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For the first time since 2003, the Wilmington Sharks will be playing postseason baseball. The Sharks clinched a spot in the eight-team CPL Petitt Cup playoffs with a doubleheader sweep of the Morehead City Marlins on the road Monday night.
 
Kenny Bryant and Daniel Aldrich each had clutch homers on Monday night.
The Sharks (15-12) could not have picked a better time for their first doubleheader sweep of 2011, as they used a pair of clutch home runs to grab both wins. In game one, it was Kenny Bryant’s extra inning grand slam that gave the Sharks a 10-6 win before Daniel Aldrich connected on a solo homer in game two as the Sharks won the nightcap 3-2.
In game one, the Sharks posted a five-run top of the eighth with the big blow coming from Bryant’s grand slam to take the first game of a doubleheader against Morehead City (13-14).
Tied at 3-all through five innings, Wilmington took a two-run lead in the top of the sixth before seeing Morehead City tie the game at 5-5 with two runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings.
In the eighth, Aaron Preston led off the inning with a walk before Jeff Moyer reached via an error and Eric Mayers walked to load the bases with no outs. Justyn Carter delivered an RBI single to right field for the first run of the inning as Preston scored and Moyer was thrown out trying to score from second base.
After an Alex Freedman walk loaded the bases again, Bryant stepped in and sent his blast over the wall in right-center to clear the bases on the grand slam.
Morehead City put a slight scare into the Sharks when Drew Woodall began the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer deep to left-center field. The next three Marlins batters were retired in order for the Wilmington win.
Carter finished game one 3-for-4 with three RBIs while scoring three times, while Bryant was 2-for-5 with five RBIs. Jake Mayers was 3-for-5 with an RBI in the first game, while Daniel Aldrich had a two-hit game and Freedman tallied a 1-for-4 game with an RBI and run scored.
Sharks starter Stephen Vaughan went six innings and allowed just three runs (two earned), but did not factor in the decision after Ross Whitely allowed the two Marlins runs in the bottom of the seventh. Whitley (5-2) did pick up the win despite allowing three runs in two innings while striking out two for Wilmington.
In game two, the Sharks saw Morehead City jump ahead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth before Wilmington responded with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 2-2.
In that fifth, Carter drew a one-out walk before stealing second base. After Freedman followed with a walk to give the Sharks runners at first and second, both runners took off on a double steal before Carter scampered home as the Morehead City throw sailed down the left field line.
Two batters later, Jake Mayers singled back up the middle with two outs to plate Freedman and tie the game at 2-2.
Wilmington took the lead in the top of the sixth when Aldrich led off the inning and muscled a solo homer to the opposite field that cleared the wall in left field to give the Sharks the 3-2 lead.
The Sharks only had four hits in game two, with Mayers and Aldrich tallying one RBI each on their hits.
Emilio Pagan started his first game of the summer on the mound for the short-staffed Sharks in just his ninth pitching appearance of the summer and earned his first win of the season, going five innings and allowing just two runs on two hits while striking out eight Marlins batters.
Whitely came on and picked up his ninth save of 2011 after striking out one batter in the seventh, garnering the pleasure of being the game one winner and grabbing the game two save.
The Sharks wrap up the 2011 CPL regular season on Tuesday night back in Morehead City against the Marlins.
The 2011 Petitt Cup playoffs begin on Thursday in a best-of-three series, as the Sharks will host game one with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05. The Sharks final seeding for the playoffs, as well as their opponent, has yet to be determined. Stay tuned to http://wilmingtonsharks.com/ for the most up-to-date information. |
