Hudson Valley Betters Wilmington in Rare Eight-Game Series

After being on the road for two weeks, the Blue Rocks returned to Frawley Stadium to host the Hudson Valley Renegades in a rare, eight-game series. The homestand included two double-headers, a washout storm, and the return of familiar faces. Sammy Infante and Elijah Nunez suited up for Wilmington for the first time since suffering injuries in April.

Tuesday (Game 1)

Hudson Valley started the series off hot. Jose Atencio took the mound for the Blue Rocks in Game 1 and allowed eight runs, including a single- and three-run-home run, in the first five innings. The Renegades went on to score two more. Wilmington picked up two runs in the eighth inning and went 1-5 with runners in scoring position. Hudson Valley took Game 1 and the series lead with a final score of 10-2.

Wednesday (Game 2 and rained out Game 3)

Wednesday night was scheduled to be a doubleheader complete with 14 innings. With thunderstorms rolling through and threatening to drop buckets of rain at any moment, it quickly became apparent that the evening would be cut short. Frawley Stadium and the 1,700 fans in attendance only saw six and a half innings of baseball before the tarp was rushed onto the field for the night.

The Blue Rocks fell short of the Renegades again with a 4-2 final score. Luke Young had the start and allowed three runs in a little over four innings. On the offensive side, the team left three runners in scoring position and their two runs came from a balk and a sacrifice fly.

Thursday (Games 3 and 4)

Rodney Theophile allowed seven runs in his Game 3 start, which lasted three innings. Viandel Pena and Maxwell Romero Jr each had two hits, foreshadowing the team’s offensive runs in their next two games. Hudson Valley took the first game of the day with a final score of 8-3.

Despite how it began, the second half of Thursday night was a positive for the Blue Rocks. Zach Bryzkcy started in his first game for the Blue Rocks since joining the roster on a rehab assignment from Harrisburg. He held the Renegades to zero runs through the first inning, but the big performance from Wilmington’s bullpen Thursday night came courtesy of Wander Arias. He allowed one hit and two walks, and struck out four batters in three innings. The Blue Rocks’ offense picked up in Game 4 with four batters going 2-3 and a total of nine hits in six innings. Despite the convincing 4-0 win, it could have been a lot more so, as the Blue Rocks left 12 runners in scoring position.

Friday (Game 5)

From the pitchers’ control on the mound to the hot bats on offense, the Blue Rocks’ 4-3 win Friday night was an all-around team effort. After allowing three early runs, Riley Cornelio gained command of his start and pitched seven innings including six scoreless. This allowed the offense to work back from the three-run deficit with major contributions from Kevin Made (one hit, two RBIs), Matt Suggs (one run, one hit), Daylen Lile (one run, one hit), and Viandel Pena (one run, two hits). The Blue Rocks have won all five of their Friday night home games to start the season, and each win makes the postgame firework celebrations even better.

Saturday (Games 6 and 7)

Bryan Caceres took the mound for the first game of Saturday night’s doubleheader. He struck out four batters and allowed two runs before being relieved by Chance Huff to start the sixth. Huff also allowed two runs, and the Blue Rocks offense was shut out with only one hit for a final score of 4-0.

The second game of the night started and ended in the Blue Rocks’ favor. Miguel Gomez had the start and shutout the Renegades through three innings with four strikeouts. Wilmington picked up all four of its runs in the first half of the outing highlighted by an RBI-triple from Kevin Made, RBI-singel from Will Frizzell, and RBI-double from TJ White. The Blue Rocks take Game 7 with a 4-2 final score.

Sunday (Game 8)

Jose Atencio got his second start of the series in the sunny Sunday matinee. He allowed five runs in four innings and the Renegades would go on to score three more against Wilmington’s bullpen. Despite a stellar offensive performance from Phillip Glasser, just a triple away from the cycle, the Blue Rocks fell to the Renegades 8-2 in the final game of the series.

Looking Ahead

Now 27-30, the Blue Rocks are at the bottom of the South Atlantic League North. They are headed to Lakewood to take on the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, the top team in the division with a 32-25 record. The next time the Blue Rocks are at Frawley Stadium, they’ll host the Aberdeen IronBirds for the teams’ third meeting of the season.