Salem drops home finale

A manufactured run in the top of the ninth inning fractured a 4-4 tie, surging the Blue Rocks into a lead that they would not relinquish in the final game of the season at LewisGale Field. Wilmington’s 5-4 victory was a byproduct of opportunistic baserunning and opposition miscues, as the Sox made three errors, including one pivotal one in the decisive ninth. Whit Merrifield drew a one-out walk from Jeremiah Bayer and advanced to second after an errant pick-off attempt skipped past first. Two wild pitches later, Merrifield touched home plate to put the Blue Rocks on top.

With the score even at two through six innings, both teams plated a pair in a wild and scary seventh, in which Salem right fielder Bryce Brentz was carted off the field after backing into the wall in pursuit of a fly ball. With Merrifield at first, Carlo Testa’s deep drive to right pushed Brentz to the track. The ball bounced off Brentz’ glove and rolled into the right-field corner, while Brentz drilled the wall, fell down, and laid motionless on the ground. Both Merrifield and Testa rounded the bases, providing Testa with an inside-the-park two-run homer. Meanwhile, Brentz remained on the ground as Salem Athletic Trainer Brandon Henry charged onto the field.

Brentz sat up, stood up on his own, and took a few steps to a cart that helped him off the field. Brentz said that he felt a very sharp pain in his back when it happened, but he appeared to be alright after the game, walking around the clubhouse with his teammates.

In the last of the seventh, Salem rallied to even the score, with Heiker Meneses bringing the spark with a one-out single, his third hit of the ballgame. Zach Gentile singled Meneses to third, and the incoming throw bounced away, allowing Meneses to score. Later in the frame, Miles Head smashed a single to center to score Gentile and tie the game at four.

Both teams made three errors, leading to four unearned runs in the ballgame, three of which were scored by Wilmington. All three Salem errors were charged to the pitchers. Starter Anthony Ranaudo made two errors, one fielding and one on an errant pick-off attempt, while Bayer’s miscue in the ninth also cost the Sox dearly.

Salem also lost third-baseman Kolbrin Vitek early in the game. Vitek aggravated an oblique injury and departed in the middle of his second at-bat. Gentile took over for Vitek with a 1-1 count in the third inning, and Gentile flew to left to end that frame.

Ranaudo dealt four innings, allowing two runs (both unearned) on three hits, while striking out six and walking four. He received a no-decision, and it was Bayer who was saddled with the setback, falling to 7-3.

The Salem Sox will take two days off before returning to the diamond on Wednesday in Winston-Salem for the final six-game road trip of the season.

Salem prevails in extras

Jorge Padron delivered a two-out, two-strike game-tying double in the bottom of the ninth, and Shannon Wilkerson’s sacrifice fly to left scored Heiker Meneses two innings later to give the Salem Sox a dramatic come-from-behind 10-9 triumph in 11 innings on Saturday night in front of 4,833 at LewisGale Field. After trailing 5-0 after three and a half, 8-6 after eight and a half, and 9-8 after ten and a half, the Sox scored two in the bottom of the 11th to send the near-capacity crowd home happy.

Scoreless through three innings, the action intensified in the fourth. Ryan Stovall and Carlo Testa each went deep off Drake Britton in a five run-frame, and the Rocks possessed a 5-0 lead. But Salem broke up Elisaul Pimentel’s shutout thanks to Meneses’ leadoff triple and an RBI single from Bryce Brentz in the bottom of the fourth. One inning later, Salem rallied for four runs to tie it up at five. Kolbrin Vitek connected for a clutch two-run single with the bases loaded, and Bryce Brentz’ slow roller to third was chucked down the right-field line, allowing two more runs to score.

In the last of the sixth, Peter Hissey drew a one-out walk, stole second, and trotted home on Josue Peley’s RBI single, surging the Sox to a 6-5 advantage. But the lead would only last until the eighth, when the Blue Rocks rallied for a pair against reliever Jordan Flasher. Travis Jones walked, moved to second on a passed ball, to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Michael Liberto’s clutch single. Two batters later, Liberto crossed on Testa’s RBI knock, boosting the Blue Rocks to a 7-6 edge.

Wilmington added one insurance run in the top of the ninth, with Nick Van Stratten scoring from second on Ryan Stovall’s fly to the warning track in right that dropped out of Brentz’ reach. In the bottom of the ninth, however, the Sox capitalized from the wildness of Blue Rocks reliever Gary Cuevas, utilizing two walks, three wild pitches, and Padron’s clutch double to score twice and send the action to extras.

After a scoreless tenth, the Blue Rocks connected for a pair of doubles from Van Stratten and Stovall to assume a 9-8 lead in the 11th, but the Red Sox rallied for a third time in the last of the frame. Derrik Gibson singled off Bryan Paukovits to start the inning, and Gibson scored all the way from first on Meneses’ sacrifice bunt that was chucked down right field line by Stovall. Meneses scooted all the way to third on the pivotal error, but remained there when Vitek grounded to short. Brentz received an intentional pass, and then Wilkerson, batting for the first time after entering as a pinch-runner in the ninth, lifted a high fly to moderate depth left field. Meneses tagged and sprinted home, beating the incoming throw from Testa, and the Sox stormed the field in celebration. One night after falling by a run with the final out being recorded at the plate, the Sox prevailed in a similar circumstance, with Meneses evading the tag as the ball skipped away from the catcher.

It was the first time all season that Salem won when trailing after eight innings. Previously, the Sox had been 0-62 in such precarious situations.

The Salem Sox wrap up their 2011 home schedule on Sunday afternoon with a 4:05 matinee against the Blue Rocks. Anthony Ranaudo is slated to take the mound for Salem opposite Wilmington’s Tyler Sample.