Lynchburg, VA – Two wild pitches and a two-base error by Wilmington’s Kurt Mertins in the opening inning resulted in three unearned runs against Blue Rocks starter Jason Godin on Saturday night. That trio of tallies put the Rocks (3-6) in a hole they would not climb out of, coincidentally, resulting in a three-run loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats, 6-3. Joe Dickerson earned another base hit, stretching his Carolina League-best hitting streak to eight games, and David Wood snapped his hitting funk, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. The loss halted Wilmington’s first winning streak of the season at a modest two games, and drew the teams even at one game apiece on the three-game series

The night started well for Wilmington, with a pair of runs in the top half of the first. The visitors had runners at the corners for Wood with two outs, when the lefty-bat first baseman belted a two-run double to left field for a 2-0 lead. After loading the bases with a pair of walks thereafter, Lynchburg starter Michael Crotta (2-0) worked out of the jam by inducing a groundout from Morizio to minimize damage.

It set the stage for a big bottom half of the inning by the hometown Hillcats. Brian Friday led off with a single to center. Godin struck out Angel Gonzalez, but a hit-and-run sparked the Hillcat rally and a Jim Negrych single. When Friday bolted for second, Mertins dashed to the bag from shortstop, opening a hole for Negrych’s weak bouncer to hop into left field. While Godin would rally to strike out Kent Sakamoto with a knee-bending curve, a wild pitch also moved the runners to second and third.

With two outs, Steve Lerud bounced a ball to short that Mertins had trouble fielding, forcing a rushed, errant throw that bounced past Wood at first base and allowed both Lerud to reach second and each of the runners to score for a tie game. A second Godin wild pitch plated Lerud from second, plunging the Blue Rocks into a 3-2 hole.

Darryl Kennedy’s club forged a brief 3-3 tie with some nifty baserunning in the fourth inning. With one out, Matt Morizio reached on a single that escaped the diving glove of Gonzalez at second base. Jarrod Dyson followed with a grounder to shortstop, and it appeared Friday had a play at second to cut down the lead runner. But he elected to take the sure out at first base, giving second to the Blue Rocks catcher. Morizio advanced to third base on a wild pitch during a Derrick Robinson plate appearance that eventually put the usual leadoff hitter on at first with a walk. While Mertins stood at the plate thereafter, Robinson darted for second, drawing a throw from Lerud. Safe was the call, and the Rocks were not done running as Morizio had sprinted home upon the throw, and arrived safely for a steal of the dish and a 3-3 deadlock.

The ‘Cats would scratch out a single run in the fifth against right-handed reliever Aaron Hartsock (0-1). James Barksdale walked with one out, and scored on an RBI triple to right-center by Friday for a lead Lynchburg would not let up. Single tallies in the sixth and eighth salted the advantage, and the Blue Rocks failed to push a runner beyond second base after their run-scoring fourth frame. Lynchburg closer Kyle Pearson bookended a groundout with a pair of strikeouts in a perfect ninth for his second save.

Godin looked sharp over his four innings. The starter allowed just the three unearned runs on three hits, no walks and five strikeouts. Sporting a sharp curveball and sinking fastball, the right-hander retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.

The loss went to Hartsock who coughed up a pair of runs on four hits, one walk and two strikeouts over his three innings. He had gone six shutout innings over two relief appearances entering Saturday night.

The Blue Rocks and Hillcats conclude their three-game set on Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. Wilmington will start right-hander Mario Santiago (0-0, 4.50) against southpaw Daniel Moskos (0-0, 3.60). Moskos (MAHS-kiss) was the No. 4 overall pick in last year’s draft out of Clemson University, and is rated as the Pirates fifth-best prospect by Baseball America.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Joe Dickerson’s first-inning single extended his league-best hitting streak to eight games. The Blue Rock right fielder has gone 14-for-29 (.483) during his hot hitting.

Leadoff hitter Derrick Robinson’s fourth-inning walk extended his on-base streak to seven games with a hit or a walk.

Saturday’s loss snapped an 11-game winning streak by the Blue Rocks over the Hillcats dating back to the 2007 season.

David Wood started the season just 2-for-24 before busting out with a 3-for-4 effort in the game, including two doubles, two RBIs and his first stolen base of the year.

The Blue Rocks stole three bases in four tries on the night. Through nine games played, the Blue Crew paces the CL in stolen bases taken (22) and attempted (34).