Morehead City was unable to extend their victorious streak to five, as they fell 4-2 to their rival Wilmington Sharks at home. The Motor Boaters are now 10-6 this summer, and the Sharks improve to 10-7.
The bats were quiet for most of the night in front of the home crowd. The offense only had two hits tonight against the six Shark pitchers. Nick Serce had an RBI double in the first inning to give Morehead City an early lead. Luke Scales had the other lone hit with a double in the second. Casey Kleinman drove in the other run for the Motorboaters in the seventh, with an unfortunate break that deflected off the pitcher and right to the shortstop for a groundout.
Drew Stegura was given the loss for the night after allowing three earned runs across four and a third innings. He was scoreless for the first four innings, but lost it late in the outing. The bullpen had a nice night working four and two third innings, while allowing just one run. The reliever duties were split between Joe Miceli, Max Weber, Tai Atkins, and Jay Allmer.
For the Sharks, Mike Stellrecht brought home the first run in the fifth with a fielder’s choice. Mac Gillespie and Tanner Leonard had a pair of RBI singles later in the inning to give Wilmington a three to one lead. Boston Smith drove in the final run for the Sharks with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Travis Lavendier earned the win for the Sharks, his third of the summer. He allowed just two hits with one run, including three walks and three strikeouts. The bullpen tossed four no hit innings to shut down the Motor Boater offense.
The Chum Bucket Challenge will continue tomorrow night, with the Sharks up two to one in the season series. The game tomorrow will be at Buck Hardee Field at 7:00 p.m.