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Wilmington, Morehead City Split Doubleheader

June 7, 2012 - Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Wilmington Sharks News Release


Wilson, N.C. - After a long day that included 14 innings of baseball, neither the Morehead City Marlins nor the Wilmington Sharks could be terribly disappointed after the two teams each won one game in a doubleheader at Buck Hardee Field.

The first game, decided by a 2-1 margin in favor of the home Sharks, opened with the Aaron Preston laser show as he made a deposit over the screen in left-center field. It was his first home run of the season, and the second by a Sharks player in as many innings at the Shark Tank after Zach Stephens walked off with a long ball on Tuesday night.

After the home run, Wilmington padded the lead. Casey Goss knocked a two-out single, then stole second and third bases before scoring the game-winning run when Andrew Valencia drove Goss in during the catcher's first at-bat in a Sharks uniform.

The lone Morehead City run came in the sixth inning, when the visitors threatened to go beyond just the one score. Geoff DeGroot smacked a one-out double, scoring on a Dalton Knight Single. Sam Ott would walk before Andrew Brockett relieved the starter, Ross Whitley, who was making his first start of the season. The Richmond sophomore induced a double-play ball to end the danger.

A break of approximately half an hour separated the end of game one from the start of game two, and that was evidently enough to wake up the Marlins' bats. The visiting team posted four runs in the third inning, ending Wilmington starter Blaze Tart's day after he finished the frame. He was charged with four runs, all earned, on six hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts in his second start.

Tart issued both of his walks in that third inning, with both scoring on Sam Ott's triple to left. Sal Annunziata followed that with a double, and he scored on the Marlins' third straight hit, a Matt Anderson single. Cole McInturff took a hit by Chad Shannon and rifled off a throw to third, throwing out Anderson who had tried to advance from first.

Additional runs in the sixth and seventh innings were only valuable to the stat sheet, with the Marlins taking a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the last frame of the doubleheader. Wilmington avoided being shut out for the first time this season as Lloyd Enzor started a rally with a double, coming around on another two-base hit by Alex Freedman. The shortstop was brought across the plate on the last in a string of three Sharks hits, a single by McInturff.

Despite the loss, Aaron Preston did provide fans with some excitement in the second inning of the nightcap. He took a one-out walk, then promptly stole second and third bases for his sixth and seventh steals in as many attempts on the year. With Zach Stephens batting, the right fielder took off for home but was tagged out by the catcher to end the inning. Had Preston successfully swiped home plate, a Sharks fan would have left with either a brand new Nissan Altima or $20,000 from the Capital Nissan Steal of a Lifetime promotion.

The Sharks hit the road for a two-game swing at Morehead City and Edenton on Friday and Saturday. The next game at Buck Hardee Field will be Monday night against the Steamers, who finished their game Thursday with a perfect 7-0 record. For more on the Sharks, visit wilmingtonsharks.com, find Sharky Sharks on Facebook and follow @ILMSharks on Twitter.

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