Final from Friday night at downtown Greensboro’s First National Bank Field:
Wilmington Blue Rocks 3, Greensboro Grasshoppers 2
WP:Alex Troop(4-0)
LP:Will Kobos(2-1)
SV:Matt Cronin(1)
Hoppers(11-11)/Rocks(11-11)
Rocks' line: 3-8-1 Hoppers' line:2-7-2
Hoppers’ hitters:Matt Frazier 1-3/BB…Matt Gorski 1-4/Double…Aaron Shackleford 1-4/HR/Run/RBI…LoLo Sanchez 2-4/Double/Run…Jared Triolo 1-4/Double…Grant Koch 1-3/BB…Jack Herman 0-2/BB…
Blue Rocks’ hitters:Armond Upshaw 0-4/HBP/Run…Justin Connell 1-4/BB…Jake Alu 2-4/Double/BB/2 RBI…Israel Pineda 1-4/BB…Omar Meregildo 0-3/BB…Kyle Marinconz 1-4…Gage Canning 1-3/HR/Run/RBI/HBP…Gilbert Lara 2-4/Run…
Sixteen(16) strikeouts tonight/Friday night for the Greensboro Grasshoppers pitching staff…Seven K’s from the Hoppers’ starter, Michael Burrows, and he was followed by Will Kobos, with six strikeouts, and then the finisher on the hill, Austin Roberts, struck out three Blue Rocks batters….
Will Kobos was a tough luck loser for the Hoppers….Kobos on was the mound pitching in the seventh inning, with the Hoppers leading the Blue Rocks, 2-1, and Wilmington was saddled with two outs, so Kobos was one out away from being out of the 7th inning, and then the Rocks’ Gilbert Lara reaches base on a single, and you have one man on, with two men gone for Wilmington, and then Armond Upshaw hits a ground ball up the middle and it goes right to the Hoppers’ shortstop Liover Peguero, who is playing right behind the second base bag, in a shift, and all Peguero has to is field the ground ball and touch the second base bag, and he is right beside the second base bag, and that would get Gilbert Lara on the force at second base, and the Hoppers would be out of the top of the inning and be on their way to the dugout to come hit at the plate….
But not here on this one, because the baseball goes right through Peguero’s glove and the ball rolls into center field, and everyone is safe for the Wilmington Blue Rocks…A very untimely error on the Hoppers’ Peguero, and it was his second error of the game, and this was his first game back with the team, after being on the injured list for around two weeks….
The error allowed the Blue Rocks to stay at the plate and they made the most of their ‘Golden Parachute’…After a walk to the Rocks’ Justin Connell, Jake Alu sends a line shot hit down the right side for a two-out, two-run single, and that made the score, Wilmington Blue Rocks 3, Greensboro Grasshoppers 2, and the Hoppers would never recover on this Friday night, and they would go on to lose this game, by the 3-2 score….
The Hoppers were leading 2-1, and they should have been running back the dugout, but they gave up the error, and they had to stay on the field, and as luck would have, or as the lack of luck would have it, Armond Upshaw reached base safely there in the seventh inning, and he came around to score on that two-out, two-run single to right field by Jake Alu….
What you going to do, what you going to do??? When you get beat on a hit by Alu…..There is nothing you can do, but take your punishment/pain/medicine like a man, and then show them what you can do the next night/Saturday night….
On Friday, continued solid work by LoLo Sanchez at the plate, going 2-4, with his Double and a run scored….Also the left-handed hitting second baseman Aaron Shackleford connected on his sixth home run of the season, and his RBI total climbed to 12, after the Solo HR shot by Shack….
Friday Night…..
Attendance:2,881
Time of Game/TOG-3:19
Great effort by the Hoppers’ pitching staff on Friday night, and let’s hope they get that same effort from the staff on Saturday night…On Saturday you’ll see LHP Omar Cruz going for the Hoppers and the Blue Rocks will counter with their RHP, Cade Cavalli…