A blown save in the ninth, dreary conditions and an abysmal start to the season didn’t stop the Wilmington Blue Rocks from pulling out their first win of the season. A walk-off RBI double to left field by Brandon Pimentel cemented the final score of 4-3 over the Hub City Spartenburgers and improved the Blue Rocks record to 1-5 on the season. 

Wilmington held a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning before Hub City’s Anthony Gutierrez scored on a double play ball to knot the game up at one. Neither team scored another run in their respective halves of the inning, sending the game to extras. After both teams tallied a run in the 10th and Hub City went up 3-2 in the top of the 11th, Wilmington was staring down the real possibility of an 0-6 start to the season.

After an Elijah Green single advanced the ghost runner to 3rd, Caleb Lomavita singled to right field to tie the game up at three. That brought up Pimentel to the plate, who lined a bullet over the left fielder’s head to give Wilmington the win before being mobbed by his teammates as he pulled into second base.

“It felt great,” Pimentel said. “It was a long night, but I was trying to stay in there, lock in and just battle. Got a pitch and I was able to drive it.”

Blue Rocks manager Jake Lowery was pleased with the fight his team showed to battle back and pull out the extra-inning victory. 

“One of the biggest things we talk about is if we lose games, we lose games but we’re not beating ourselves up like we did the last couple games,” Lowery said. “Tonight we had our chance to execute and we executed throughout the game, especially late in the game. But the thing was we weren’t beating ourselves up in the field or walking guys.”

The extra-inning festivities overshadowed the pitcher’s duel that unfolded during the first five innings. Making his home debut, the No. 5 ranked Nationals prospect Alex Clemney turned in a spectacular performance, using his overpowering fastball and a nasty slider to strike out a career-high 10 batters while allowing just four base runners. In addition, Clemney struck out six consecutive hitters and seven of the first eight batters he faced.

“Night and day difference between this start and last start,” Lowery said. “He was filling up the zone, really good pace of play and putting the pitchers in tough counts. He was able to execute his pitches so it was great.”

Hub City’s starter Paul Bonzagni also had a great outing, as the No. 24 ranked Rangers prospect fanned seven Blue Rocks while scattering just four hits and allowing one run over five innings pitched. 

The game marked the halfway point of the six-game series against Hub City, as the teams have three more games to play in their six game series. The next game will be played on Friday, where Wilmington will look to make it back-to-back wins. 

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