WILMINGTON, Del. (6/27) – The Wilmington Blue Rocks refused to let another early deficit define their night.
Trailing by three runs twice, Wilmington stormed back with five unanswered runs over the final three innings to defeat the Frederick Keys 8-6 Friday night at Frawley Stadium.
The deciding moment came in the bottom of the eighth inning.
After Elijah Green and Ronny Cruz reached base, Jack Moroknek hit a chopper up the middle that forced a rushed throw home from shortstop Leandro Arias. The throw sailed past the catcher, allowing both runners to score and giving Wilmington the lead. Although Moroknek was not credited with RBIs because of the error, his at-bat proved to be the difference.
“You can help the team any way you can,” Moroknek said. “When it gets down to those last innings, it’s winning time. It doesn’t really matter what the stat book says. Just trying to put the ball in play and make good things happen.”
Moroknek’s impact stretched well beyond the go-ahead play. He drove in two runs with a first-inning single and played a role in four of Wilmington’s eight runs.
The Blue Rocks also received another strong effort from their bullpen.
Jacob Roberts delivered two scoreless innings while striking out two to earn his first win with Wilmington. The outing extended his scoreless streak to 9 2/3 innings dating back to June 10. Yeuris Jimenez followed with a perfect ninth inning to record his third save of the season.
“It gives me confidence knowing that the guys behind me play such good defense and make such good plays,” Roberts said. “The offense put up eight runs today. It felt like everyone had my back today.”
Interim manager Mitchell Boe praised Roberts for stabilizing the game after Wilmington leaned heavily on its bullpen the previous night.
“Jacob [Roberts] was pretty awesome,” Boe said. “He filled it up from the start. We emptied the tank last night, so those guys needed to step up in a big way, and they did. They kept us in it.”
Frederick once again struck first, scoring three runs in the opening inning behind Victor Figueroa’s two-run home run. Wilmington answered immediately when Moroknek lined a two-run single up the middle to cut the deficit to one.
Blue Rocks starter Eriq Swan, making his second rehab appearance with Wilmington from Double-A Harrisburg, settled in after the rocky first inning. The right-hander struck out five over three innings and prevented the Keys from pulling further away.
After Ronny Cruz tied the game with an RBI double in the fourth, Frederick regained control with three runs across the fifth and sixth innings, highlighted by Colin Tuft’s two-run home run.
Once again, Wilmington answered.
Angel Feliz lifted a sacrifice fly before Elijah Green dropped an RBI single into center to trim the deficit to 6-5. An inning later, Teo Banks stole third base and raced home on a wild pitch to even the score, setting the stage for Wilmington’s game-winning eighth inning.
Cruz led the offense with three hits, while Green and Banks each collected two. The Blue Rocks finished with nine hits and drew 10 walks, consistently putting pressure on Frederick’s pitching staff throughout the night.
“It’s awesome,” Boe said. “They’re never out of ball games. They never feel like they’re out of ball games and their fight is freaking awesome. It’s awesome to watch.”
The Blue Rocks will look to extend their winning streak to three games Saturday night at Frawley Stadium.
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