Hillcats Fall To Force Rubber Game

Credit: Lee Luther Jr.

After a convincing Game 1 win, the Wilmington Blue Rocks punched back hard, beating Lynchburg 12-3 to force a winner-takes-all game tonight.  After a good start, the game went downhill fast.

The night started when Andrelton Simmons, DH’ing last night, singled in his first at-bat, eventually scoring on a Tommy La Stella groundout.  Things were looking good until two outs in the top of third.  Dimasther Delgado allowed four straight baserunners, including a Matt Fields 3-run homer that led to a 4-spot.

Ryan Weber replaced Delgado in the 5th, but he did not provide any relief.  He allowed three runs in his first inning, ending the inning with a 7-run deficit.  Weber rebounded to throw two scoreless innings, then Chasen Shreve allowed four more in the eighth to put the Blue Rocks lead to double digits.

Somewhat lost in the offensive explosion was the pitching performance of Jason Adam.  He only allowed one run the first seven innings  before a couple mop-up runs by the Braves in the eighth.  Simmons and Dan Brewer were the only two hitters to reach base twice.  Aaron Northcraft gets the call in the elimination game, facing Leondy Perez.