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The Wilmington Sharks dropped two games to the Florence RedWolves in CPL South Division action Monday night, falling 4-3 in game one before losing 7-0 in the nightcap as they fell out of first place in the South Division.
With the two losses, the Sharks fall to 10-9 in the second half, while Fayetteville improved to 11-9 win a win over Columbia and Morehead City also sits on an 11-9 record after their loss to Martinsville Monday night. With their two wins over the Sharks, Florence suddenly sees itself moving into the playoff picture at 9-9 after the wins.
In game one, the Sharks outhit the RedWolves seven to three, but could not come up with the big hit, as seven different Wilmington players had one hit apiece.
Florence found themselves up 2-0 after two at-bats, scoring in the first off of one hit and one Sharks error and then in the second scoring without a hit as a leadoff walk came around to score and give the RedWolves the advantage.
The Sharks answered in the bottom of the second, when Emilio Pagan walked before sealing second base and advancing to third on a groundout by Scott Coleman before scoring on an RBI groundout from Jeff Moyer.
However, Florence came right back with two runs in the top of the third on one hit, one walk, a double steal and a pair of wild pitches to take a 4-1 lead.
Wilmington made it interesting by scoring a run in both the fifth and sixth innings, first in the fifth when Aaron Preston doubled before scoring on Alex Freedman’s RBI groundout two batters later, and then in the sixth when Kenny Bryant singled to open the inning before advancing around the bases with the help of a Pagan groundout and a Coleman single before scoring on a Moyer RBI groundout.
In the seventh, the Sharks put Justyn Carter on with a one out single before Freedman followed with a walk before the game ended in bizarre fashion.
Jake Mayers grounded up the middle as the Florence middle infielders retired Freedman on the force out at second base for out number two before throwing home and getting Carter, who was trying to score from second, at the plate for the third out of the inning and the final out of game one.
Chris O’Grady (2-3) took the loss on the mound for the Sharks in game one after going five innings and allowing three hits and four runs (three earned) while walking three and striking out two batters.
In the nightcap, the Sharks left nine men on base throughout the contest, highlighted by leaving the bases loaded in the second inning and twice leaving two runners on base.
With the score still at zeros in the second inning, the Sharks used singles by Daniel Aldrich, Moyer and Eric Mayers to load the bases before Freedman popped out to third base in foul territory to end the threat.
In the top of the third, Florence took the lead off of one hit and a Wilmington error before adding two more runs in the top of the fourth off of two hits and two Sharks errors to increase the lead.
Two two-run homers in the top of the seventh sealed the game for the RedWolves.
The Sharks travel to Columbia on Tuesday night before returning home to play Florence on Wednesday night with gates opening at 6 p.m. and first pitch scheduled for 7:05. |
