tune of a .452 batting average in 14 games. He has left the yard twice and driven in 13 while getting on base at a .537 clip against the Mudcats. On the mound, Christian Binford is 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA against Carolina in three starts. He has struck out 21 and walked three over 18.2 innings in those outings.
THEY SAID IT:
Manager Darryl Kennedy:
"[Christian] Binford went out and gave us a very good performance. I didn't think he was that sharp as he as been in the past. But he made pitches when he had to. With guys in scoring position he really [bore] down and made good pitches and got himself out of some semi-jams. He pitched well."
"Great job there [by Hunter Dozier with] second and third and nobody out. They had him with two strikes, threw a pretty good changeup that was kept up a little bit and Hunter did a good job putting the bat on the ball and got a home run for us. With [Christian] Binford out there, that was enough to hold them down. We added three there in the sixth inning to take a little pressure off."
"You've got to hand it to the hitters. They pinched some through the line there. The catcher, usually more of a pull guy, was able to sneak one down the first-base line for a double. The next guy comes up and does a good job of just trying to move the runner over and he hooks it in there for another double. We did a good job by keeping it at one run to give us a better chance in the eighth. It just didn't happen."
"I thought [Luis Santos] threw the ball well tonight. He had a real good game against Frederick his first outing and then kind of ran into some trouble, got the ball up too much, in Potomac. I thought he threw the ball well. He had just one bad inning that really wasn't that bad of an inning. [Terrance] Gore makes that play all of the time and he wasn't able to get it and it falls in for that double that turns into a big hit."
"Terrance [Gore] battled really good on that one. The tying run there, with two outs, at third base. He was able to foul off some good pitches and then got the clutch hit."
Starting-Pitcher Christian Binford:
Nothing [was working for me tonight]. That was one of those games I just had to battle. Everything was just average. I don't think any of the pitches really stood out. I just tried to get ahead as fast as I could. I threw too many balls. It was just a matter of letting the defense work and they made some great plays tonight, which helped me get to the sixth."
"Once I got 2-and-1, 3-and-1, it was just like, if they're going to hit it, they're going to hit it. Like I said so many other times, I hate giving up walks. I hate giving it to them. Luckily tonight, when I did give it to them, they didn't take it. I think two of the three hits were on 0-and-2 counts. I was just nitpicking too much instead of trusting myself."
"[My first half was] consistent. I had a couple of bad starts here and there but I learned from them and that was the big thing for me. I'm just trying to go out there and go deep into games and not give up a lot of runs, just like any other pitcher. It's great having the defense we have behind me. To have that outfield and the infield making plays, it makes your job a lot easier. The first half, though, that's really all I wanted to do, what I came in here to do, was to be consistent."
"I can't wait to have my family here [for the All-Star Game]. My fiance will be here with her family, so it'll be a lot of fun. Last year was a lot of fun meeting the guys and making new friends that I see now all over the place. I think meeting the new guys and just going out there and having some fun [is something to look forward to]."

 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports



By
David A. Willauer-Contributing Editor-Judy Johnson Field at Daniel S.
Frawley Stadium-Wilmington, DE-Saturday, June 14, 2014-The Wilmington
Blue Rocks improve their record to 32-35 on the season as they came back
from a 1-0 deficit came back and scored 4 runs in the 7th and 2 more in
the 8th as they defeated the Carolina Mudcats 29-37 by a 6-2 score to
take game 3 of this series.




Daryl Kennedy Manager of the Wilmington Blue Rocks: "Sean
Manaea pitched a good game very good rhythm worked quick with his
pitches had it going tonight we couldn't figure it out Top of the 6th
when we scored 4 runs we were fortunate to be in the ball game as we
trailed 1-0 in the 7thinning couple hits Cody Stubbs huge hit for us
today down the left field line they played like a pull worked out in the
favor did well baserunning and Zane Smith with a hit up the middle gave
us a little cushion Mark Peterson comes in the late innings and his
baseball running went well."



Cody
Stubbs Blue Rocks First Baseman: "For the double he was running hard
and thank goodness the ball kicked away from Carolina leftfielder Levon
Washington and my teammate Michael Antonio was able to score I hit the
ball and thank goodness it trickled away and the pitch that I hit was a
fastball away trying to get something up and was able to get the pitch
that I was looking for." He is known for his fastball in where did well
today. I looked over and was ready to the starters (my teammates) for
today as things change and they are able to do that."



Michael
Antonio Blue Rocks Designated Hitter: "I was just running peak from
the leftfielder to gi ve me the sign for the wave I wasn't surprised to
get the wave I was funning at full speed it was good that I have a lot
of confidence on the team we shouldn't be down one or two runs we have a
lot of good players on the team one guy gets started single for the tie
game I hit the ball so many times when you hit a lot of balls up I get a
piece of the ball and have a lot of baseball left."








Sean Manaea gets the win at 2-0 the Blue Rocks while relief
pitcher Mark Peterson records his second save Ben Suarez is the loser
for the Mudcats at 1-1.


 
Re: UD/Natl HS Baseball Reports


By David A. Willauer-Contributing Editor-Judy Johnson Field at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium-Wilmington, DE-Tuesday, June 17, 2014-Bakersfield Blaze Kyle Waldrop's 2 for 3 performance including a single rbi scoring teammate Brandon Drury of the Visalia Rawhide for the 1st run and connected on a two run homer in the 4th as they defeated the California League All Stars by a very close 3-2 score.
Blue Rocks Manager Darryl Kennedy: "The guys had fun a and played a good ballgame as I looked at the contest all of the pitchers got a chance to throw an inning all the position players had at least 2 at bats in the game thank goodness no players on both squads weren't hurt which is a win in my booklet." "With two outs and my pitcher Christian Binford of the Bakersfield Blaze attempted to throw out Teoscar Hernandez of the Lancaster Jet Hawks of the California League in 4th inning and the 2 out runner at third Binford threw a pitch to Waldrop who hit a 2 run homer centerfield." In the top of the 8th inning Lynchburg Hillcats Kyle Wren did a good job as he got the base hit with the runner at 3b and they bought in one of the best pitchers in the California League (Enrique Burgos from the Visalia Rawhides) they have hard throwers over there and kept the ball down and did well.
For the Carolina League, they scored 1 run in the fifth as Jose Alfaro tripled and scored on a Glyn Davis groundout from shortstop to first base along with 1 run in the bottom of the 8th as Chris Garcia leadoff with a double and scored on Kyle Wren's rbi single.
Before the game, former Blue Rock Johnny Damon was honored as they retired his shirt in right centerfield and spoke along with former Blue Rocks Mike Sweeney along with Mr. Royal George Brett.
With the win the series is tied at 8-8-2. This is the fourth time that Frawley Stadium has hosted the Carolina vs. California All Stars in Wilmington, DE The other years were 1994, 1998 and 2002.
At the conclusion of the game, one player from each the league all stars were honored with the Top Star Award. Kyle Wren from the Lynchburg Hillcats in the Carolina League was honored and for the California League Kyle Waldrop from the Bakersfield Blaze.
 
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