Wilmington That Win; Blue Rocks Werk In 6-3 Eleganza Extravaganza Over Aberdeen

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (1-0) kicked off the second half of the season on the right foot on Friday, June 21, defeating the Aberdeen IronBirds (0-1) by way of the long ball at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium.

Wilmington wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. After Elijah Nunez and Viandel Peña were quickly retired to begin the bottom of the first, a two-out rally was sparked. Jared McKenzie kicked things off with a single to left field which was followed by a Kevin Made walk. Up next was Jeremy De La Rosa, who absolutely crushed a ball deep over the right field wall to give the Blue Rocks an early 3-0 lead.

De La Rosa didn’t stop there though, as he stepped up to the plate again in the bottom of the third and gave another one a ride, this time squeaking the ball just to the left of the foul pole in right field for his second homer and fifth RBI of the night, extending the Rocks’ lead to 5-0.

Aberdeen chipped away at the deficit in both the fourth and fifth innings, as Reed Trimble poked an RBI double down the right field line to put the IronBirds on the board. Adam Retzbach then blasted a triple to center in the fifth and another run scored on a double play, but that was all the offense Aberdeen could generate.

In the bottom of the eighth, the newly-acquired Joe Naranjo ripped an RBI single to right that scored De La Rosa and put the cherry on top for Wilmington, making it 6-3.

The Nationals’ No. 5 ranked prospect Cade Cavalli made his first High-A start of the season as he continues to rehab from Tommy John Surgery, and although he was on a strict pitch count, the 25-year-old dominated while he was out on the bump. Cavalli pitched three nearly perfect innings, allowing just one baserunner via walk and striking out three. The bullpen did their job in clean-up duty, as Luke Farrell, Zach Brzykcy and Miguel Gomez struck out seven batters combined in six innings of work.

De La Rosa did the heavy-lifting at the plate, going 3-4 with his two homers and five RBIs. Naranjo also had a multi-hit game, going 2-4 with an RBI.

The Blue Rocks now lead this six-game series against the IronBirds three games to one, and will look to secure the series victory tomorrow at 6:35 p.m.