First Half Recap

Wilmington, DE - The first half of the 2018 season for the Wilmington Blue Rocks ended with a road trip against teams from the Southern Division earlier this week. The Blue Rocks closed out the half on a positive note, winning the last two games against the Winston-Salem Dash, who won the Southern Division in the first half. The Blue Rocks finished the first 70 games of the campaign with a 31-39 record and finished in fourth place in the Northern Division.
Although the Blue Crew did not clinch a postseason spot in the first half, the team had a handful of impressive individual and team performances through the first two-and-a-half months of the season.
 

April
The Blue Rocks opened up the season on the road for the first time since 2015 with a week-long road trip to Potomac and Salem. Wilmington started the season with a 5-3 win on Opening Day breaking a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning when Chris DeVito ripped a two-out, go-ahead RBI single to score Khalil Lee to make it a 4-3 game before the Rocks added an insurance run in the ninth inning to seal the win. However, the Blue Rocks were unable to get the offense going through the first week of the season and dropped six of their next nine games to go 4-6 through their first ten games.
The Rocks offense heated up during a four-game series at Frederick from April 19-22 when they took three out of four against the Keys and outscored Frederick 31-20. In the series opener, the Blue Rocks scored the most runs of the season so far in a 15-4 triumph. Wilmington's offense erupted and scored all 15 runs through the first four innings of the game. Chase Vallot smacked a grand slam and Rudy Martin fell a home run shy of the cycle as both drove in five runs each in the rout.
Two games later, the Blue Rocks produced their largest comeback of the season on April 21. Trailing by five runs after the third inning, the Blue Rocks scored eight runs in the final six innings to take a thrilling 12-10 victory. Kort Peterson smacked two home runs in the game for his first-career, two homer game and also drove in a career-high five runs in the win. On April 26, the Blue Rocks had fan-favorite Brandon Downes back on the roster and the outfielder wasted no time making his presence felt. In his second at-bat of the game, he homered to help lead the Rocks to a 5-0 win over Potomac.
Wilmington closed out the final week of the first month of the season winning three of their final seven games to post an 11-12 record. As a team, the Blue Crew drew 104 walks which led the Carolina League and their remarkable 37 stolen bases in 47 attempts ranked second in the circuit, thanks to five different players stealing multiple bases including Martin who stole an impressive 14 bags in 22 games. Individually, D.J. Burt led the offense and hit .311 (14-for-45) with eight runs scored and stole six bases. Reliever Matthew Wynne impressed in his first month as a Blue Rock and posted a sterling 0.84 ERA in seven relief appearances and picked up a save. He allowed just one earned run in 10.2 innings of work.
May
Just like to start the 2018 season, the Rocks started the second month of the campaign against the Potomac Nationals. The first game of May was a heartbreaking 6-5 loss. Wilmington rallied for five unanswered runs including two in the final inning on a Lee two-run triple to make it 6-5 before the rally fell short. The Rocks bounced back nicely with a 12-7 victory in the middle game of the series and pounded out a season-high 16 hits. Vallot clubbed a pair of homes runs while Emmanuel Rivera collected four hits in the win.
The Rocks wound up dropping the series finale which started a string of four straight series losses to put the Rocks at 15-21 on the season. The Rocks would flip the script when they welcomed the Myrtle Beach Pelicans to town for a three-game series. After the first game was rained out, the Blue Rocks played their first doubleheader on May 16. Wilmington took the first game by the score of 3-1, thanks to a strong performance by starting pitcher Jace Vines. The right-handed hurler tossed all seven innings in the opening game of the twin bill and allowed just one run on five hits. After the Rocks dropped the nightcap to the Pelicans, the Blue Rocks earned the series win with a thrilling 3-1 rubber match win.
Wilmington broke a 1-1 tie in odd fashion when Nick Heath hit a blooper down the left field line that landed in between Pelicans' shortstop Aramis Ademan and left fielder Kevonte Mitchell who both collided. The ball rolled down the line scoring Chris DeVito and Heath for the go-ahead, inside-the-park home run. It was the first inside-the-park homer for a Blue Rock since Ryan O'Hearn hit two in the 2016 season.
The Rocks would go on to lose the next four games before snapping the skid with a wild 7-4 victory at Potomac on May 22. Down to their final out, the Blue Rocks rallied in the top of the ninth inning. Peterson drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game at 4-4 before DeVito was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to put the Rocks ahead, 5-4. A wild pitch followed to allow Lee to score before Gabriel Cancel singled home another run to help secure the comeback victory.
The tough month of May for the Rocks continued however as the team dropped six of their last nine games of the month to go 10-20 during the month and were 21-32 through the first 53 games of the season. Royals' top prospect Khalil Lee hit .284 during the month and was riding a modest eight-game on-base streak which would extend through the month of June. The 19-year-old, also drove in 14 runs, walked 20 times and had an impressive .429 on-base percentage. Peterson became one of the most consistent hitters in the lineup and in the league, hitting to the tune of .313 with 11 extra-base hits during the month, to help him be amongst the league leaders in batting average. On the mound, closer Bryan Brickhouse shined and went 1-0 with an impressive 0.87 ERA in eight appearances and earned four saves in as many chances. Opponents hit just .061 against him. ­
June
As the weather started to heat up, so did the Blue Rocks' offense. After a 4-2 setback in the series opener at Salem to start the third month of the campaign, the Blue Crew started their longest winning streak of the season the following night. After trailing 2-0, the Blue Rocks tied the game in the third and fifth innings before Salem went up by three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it a three-run Wilmington deficit. The Blue Crew rallied by manufacturing runs and tied the game on a wild pitch to make it a 5-5 score. In the ninth, Peterson smashed a go-ahead, two-run homer to give the Rocks the 7-5 lead and eventual victory.
The good times kept rolling for the Blue Rocks as they held off the Red Sox in the series finale in a 5-4 win thanks to catcher Meibrys Viloria who drove in four runs, including the game-winning run in the top of the eighth inning. The Rocks returned home on June 5 and spoiled the Lynhcburg Hillcats chances of clinching a postseason berth with a four-game sweep.
The Rocks used early offense in the 9-2 series opener as Lee paced the offense with a home run and drove in three. On June 6, the Rocks played a doubleheader and took both games to earn their first twin bill sweep of the season. Both games were decided with late offense by Wilmington. In the first contest, the Rocks broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with three runs, highlighted by Peterson's two-run homer over the center field wall to help push the Blue Rocks to their fourth straight win. In the night cap, the rallying Rocks did it again. Down 5-3 in the fifth inning and with two outs, the Rocks loaded the bases before Viloria lined a game-tying single to left field to plate the tying runs. In the bottom of the sixth, again with two outs, the Rocks pulled away on a Cancel RBI single to score the go-ahead run.
In the series finale, it was the right arm of Anthony Bender who set the tone for the Blue Rocks and tossed seven strong innings and allowed just two earned runs. Lee belted a three-run home run for his fourth homer of the season to help the Rocks extend the win streak to six games with a 7-4 series sweeping win. It was the first series sweep of the season for the Blue Crew and the first, four-game series sweep since June 15-18, 2017.
Wilmington's winning streak would come to an end the following night in a tough 3-2 loss to Frederick before bouncing back with a convincing 10-6 win over the Keys on June 9. The Blue Rocks pounded out 15 hits in the slugfest as both teams combined for 29 total hits. Wilmington dropped its final home game of the first half in a rain-shortened 2-1 loss to the Keys.
The Rocks closed out the first half with a seven-game road trip to face Southern Division foes in the Down East Wood Ducks and Winston-Salem Dash. After the first game was rained out, the Blue Rocks and Wood Ducks played a doubleheader on June 12 in which the Rocks dropped both games. In the second game of the doubleheader, Lee had his team-high 18-game on-base streak come to an end. During the stretch, he hit .350 and had a .473 on-base percentage during that stretch. The streak is also tied for the seventh-longest on-base streak in the Carolina League this season. Wilmington salvaged the series the following day by outlasting Down East in a pitching duel. Again it was Bender who turned in another quality start and fired seven strong innings and the combination of relievers Cristian Castillo and Brickhouse bridged the final two innings to preserve the win.
The Blue Rocks headed to Winston-Salem and fell in the first two games of the series before taking the final two games. The Rocks earned a 2-1 victory on June 16 thanks to the combination of Castillo, Carter Hope, and Brickhouse who earned his 12^th save of the season. Wilmington closed out the half in dominant fashion and thumped the Dash 10-1 on Father's Day. Seven different Blue Rocks picked up a hit and six different hitters drove in a run. Pitching again was a key to Wilmington's success as Daniel Tillo and Vines combined for 10 strikeouts which was the first 10-strikeout game put together by the Blue Rocks' staff this season.
Wilmington also had four players named Carolina League Northern Division All-Stars by the league office prior to the All-Star Break. Bryan Brickhouse, D.J. Burt, Khalil Lee and Kort Peterson will represent the Blue Rocks during the All-Star Classic hosted by the Carolina Mudcats at Five County Stadium on Tuesday, June 19.
To close out the first half, Brickhouse led the league with his 12 saves and went 1-0 with a 2.01 ERA and held opponents to a remarkable .083 batting average. He struck out 31 batters in 22.1 innings of work. Burt finished second in the Carolina League with 18 stolen bases to end the half and fifth in on-base percentage (.385). The second-year Blue Rock had his average in the top-ten for the majority of the first 70 games of the season.
One of the youngest players to be in the annual exhibition, Lee has shown why he is rated the Royals' top prospect. He has showcased his tools and finished the first half leading the Carolina League in walks (47) and ranked sixth in all of MiLB. He also posted a .399 on-base percentage which was second-best in the league.   Peterson has been one of the best hitters in the league since the beginning of May and closed out the first half with a .292 batting average which ranked ninth in the league to go along with a team-leading eight home runs and second on the team with 33 RBI.
The Blue Rocks are back in action on Thursday, June 21 when they start the second half with a four-game road trip to Potomac. The Rocks return to the Riverfront on Monday, June 25 when they welcome in the Lynchburg Hillcats to start a season-long nine-game homestand. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting the team website at www.bluerocks.com.