The Wilmington Blue Rocks’ pitching never found its footing in a game where they lost 8-5 to the Brooklyn Cyclones on Thursday, Aug. 15.

Riley Cornelio, who has mostly struggled this season, started on the mound against Brooklyn. Up to this point, he has a 5.90 ERA, due in large part to the fact that he’s had trouble consistently putting together quality starts.

Cornelio gave up two hard-hit balls early in the game to William Lugo and Christian Pregent, which allowed one runner to score. But those two hard-hit balls were over the plate, something his manager, Mario Lisson, wants to see more of from the 24-year-old.

“Attacking the hitters,” Lisson said. “He gets in trouble too much deep into counts because he falls behind. To be successful, he is going to have to attack hitters.”

Cornelio gave up one more hard-hit ball which resulted in a double for Lugo and a second run crossing the plate.

Despite not having his best stuff throughout the game, Cornelio battled during this start. He walked five batters but was able to work his way out of many messy situations. It was a start where every time he took a step back, he would take two steps forward.

“Just understanding the reality of the situation,” Cornelio said. “They had good takes and got some good calls. I just had to try to keep pitching well. The defense played really well behind me, so there’s no reason not to fill up the strike zone. Sometimes you lose it; tonight was a night where I did it more than other nights.”

Cornelio exited with the game tied and gave his team a chance to win.

The disaster inning for the Rocks occurred in the sixth when Chance Huff came in and simply could not find a way to get an out. Huff only retired one batter and gave up six runs, which all but ended any chance Wilmington had to come away with the win. The inning initially started with back-to-back errors by the Rocks, which ultimately led to Omar De Los Santos hitting a long three-run home run.

“He [Huff] needs to be more aggressive,” Lisson said. “He did get unlucky with the errors to start the inning, unfortunately.”

Even though the Blue Rocks’ pitching was shaky throughout the game, their offense was quite the opposite.

One standout player was T.J. White, who recorded the first RBI of the opening frame on a groundout. His big contribution, however, came in the bottom of the third when he hit a rocket over the right field wall for his eleventh home run of the season. This particular long ball was against a righty pitcher; all of the switch hitter’s home runs have come against right-handers. Unfortunately, White’s homer was the last time Wilmington had a lead in the game.

“He’s in a good spot; we really hope he continues that going forward,” Lisson said.

In the bottom of the eighth, a Marcus Brown base hit plated two more runs for the Rocks. Brown, who struggled at the beginning of the year, has found his rhythm as of late in the form of barreling the ball more often and getting harder contact. With the recent call-up of Phillip Glasser, Brown will be seeing more playing time in the infield. 

“He is gonna get his reps,” Lisson said. “His reach has been solid for us as well, the more he does that the more at-bats he will get.”

After this loss, it does not look like Wilmington has a chance to make the South Atlantic League playoffs. However, the team is still looking to finish the season with positive momentum to carry into next season.

“Just to finish the season healthy,” Cornelio said. “I also want to win as much as we can; I think that is everyone’s goal at the end of the day. We are really close. We will keep stringing good games together to get there.”

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