Blue Rocks Fall Short Against Jersey Shore 7-5 In Extras

WILMINGTON, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (35-43) fell to the Jersey Shore Blue Claws (30-46) by a final score of 7-5 in 12 innings on Friday, July 4 at Frawley Stadium.

Jackson Kent took the ball for Wilmington while Jersey Shore sent Braydon Tucker to the mound for the Independence Day matchup.

After both teams put up zeroes in the first inning, the Blue Claws came around to score first in the second inning, thanks to a two-out RBI double off the bat of Jordan Dissin.

Kent settled in after the second inning, keeping Jersey Shore off the board over his next three innings of work. Kent would exit the game after the fifth inning, striking out five and allowing three hits and three walks to go along with the one run allowed.

“It was a good outing. Everything felt well, everything was working well and all my pitches were good.” Kent said.

The Blue Claws took advantage of Kent’s absence, putting up two runs in the top of the sixth inning. Wilmington was able to keep the damage to two however after catching Dissin in a run-down as he tried to advance to third.

On the other side, the Blue Rocks struggled to get anything going against Tucker. The righty threw six shutout innings while scattering three hits, allowing no walks and matching a career-high in strikeouts with eight.

With two outs already in the eighth, the Blue Rocks finally got a spark from Jared McKenzie. The right fielder tripled to left field before Cortland Lawson drove him home with an RBI double. Caleb Lomavita then stepped up to the plate and drilled a two-run homer over the home bullpen in left field, tying the game up at three.

“It was cool. We needed it to finish the job and again it was cool, but if the team didn’t win I didn’t win.” Lomavita said.

Anthony Arguelles pitched a scoreless ninth inning, giving Wilmington a chance to walk it off in the bottom half of the frame. T.J White led off the inning with a single before a sacrifice bunt moved him to second. A strikeout and two walks brought McKenzie to the plate with bases juiced and two outs and a chance to end the game. McKenzie couldn’t deliver however as he flew out to left field, marking the game for extra innings.

The Blue Claws brought home two runners in their half of the tenth, courtesy of RBI singles from Bryan Rincon and Raylin Heredia.

Once again, Wilmington battled back from a multi-run deficit. Branden Boissiere hit a sacrifice fly to bring home McKenzie and cut the lead to one. Later on in the inning, Sam Peterson walked on a full count with bases loaded and two outs to tie the game up. Jackson Ross struck out in the next at-bat however, sending the game to an 11th inning.

Robert Cranz notched a scoreless inning in the away half of the inning to give the Blue Rocks a chance to walk it off in their half of the frame. Despite getting a runner on third, Wilmington couldn’t bring him home and the game would enter the 12th inning.

Jersey Shore put up their second multi-run inning in extras. A throwing error on a Luis Caicuto sacrifice bunt allowed the first runner to score while a balk later on in the inning would bring home Caicuto as well. Wilmington couldn’t match their half, ultimately falling by a final score of 7-5.

The Blue Rocks will be back in action tomorrow as they play the second game of their three-game homestand against Jersey Shore on Saturday, July 5. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.