Wilmington Secures Series Win Over Jersey Shore

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (49-69) secured their fourth consecutive victory and the series win against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (65-54) on Sunday, August 27, defeating them by a final score of 4-3.

Wilmington struck first in this one, with a leadoff double by Viandel Pena leading to an RBI groundout by Yohandy Morales in the bottom of the first. From there, however, Jersey Shore began to take over.

In the top of the second, Andrick Nava blooped a single into left field that scored Felix Reyes and tied up the score at one run apiece. In the very next inning, Kendall Simmons came through and gave the BlueClaws a 2-1 lead with an RBI single of his own that scored Jared Carr.

In the top of the seventh, Nava struck again with a solo homer over the right field wall, his second of the year, to make it 3-1 in favor of Jersey Shore. In the bottom of the eight, the Blue Rocks began to work some magic.

With two runners in scoring position, Pena stepped up with his second hit of the day, tallying a two-RBI single to score both runners and tie the game up at three. Then, Morales tallied his second RBI of the day with an RBI single that scored Pena from second and gave Wilmington the 4-3 lead, solidifying their come-from-behind victory.

Blue Rocks’ starter Kyle Luckham put forth a solid outing, tossing six innings of two-run ball while allowing five hits and striking out three. Pena and Sammy Infante led the Rocks’ lineup with multi-hit games, with Pena and Morales tallying two RBI each.

The Blue Rocks will look to win their second consecutive series, their final one of the 2023 season, against the Hudson Valley Renegades beginning on Tuesday, August 29 at 6:35 p.m. EST.