WILMINGTON, DE (6/25/26) — Wilmington Blue Rocks won, 9-8, against the Frederick Keys in 13 innings, Thursday night at Frawley Stadium.
Wilmington win the third game of the series and improve to 35-35 overall, and 4-2 in the second half. The Blue Rocks now sit tied for first in the South Atlantic League North Division. Frederick improves to 45-25 overall, 4-2 in the second half, and sit in first place with Wilmington.
After being held scoreless for the first 27 innings of the series, the Blue Rocks finally broke through in unforgettable fashion.
Trailing in the bottom of the ninth 5-0, Wilmington scored five runs to tie up the game and send it to extra innings. The comeback was completed when Elijah Green got underneath a fly ball just enough to score Jacob Walsh and give the Blue Rocks the win.
Not only is this the Blue Rocks first game of the series but it’s Defensive Coach Mitchell Boe’s first ever managerial win. He’s stepping while manager Ted Tom is on leave.
"Wow, it's really cool," Boe said. "My parents were telling me to take a moment and take it all in, and I don't think I really had until this moment right here. It was an awesome and fun way to do it."
The comeback started with Walsh. With a runner on and no outs the lefty crushed a ball to deep right field for a two-run homer to give the Blue Rocks a lifeline. It was Walsh’s first homer with Wilmington since his promotion earlier this month.
After him two runners came on for Teo Banks, the nine hole hitter, who ripped a line drive right back up the middle for a two-RBI base hit to cut Frederick’s lead down to 5-4.
Then stepped up No. 1 prospect Eli Willits who smacked a line drive into right bringing home Randal Diaz and tying the game at five runs a piece.
"We were just trying to take it one at-bat, one step at a time," Walsh said. "We have a lot of really good guys around me, and that makes it a lot easier."
However, the Keys refused to go away, taking leads in the 10th, 11th, and 12th innings and every time Wilmington found a way to extend the game just a bit longer.
The Keys took the lead back in the 10th on a Colin Yeaman RBI single, then Angel Feliz answered in the bottom half with an infield single that was followed by a throwing error, that allowed Elijah Nunez to score the tying run.
A wild pitch gave Frederick a 7-6 lead in the 11th, but Elijah Green came around to score on Caleb Farmer's RBI single to left field to even the game once again.
Another wild pitch put the Keys ahead 8-7 in the 12th before Willits stole third base and later scored when catcher Ryan Stafford's throw sailed into left field on a strikeout, knotting the score at 8-8 and extending the game yet again.
"Knowing the situation with first and third and nobody out, I knew they were trying to get someone to hit the ball on the ground," Green said. "I was just looking for something up so I could hit the ball in the air."
Before the comeback it looked like Wilmington would suffer their third loss in a row and their third loss without scoring a run. Keys starter J.T. Quinn dominated through a career high six and two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball. The righty allowed just two hits and struck out five batters in the process. He earned a no decision in Thursday’s contest.
The win was Wilmington’s largest comeback of the season and snapped a 27 inning scoreless streak that started back on Sunday afternoon’s win against the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Blue Rocks play again Friday night at 6:35 p.m. and Mikey Tepper is the probable starter.