Wilmington Suffer Extra-Innings Loss To Hudson Valley

WILMINGTON, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (10-22) fell to the Hudson Valley Renegades (22-9) by a final score of 5-2 at Frawley Stadium on Saturday, May 10th.

Bryan Caceres got his start of the season for Wilmington in place of a recently promoted Riley Cornelio and posted a zero in the first inning despite allowing a couple of hits.

The Blue Rocks got on the board first in the bottom of the first. With Marcus Brown on second and two outs, Caleb Lomavita drew a walk on a wild pitch that rolled all the way to the backstop. Brown took advantage of the miscue and scored from second, making it a 1-0 game.

Wilmington continued to take advantage of Hudson Valley mistakes in the second. After a throwing error on a Jonathan Thomas single moved Thomas and Matt Suggs to second and third respectively, Suggs scored on Hudson Valley starter Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz’s second wild pitch of the game, doubling the Wilmington lead.

Caceres ran into trouble in the third inning. After allowing three straight batters on base to start the inning, a 6-5 fielder's choice scored Hudson Valley’s first run of the game. A Coby Morales single up the middle scored Roc Riggio from second and evened the score up at two while ending Caceres’ day on the mound. Caceres went 2.1 innings, allowing four hits and striking out two batters.

Austin Amaral came on in relief and was able to retire Jackson Castillo on the first pitch he threw as Castillo grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. The timely outs ended the inning and kept the score tied at two.

“That was awesome,” Amaral said. “The mentality going in was I was going to attack the zone and make these guys get themselves out. I wasn’t going to do anything crazy and be the pitcher that I am and help the team out.”

Pitching on both sides dominated in the next few innings. Rodriguez-Cruz lasted four innings before being pulled, tallying six strikeouts and allowing only one hit. For Wilmington, Amarel recorded 3.2 innings, scattering two hits and striking out one batter.

The Blue Rocks had a chance to take the lead in the seventh inning. A Thomas single put runners on the corners with one out. However, Hudson Valley reliever Bryce Warrecker was able to strike out Brown before retiring Seaver King on a comebacker hit back to the mound, securing the 1-3 put out and ending the inning.

Going into the ninth inning, the score remained deadlocked at 2-2 when Hudson Valley had a golden opportunity to score. Brenny Escanio hit a two-out triple that glanced off Thomas’ glove in right field. Reliever Thomas Schultz was able to strike out the final Renegade batter however, giving Wilmington a chance to walk it off in the bottom half of the frame.

Thomas recorded his third hit of the game, this one coming off a blooper over the first baseman’s head. Thomas was able to use his speed to get to second, putting a runner in scoring position with two outs. Thomas’ three-hit game gave him a season-high for hits in a game. Brown couldn’t come through however, becoming victim to a 1-3 putout and sending the game to extras.

Hudson Valley’s bats finally woke up in the top half of the inning. Roc Riggio and Parks Harber hit back-to-back doubles, Riggio’s scoring one runner and Harber’s plating two. While the Renegades couldn’t bring anymore home, the RBI doubles gave them a 5-2 advantage going into the bottom half of the inning.

Despite hard hit balls off the bat by Lomavita and Elijah Green, Wilmington was unable to record a hit in the bottom of the 10th and Hudson Valley secured the 5-2 game. Matt Keating was credited with the win after getting the final five outs, his first win of the season.

“We just gotta keep being us,” Thomas said. “We gotta keep getting tough AB’s, keep throwing strikes and it’ll start coming together.”

Wilmington will take the field tomorrow for the final game of their six-game series against the Renegades. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.