WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Wilmington Sharks took advantage of some timely hitting and errors to build an early lead over the Catawba Valley Stars and then held off several late threats to get the 5-4 win.

The non-league win brings the Sharks to 3-4 on the season while the Stars drop to 5-2 overall.

After struggling to score runs so far this season, the Sharks wasted no time getting on the board. A throwing error by the Stars Matt Vanni off a Kenny Bryant infield single scored Aaron Miller from second.

The Sharks struck again in the second when Richie Allen got himself in a rundown between first and second, allowing Matt Willis to score from third to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead.
The Sharks took advantage of more Stars defensive woes in the fourth inning when Matt Willis got on base after a fielding error by Stars first baseman Dan Bryan, which allowed Chris Mazza to reach third.  On the next play, Miller reached on a throwing error by Stars shortstop Roberto Rivero which allowed Mazza to score and moved Willis to third. A Tim Taylor grounder into a fielder’s choice allowed Willis to score on the next play to make the score 4-0.

The bats remained silent until the seventh inning when the Stars took advantage of Sharks’ defensive mishaps. A throwing error by Jesse Bosnik led off the inning, allowing the Stars Adrian Rivera to reach second. After advancing to third on a fielder’s choice, Rivera scored when Dakota Irwin singled to center. Then after another fielder’s choice and infield single, Irwin scored from third when Gage Roth doubled to right center to bring the score to 4-2.

The Sharks added what would be the insurance run in the home half of the seventh when Bryant homered off Stars reliever Dustin Belk to push the lead out to 5-2. The homerun was the Sharks first at home this season.

The Stars would not go down quietly though as they rallied again in the eighth inning when Nate Richards walked the bases loaded. The Stars Ricardo Lizcano then singled to left, bringing in two runs to cut the Sharks lead to 5-4. Blaze Tart then relieved Richards and got Curran Collins out to end the inning.

In the ninth, the Stars got runners on second and third with two outs but Tart then got Rivera to ground out to end the game.

Wilmington starter Logan Self got the win, pitching 6.2 innings and allowing two runs off five hits.  He walked four and struck out four. The loss is credited to RJ Carvis, who went 4 innings, gave up four runs on six hits, walked three and struck out one. The Stars had four errors on the night to the Sharks two. The Stars stranded 12 runners on base to the Sharks six.

The Sharks hit the road as they travel to play division rival Florence RedWolves on both Saturday, June 5 and Monday, June 7. The Sharks then return home on Tuesday, June 8 as they take on the Columbia Blowfish for Time Warner Cable Two fer’ Tuesday and the Budweiser Party on the Patio. Fans can get two tickets, two hot dogs and two drinks for the price of one and spend an evening partying with Budweiser.