Doubleheader Split Keeps Series Alive For Wilmington

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (50-56) split their doubleheader against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (57-50) on Saturday, August 10. The Rocks dropped Game 1 by a final score of 5-2 but bounced back in Game 2, taking home a 3-2 victory.

In Game 1, both teams traded runs in the third inning, as Hendry Mendez blasted his second round-tripper of the season for the BlueClaws to open the scoring, and Robert Hassell Jr. responded for the Blue Rocks in the form of an RBI groundout that scored Marcus Brown.

Jersey Shore took the lead right back in the top of the fourth via an RBI single by Troy Schreffler and never looked back. With the Claws leading 2-1 entering the fifth, they added three more runs, all charged against Wilmington starter Riley Cornelio.

First, Keaton Anthony ripped a single to left that scored Mendez, and Felix Reyes followed by doubling to deep center field which allowed Anthony to score. To put the cherry on top, Bryson Ware drove in Reyes with an RBI single of his own to make it a 5-1 game. The Rocks added on a run in the bottom of the sixth with a Murphy Stehly RBI single, but it was too little, too late.

Jersey Shore started off hot in Game 2 as well, as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the third thanks to RBI singles by Andrick Nava and Zach Arnold. That was where the good fortune on offense came to a halt for the BlueClaws though, as starter Seth Shuman and the duo of Chance Huff and Richard Guasch out of the bullpen shut the door for the remainder of the night.

The Rocks’ offense was able to come up with the big inning they needed in the bottom of the fourth, as Jared McKenzie kicked things off with an RBI double to deep left-center field that scored Phillip Glasser. Stehly immediately followed with an RBI double of his own, scoring McKenzie and tying the game at two. Marcus Brown then proved to be the deciding factor in the ballgame, as he poked an RBI single to the left side of the diamond to score Stehly and give Wilmington a 3-2 lead, one they would not relinquish.

In Game 1, Cornelio pitched 4 ⅔ innings and allowed five hits, five runs and four walks as the 24-year-old took his tenth loss of the season. Shuman was much better in Game 2, tossing five strong innings of two-run ball. The 26-year-old also picked up his first win of the season.

The bullpen was the main highlight for Wilmington pitching, as the quartet of Brendan Collins, Mason Denaburg, Huff and Guasch combined for 4.1 shutout innings between both games. In the ninth inning of Game 2, Guasch found himself in a jam as Jersey Shore had two runners in scoring position with no outs. The 26-year-old responded with a groundout and two strikeouts to end the game and secure the victory for the Rocks.

At the plate, Stehly and Brown both collected multiple hits combined across both games, the only players to do so for Wilmington. Stehly also recorded multiple RBIs.

The Blue Rocks now have an opportunity to lock up a series split in the finale of this six-game series tomorrow, August 11 at 1:05 p.m.