The Wilmington Sharks enter the final nine days of the 2011 Coastal Plain League regular season with 11 games over that stretch, beginning with a doubleheader against Florence Monday night with gates opening at 5 p.m. with the first game set to begin at 6:05 with the second game to follow.

Monday's doubleheader will also be a House Party at the Shark Tank with beverage specials all night long.

After traveling to Columbia on Tuesday, the Sharks return home when Florence comes back to town on Wednesday for a 7:05 game that features The RockNRoll Chorus performing beginning at 6:15 p.m.

The final Fat Tony's Tirsty Thursday of the regular season will be against the Fayetteville Swampdogs at 7:05 on Ethos Shirt off our Back Night before the Sharks travel to Florence on Friday night.

Saturday and Sunday the Sharks return to the Shark Tank for the final two home games of the regular season, hosting Columbia on Saturday at 7;05 with Taco Bell postgame fireworks to follow the game. 

Sunday, the Sharks host the Morehead City Marlins in a three-game series against the  Marlins to end the regular season. The Sharks final home game of the regular season will also be Miller Motte 2011 Team Photo Giveaway Night as the gates open at 6 p.m. with first pitch at 7:05.

The Sharks end the regular season in Morehead City on Monday and Tuesday nights.

For the second night in a row the Wilmington Sharks (10-7) fell to a CPL Western Division foe, this time the Asheboro Copperheads (8-12) on Sunday night. After collecting only four hits in their loss Saturday, the Sharks tallied only five hits against Asheboro, losing 2-1 in an epic pitching duel.

Despite their second loss in as many days, the Sharks kept their hold on first place in the CPL South Division, with Morehead City having an off day on Sunday and remaining in second place and the Fayetteville Swampdogs being stuck in third place by virtue of a loss to Columbia in Fayetteville Sunday night.

Daniel Aldrich was the only player in either dugout to have two hits in the Sharks' loss Sunday night.

Asheboro was held to just three hits by Sharks starter Jake Mayers (2-2), who tossed seven innings and struck out five Copperheads batters while walking just three and allowing both runs to score.

Starter Chuck Fontana (3-5) was equally as impressive, going 6.1 innings and allowing four Sharks hits and three walks while striking out seven and allowing the lone Wilmington run in the fifth inning.

The run came off the bat of Sharks catcher Eric Mayers, who sent the solo shot over the left field wall to open the top of the fifth and tie the game at that point.

Asheboro, who opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth.

Daniel Aldrich was the only hitter on either team to record a multiple-hit night, finishing 2-for-4, while Alex Freedman, Jeff Moyer and Eric Mayers each finished with one hit each for the Sharks.

Asheboro scored in the bottom of the first off of one hit and one Sharks error, but Jake Mayers pitched out of the jam and got the final two outs on the inning and left the bases loaded.

After Eric Mayers solo homer tied the game in the fifth, Asheboro’s Jacob Wilson doubled to open the bottom of the sixth before advancing to third one batter later before scoring on a sacrifice fly to center field to score the eventual winning run.

The Sharks return home on Monday night, as they host the Florence RedWolves in a CPL South Division doubleheader with the first game set to begin at 6:05 with the gates opening at 5 p.m.  as they gear up for the final nine days of the 2011 CPL regular season that will see them playing 11 games over that span.

The Wilmington Sharks (10-6) dropped their first of two straight road games on the road Saturday night, falling to the Gastonia Grizzles 8-3 as the visitors were held to just four hits.

With the loss, the Sharks lead in the CPL South Division shrink back to just one-half game, this time with the Morehead City Marlins in second place after their win Saturday night. Fayetteville dropped to one game back and into third place in the South after losing to Columbia.

Kenny Bryant had a hit and scored twice in the Sharks' loss Saturday night.

Against Gastonia (9-9), the Sharks fell victim to an eight-ininng, three hit performance from Grizzles starter Michael Heesch, who also struck out eight.

Wilmington starter Chris Mazza fell to 4-3 on the season after allowing seven runs on 10 Gastonia hits over 5-2/3 innings of work.

The Sharks plated their first run in the top of the fourth, with Gastonia already having four runs on the scoreboard, before seeing the hosts extend the lead with two runs in the fifth and one run in both the sixth and seventh before the Sharks plated two runs in the top of the ninth for the final score.

Jeff Moyer, Kenny Bryant, Jake Mayers and Scott Coleman each tallied one hit apiece, with Mayers and Chris Dula picking up an RBI apiece. Bryant scored two of the Sharks three runs.

The Sharks had two of their four hits in the fourth inning, as Bryant singled with one out before Jake Mayers followed him up with an RBI double.

Down 8-1 in the ninth, Moyer opened the inning with a single before Bryant reached on an error that allowed the baserunners to each advance one base. Dula, pinch hitting for Mayers, fouled a sacrifice fly into foul territory to the first baseman before an error by the first baseman allowed both Moyer and Bryant to score.

The Sharks then saw Daniel Aldrich reach via a hit by pitch before he was retired by a fielders’ choice that allowed Scott Coleman to reach base. Coleman advanced to second on a Gastonia passed ball before Alex Freedman reached on an error to shortstop that put runners at the corners. Russ Stupienski flew out to right field to end the game.

The Sharks play in Asheboro on Sunday before returning home Monday to face Florence in a doubleheader with game one set to begin at 6:05.

The Wilmington Sharks gained some breathing room in the CPL South Division standings on Friday night when they defeated the Fayetteville Swampdogs 6-5, marking the first time the Sharks have defeated Fayetteville in Wilmington this summer.

With the win, the Sharks push one game up on Fayetteville and now sit 1-1/2 games ahead of Morehead City after the Marlins lost at Columbia Friday.

Jake Mayers' solo homer was the difference in the Sharks' win Friday night.

The Sharks transformed into the Wilmington McSharks for the game, wearing special jerseys that were auctioned off during the game with the proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald Houses of North Carolina.

Against Fayetteville, the Sharks used a Jake Mayers solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead in what proved to be the game winner.

The Sharks had two players tally two-hit nights, Mayers and Aaron Preston, as they only had six hits as a team in the win.

The Sharks opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning before seeing Fayetteville tie the game in the top of the fourth. Wilmington answered with two runs in both the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings before seeing Fayetteville rally back and tie the game in the top of the sixth, paving the way for Mayer’s homer.

Sharks starter Mat Batts fared well through 5-2/3 innings, striking out five, but could not get the final out of the sixth and he gave up a four-run lead and was lifted.

In the third, Preston led off the inning with a walk before advancing around the bases and scoring two batters later on Justyn Carter’s single.

After Fayetteville tied the game in the top of the fourth, the Sharks regained the lead when Preston knocked a two-out, two-run double that scored Mayers and Scott Coleman.

The Sharks extended their lead in the fifth, scoring two runs off of zero hits as they were aided by Fayetteville errors, passed balls, wild pitches and a balk that brought a run in. However, the Sharks left the bases loaded to end the inning.

Fayetteville answered with four runs in the top of the sixth on four hits and one Sharks error to tie the game at 5-5 before Mayers knocked his solo homer with one out in the bottom of the seventh that just cleared the wall in left-center field.

Chris Dula (1-1) earned the win for the Sharks in 1-1/3 innings of relief as he struck out three of the four Fayetteville batters he faced.

Ross Whitley struck out one batter as part of a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his seventh save of the season.

The Wilmington Sharks stepped out of Coastal Plain League action on Thursday night to take on the Catawba Valley Stars in an exhibition contest. The Sharks treated the game as an off day for seemingly every regular, as they fell by a 10-2 score.

The different-looking Sharks offense tallied only three hits in the game, while the interesting defensive configurations saw four errors.

The game’s final tally saw four position players pitch and three pitchers play the field, four if you include starting pitcher Mat Batt’s at-bat in the ninth.

Scott Coleman had an RBI double in the Sharks' exhibition loss on Thursday night.

Alex Freedman, the Sharks normal second baseman, was the designated hitter and had two at-bats, finishing 0-for-2, before exiting. Kenny Bryant started in center field before moving to left field later in the game, and he tallied one hit as part of a 1-for-3 night that saw him exit after seven innings.

Aaron Preston was one of the only Sharks regulars to play the entire game, finishing 1-for-4, but he finished the game on the mound in the ninth as the final Wilmington pitcher of the night.

Scott Coleman tallied one hit on the night, a double in the second inning, that drove home the Sharks first run.

Eric Mayers, part of the Sharks catching rotation, played three positions in the contest, starting behind the plate before pitching 2-1/3 innings and finishing the night in right field. At the plate he finished 0-for-4, but on the mound he struck out four Catawba Valley batters.

K.J. McAllister was another Shark to see time in the field and on the mound before his night was complete. He finished 0-for-1 at the plate, but allowed only five hits over three innings of work on the mound while picking up a strikeout.

A couple pitchers, Chris Dula and Tommy Houmard, fared well at the plate throughout the night. Dula, who played left field and third base, finished 0-for-2 but drew a walk and scored, while Houmard, playing shortstop and centerfield, was 0-for-1 with two walks on his statline.

Stephen Vaughan, another Sharks pitcher, came into the game in the eighth and played left field the final two innings, drew a walk in his only plate appearance.

The Sharks scored the night’s first run in the second inning when Emilio Pagan walked before scoring from first base on Coleman’s double to left-center one batter later.

After Catawba Valley scored two runs in the fourth inning, the Sharks tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when Dula and Houmard reached on back-to-back walks with two outs before McAllister put a ball in play that was an error by the Catawba Valley second baseman that allowed Dula to score from second base.

The sixth inning was the big inning for Catawba Valley, as they scored five runs as 10 batters came to the plate and they tallied two hits and were aided by two Sharks errors.

For good measure, Catawba Valley added three runs in the ninth on three hits and a Sharks error to provide the final score.

The Wilmington Sharks jump back into CPL play Friday night when they host the Fayetteville Swampdogs in a pivotal game in the South Division standings. The Sharks came into Thursday a half game ahead of Fayetteville in the division but kept the same record with the exhibition. Fayetteville won at home against Florence to remain a half game behind the Sharks going into Friday night.

Friday night’s game will also be McDonald’s McJersey McAuction Night at the Shark Tank where the Sharks will be auctioning off every players jersey on the main concourse and online via the link at the top of the team’s homepage, http://wilmingtonsharks.com/, with all proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald Houses of North Carolina.

It will also be Yeungling Flash Drive giveaway night as the gates open at 6 p.m. with first pitch scheduled for 7:05.