Final Score from Thursday Night at First National Bank Field:
Wilmington Blue Rocks 9, Greensboro Grasshoppers 5
(This is our Fred Anderson Toyota of Raleigh Game Report.)
WP:Bryan Polanco(4-1)/LP:Owen Kellington(2-2)
Blue Rocks' Line- 9-12-0 Grasshoppers' Line-5- 8-2
Hoppers fall to (37-23) with the loss, and the Rocks improve to (28-31) with the victory…Hoppers now fall a Game-and-a-Half Back of the Frederick Keys(37-20), with one week left in the First Half of the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division…Next Thursday, June 18, the SALLY League First Half, will come to a close….The Frederick Keys were 3-2 winners over the Brooklyn Cyclones, on Thursday night…
Tonight’s/Thursday night’s game seemed like one of those games that the Hoppers let slip through their grasp…The Hoppers trailed 2-0 to the Rocks, then the Grasshoppers cut the Blue Rocks lead to 2-1, then the Hoppers fell behind, 4-1, before they rallied with 4 runs in the Bottom of the Seventh Innings, to lead 5-4, over the Wilmington Blue Rocks…Hoppers up 5-4, and you feel that Hoppers Win, Hoppers Win, Hoppers Win Again feeling coming over you, but the Rocks squelched that fun feeling, when the Blue Rocks posted 4 Runs in the Top of the Ninth Inning, to snatch it all away from the Grasshoppers, and the Rocks rolled on to their 9-5 victory…Rocks tied it all up, with a run in the eighth, and it was 5-5, before we saw the Rocks drive that Four-Nailer into the Greensboro Grasshoppers’ coffin, and we were dead to rights, on the local landscape of This Season of the Summer, in the SALLY…..
That 5-4 lead was LOOOOOOOOONG Gone, and so were the Hoppers chances for that Win on Thursday….The Grasshoppers got their first taste of scoring, as Easton Carmichael homered for the tenth time this season, when Carmichael had his Solo Shot to center, in the Sixth Inning…Yordany De Los Santos had a Three-Run HR in the Seventh Inning, and Murf Gray followed up De Los Santos homer, with his own blast, a Solo Long Goner, in that Seventh Inning…Home Run by Gray was his 9th as a Hoppers this season, and he has now been with the team, for about 4 weeks…
Looking back on the game, the Hoppers had that 5-4 lead, but could not put the Rocks away, and the Blue Rocks would just not lay down, and go to bed easy on this Thursday night…The Three-Run HR by Eli Willits in the Ninth Inning was big for the Rocks, as was the ground ball by the first batter for Wilmington in that Ninth Inning, and that was Randall Diaz…Diaz hit a hard ground ball along the left side of the infield, near the baseline at Third Base…Hoppers’ third baseman for the night, Yordany De Los Santos tried to field the hot-smash grounder and it got past De Los Santos, and the ball traveled on down to the left field corner, where it rolled around some, and the runner/batter Diaz for the Rocks, rounded the bases and touched them all, for sort of like an old fashioned Inside the Park Home Run…But, De Los Santos at third base defensively, was charged with the Error, and it was a run scored by Diaz, off of De Los Santos’ error…Interesting Play…About time to bring back in the Row-Row-Row Your Boat Home Run Call….AKA Will Mattheison from back in the day….
For the night, the Hopper Hitters were going like this:Murf Gray 2-3/HR/2 BBs/Run/RBI…Murf Gray was our REMAX Revolution Player of the Game…Jhonny Severino went 2-4/SB…Yordany De Los Santos was 1-5/HR/Run/3 RBI…Easton Carmichael goes 1-3/2 BBs/HR/Run/RBI…Josh Tate went 1-4/Run…Sammy Stafura goes 1-4…
The Grasshoppers pitching staff walked 8 Rocks, and they also struck out 8 Rocks….The Hoppers’ starting pitcher, Carlson Reed, pitched well enough to get the Win, as the righty Reed went 5 Innings, giving up only 1 Run, on 5 Hits, with 3 BBs/5 Ks, and he gave up a Solo Home Run, to the Rocks’ Elijah Green, and the HR was Green’s 10th of the season….Hoppers’ Losing Pitcher, Owen Kellington facing Wilmington, goes 1 1/3 Innings, allowing 4 Runs, on 3 Hits, with 0 BBs/2 Ks, and he gave up the Three-Run Home Run, to Eli Willits in the Ninth Inning…
The Winning Pitcher for the Rocks, Bryan Polanco, worked 3 Innings, and he gave up 4 Runs, on 4 Hits, and walked 2 Hoppers, and he struck out 5…Blue Rocks’ starting pitcher, Yoel Tejeda went 5 1/3 Innings, giving up 1 Run, on 3 Hits, with 2 BBs/5 Ks, and he gave up the Solo HR, to the Hoppers’ Easton Carmichael…
Top Blue Rock Hitters were, Elijah Green, who went 2-5/Solo HR…Yeremy Cabrera goes 2-5/BB/Run/RBI…Caleb Farmer was 2-4, with a Double for the Rocks, and Eli Willits was 1-4/HR/BB/2 Runs/3 RBI…Three-Run Home Run for Willits, and that was his Third HR in the past two days…
Seems like overall, the Rocks were better than the Hoppers on this night/in this game, but I still feel the Hoppers have the better team, when all parts are clicking together…New Hopper players this week, with Josh Tate and Dylan Palmer coming in here, from the Bradenton Marauders…
Shalin Polancao, Carlos Caro, and Connor Oliver are the Hoppers that got the callup to the Altoona Curve this week…The Rocks have had quite a few callups this week too…Eli Willits, Jacob Walsh, Jack Moroknk and others up this week for Wilmington…
Good to see former News and Record writer, and Greensboro Grasshoppers’ writer Bill Hass at the ballpark on Thursday evening…Bill wrote Bill on Baseball for the Hoppers’ website for many years/seasons, and he also broadcast Hoppers games with us on radio, and on the net, at GSOHoppers.com…Bill a very big local baseball contributor from back in the day, and he was at the game on Thursday night, with his wife Anne, and it was their first game for the 2026 season…Again, good to see Bill Hass, at the ole ballyard on Thursday night, and even better to be able to go talk to him a bit too, before the game got underway….
Game Details:
Attendance-3,327
Time of Game-3:00
Game Time Temp-92 Degrees and that’s HOT…
Up Next:Wilmington Blue Rocks(21-38) at the Greensboro Grasshoppers(37-23) on Friday night, at First National Bank Field, with the First Pitch due in, at 7pm…7pm start times for the Friday night games, and their will be a Fireworks Show coming up, after the completion of the Friday night baseball game, with the Hoppers and the Rocks…Be sure to join us, and remember you can Listen In, and Join Us Live, when you CLICK HERE for GSOHoppers.com…
**********Game Report on Thursday night, with Hoppers versus Rocks, from Callie Cline, at www.gsohoppers.com**********
Grasshoppers Drop 9-5 Decision to Blue Rocks
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Greensboro Grasshoppers fell to the Wilmington Blue Rocks, 9-5, on Thursday, June 11. With the loss, Greensboro moved to 37-23 on the season, while Wilmington improved to 28-31. The Blue Rocks outhit the Grasshoppers 12-8, and Greensboro committed two errors.
Infielder Murf Gray paced the Grasshoppers’ offense, going 2-for-3 with a home run, one RBI, and one run scored. Jhonny Severino added a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. Additional hits for Greensboro came from Yordany De Los Santos, Easton Carmichael, Sammy Stafura, and Josh Tate.
Wilmington was led offensively by catcher Caleb Farmer, who went 2-for-4 with a double. Outfielder Yeremy Cabrera followed with a 2-for-5 effort, driving in one run and scoring once. Additional hits for the Blue Rocks were recorded by Elijah Green (2), Eli Willits, Ronny Cruz, Jacob Walsh, Jack Moroknek, Randal Diaz, and Teo Banks.
Right-handed pitcher Carlson Reed made the start for Greensboro, striking out five over five innings while allowing five hits, one earned run, and three walks. Owen Kellington was charged with the loss and fell to 2-2 on the season. Yulian Quintana was credited with a blown save, his second of the year.
Wilmington starter Tejeda Jr. tossed 5.1 innings, striking out five while surrendering three hits, one earned run, and two walks. Bryan Polanco earned the victory to improve to 4-1 on the season, while Yeuris Jimenez recorded his fifth hold of the year.
The Grasshoppers continue their homestand against the Wilmington Blue Rocks tomorrow, Friday June 12 at 7:00PM. To purchase tickets to any home Grasshoppers game please call 336-268-2255 or visit gsohoppers.com.
Thursday’s Results from the South Atlantic League:
WIL 9, GBO 5
JS 8, HV 7
HCS 8, ASH 7
FRE 3, BRK 2
WS 9, GVL 1
ROM 8, BG 7
Friday’s Games
Frederick @ Brooklyn 6:40 PM ET
Winston-Salem @ Greenville 6:45 PM ET
Wilmington @ Greensboro 7:00 PM ET
Jersey Shore @ Hudson Valley 7:05 PM ET
Asheville @ Hub City 7:05 PM ET
Rome @ Bowling Green 7:35 PM ET
South Atlantic League Standings:
SALLY North
Frederick(37-20)
Greensboro Grasshoppers(37-23) Game and a-Half Back
Wilmington(28-31) 10 Games Back
Hudson Valley(27-32) 11 Games Back
Brooklyn(23-36) and Jersey Shore(23-36) Both 15 Games Back
SALLY South
Bowling Green(42-17)
WS Dash(34-26) 8 ½ Games Back
Rome(32-27) 10 Games Back
Hub City(30-29) 12 Games Back
Greenville(24-33) 17 Games Back
Asheville(16-43) 26 Games Back
Pittsburgh Pirates System/Organization:
Single A Bradenton Marauders(28-31)…
Double A Altoona Curve(25-35)…Lost Thursday, 4-0, to Chesapeake…LP:Matt Ager(2-1)..Titus Dumitru and Ivan Brethowr both 1-3, while Omar Alfonzo and Javier Rivas went 1-4…Tough loss on Thursday for the Greensboro North Team…Got shutout, and got out-hit, 10-4…Connor Oliver on the hill today for Altoona vs. Chesapeake(25-34) @ 6pm…
Triple A Indianapolis Indians(27-39)..Won 11-6 over Columbus on Thursday…Enmanuel Valdez 2-4/HR/BB/3 Runs/3 RBI…Nick Cimillo 2-3/Double/BB/2 Runs/RBI…Derek Berg 2-4/HR/Run/3 RBI…WP:Hunter Burrows(2-0)
MLB Pittsburgh Pirates(35-34)….Pirates lost 8-6 to the LA Dodgers on Thursday…Nick Gonzales 2-5/Run…Jared Triolo 1-4…Brandon Bidois went an Inning and a-Third on the hill for Pirates with 1 BB/1 K…Today it is Miami(34-35) at the Pirates(35-34) @ 6:40pm..Braxton Ashcraft(5-3) throwing for the Pirates…