| Wilmington Sharks: Week in Review |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 11 June 2008 08:10 |
|
The Wilmington Sharks snagged their first three wins of the season this past week. Let’s take a look back at the week.
Wilmington 2 – Edenton 1 Starting pitcher Bryant Gaines and new comer Ryan Vander Tuig held the visiting Edenton Steamers to just one run on three hits to deliver the win. It was a good night at Buck Hardee field as the Sharks got plenty of pitching and defense and just enough offense to pick up the 2-1 win, their first of the 08 Coastal Plain League season. The Sharks scored two runs in the bottom of the 6th inning, but the real story tonight was the way the Sharks held the Steamers offense in check. Gaines made his first start for the Sharks, throwing seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits, walking two. Vander Tuig, who flew into Wilmington less than 2 hours before game time, nailed down the save. He went two innings allowing just two baserunners. Vander Tuig struck out the last Steamer of the night to put an exclamation on the Sharks first win. The scoring started for Wilmington in the bottom of the sixth when Justice French reached on a error by the shortstop. He was moved to second on a ground out, then came home on a clutch two out single by Matt Kirchner. Another Steamer error put Kirchner on third and he came home on a single by Mike Alvarez. That turned out to be all the offense the Sharks would need. Wilmington 7 – Fayetteville 15 The Sharks offense couldn’t keep up with the Fayetteville bats as the Swampdogs used a seven run third to beat the Sharks 15-7. In his second start for the Sharks, Eric Callender turned in a strong seven innings, giving up just one run on three hits and striking out four. Relievers Matt Patterson and Cory Burgess turned in two scoreless innings to secure the win for the Sharks. Wilmington used a pair of two run innings to move their record to 2-5 on the season. Two runs in the first came when Matt Kirchner was hit by the pitch to lead off the game. A single by Neal Pritchard put runners at 1st and 2nd when Mike Alvarez laced a ball down the left field line that drove in two. After a Fayetteville run in the 4th, the score stood at 2-1 going into the bottom of the 6th. Again a hit batsmen got things started when Alvarez was plunked. Back to back singles by John Nester and Cory Lyda brought home 2 runs. Behind Sharks pitching the Wilmington infielders turned three double plays to keep the Swampdogs in check. The most spectacular of the three coming in the 9th when shortstop Neal Pritchard made a strong throw to get the second out at first despite being taken out on a hard slide. Wilmington 4 – Fayetteville 1 The Sharks bounced back from a rough loss a night earlier in Fayetteville to beat the Swampdogs 4-1 at the Shark Tank. In his second start for the Sharks, Eric Callender turned in a strong seven innings, giving up just one run on three hits and striking out four. Relievers Matt Patterson and Cory Burgess turned in two scoreless innings to secure the win for the Sharks. Wilmington used a pair of two run innings to move thier record to 2-5 on the season. Two runs in the first came when Matt Kirchner was hit by the pitch to lead off the game. A single by Neal Pritchard put runners at 1st and 2nd when Mike Alvarez laced a ball down the left field line that drove in two. After a Fayetteville run in the 4th, the score stood at 2-1 going into the bottom of the 6th. Again a hit batsmen got things started when Alvarez was plunked. Back to back singles by John Nester and Cory Lyda brought home 2 runs. Behind Sharks pitching the Wilmington infielders turned three double plays to keep the Swampdogs in check. The most spectacular of the three coming in the 9th when shortstop Neal Pritchard made a strong throw to get the second out at first despite being taken out on a hard slide. Wilmington 9 – Wilson 5 Multiple three run innings fueled a 9-5 Wilmington win against the Wilson Tobs Sunday night. The Shark scoring attack started early. With one out in the first Bobby Leeper, playing in his first game as a Shark, reached on an error. He moved to third when David Shambley doubled. With just one down Mikel Alvarez lofted a sacrifice to left to score Leeper. After a two out single by Cory Lyda brought Alvarez home, Kolby Eply sent a double to right sending Lyda around third trying to score from first. The throw beat Lyda to the plate catching him between third and home. During the rundown Lyda collided with the Wilson catcher, interference was called, and Lyda's run put Wilmington up 3-0 after one half inning. After giving two runs back to Wilson in the first, starting pitcher Ryan Vander Tuig held the Tobs down until the fifth when Tobs right fielder Jerry Sands picked up a two out, two run single. Vander Tuig limited the damage getting a strike-out to end the inning with Wilson leading 4-3. The Sharks answered right back, scoring three more in the top of the 6th to retake the lead. A triple from Shambley started things. Alvarez singled him home a batter later. Lyda singled in front of Justice French who tied the ball game with the second of his two hits on the night. With Lyda on third and one down Ben Kline gave the Sharks the lead for good with a sacrifice fly to center. John Nester put an exclamation point on the win in the ninth with a bases loaded three run double to give the Sharks their highest run total of the season so far. Nester (1-2, 2B, 3RBI) Shambley (3-4, 2B, 3B, 3R) and Alvarez (2-5, 2R, 1RBI) led the Shark scoring attack. Vander Tuig picked up his first win of the season going five and one third innings giving up four earned runs, striking out four. Tyler White came in to nail down the save allowing just three baserunners through his three and two thirds innings while striking out three. Wilmington 8 – Columbia 1 The Sharks struck for an early run in Columbia when Cory Lyda (Presbyterian) doubled with one out in the first. He moved to third on a pass ball and scored when David Shambley grounded out. The Blowfish tied the score in the third but the Sharks took the lead back the next inning. Shambley reached on an error with one out, then was doubled home one batter later by John Nester. The scoring continued in the next inning when Neal Pritchard doubled and was brought home on a triple to right by Bobby Leeper (UNC-Wilmington). Leeper's triple was the fourth of six extra base hits on the night for the Sharks. After Leeper scored on a pass ball, Lyda got things started again with a single. He scored from second one batter later when Mike Alvarez (Florida Gulf Coast) singled. The Sharks led 5-1 after five innings. The Sharks would add three more runs in the 7th when Alvarez doubled to drive in Lyda and Eply who had reached on an error and a walk. After moving to third on a ground out, Alvarez scored the 8th run of the night for the Sharks on a Ben Kline single. Starter Dan Gerjets picked up the win to move his record to 1-0. He was helped out by excellent defense behind him including two of the Sharks three double plays on the night. The catcher Nester cut down two batters trying to steal and right fielder Jarred Jimenez also got into the defensive swing of things throwing out two runners. Jarred Miller worked three innings of scoreless relief to close out the Blowfish and move the Sharks record to 4-5 on the '08 season. Wilmington 1 – Florence 4 The Sharks managed just three hits and one run as they lost 4-1 to the Redwolves Tuesday night. All four Florence runs came in the first three innings off of starter Bryant Gaines(North Carolina). It started in the first when Gaines walked the lead off man then gave up a double one batter later. A sacrifice fly made it 2-0 Florence after one. After giving up a single run in both the second and third, Gaines retired thirteen consecutive batters, pitching his way into the eighth inning. Gaines went seven full innings giving up four runs on eight hits, walking just one. Right hander Kyle Deese came on in relief and pitched a scoreless frame allowing just a walk. At the plate the only spark for the Sharks came off of John Nester's bat. The first baseman took a ball deep into the trees behind the left field wall for his, and the Sharks, first home run of the season. Redwolves starter Andre Benjamine threw a complete game, striking out six, walking just one. |
