Blue Rocks Drop Series Finale To Crawdads

In their final match-up of the six-game series against the Hickory Crawdads, the Blue Rocks dropped their momentum and two-game win streak, losing 1-0.

After winning 10-3 on Friday, April 22, and 3-2 on Saturday, April 23, fans expected the Blue Rocks to continue their progress and finish out this series strong. Instead, the Blue Rocks would fail to follow through, leaving men on base and struggling to get there in the first place.

The first two innings held promise for the team, as players Jordy Barley, Darren Baker, Drew Mendoza, Onix Vega and Gage Canning all saw time on base. This is where the Blue Rocks’ trend of leaving players on base began and would continue throughout the rest of the seven innings.

At the top of the third, fans saw the only score of the night come from the Hickory Crawdads when Christian Inoa hit a sacrifice fly to center field, sending Scott Kapers, who reached on a walk, home.

From the bottom of the third to the bottom of the seventh, not one Blue Rocks player would successfully see the bases. Things would shift slightly in the bottom of the eighth when Jermey Ydens made it all the way to third base before Yasel Atuna ground out to close the inning.

The ninth inning continued with little to no action for either team, securing the Hickory Crawdads’ victory 1-0. Hickory’s starting pitcher, Tekoah Roby, would be credited with the win while Matt Merrill, the Blue Rocks starting pitcher, was credited with the loss.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks will go on to play the Hudson Valley Renegades away in the next series starting on Tuesday, April 26. Their next home series will start on May 3 as they take on the Bowling Green Hot Rods.