By Will Flemming
For PotomacLocal.com
Wilmington, Del. –– Cameron Selik was outstanding over nine innings and registered the first complete game of the 2011 season for the Potomac Nationals in a 5-1 win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks.
The P-Nats belted out double-digit hits for the second straight night and have started a mini streak with their second straight win.
Selik went the full nine innings for the Nationals, did not allow an earned run and yielded only seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks. It is the first complete-game win for a Potomac pitcher since Brad Peacock went all nine last July 5th.
Potomac (20-34) fell behind on an unearned run in the third inning; Deivy Batista reached on a misplay by third baseman Justin Bloxom and scored when Rey Navarro hit a one-out grounder to second.
The Nationals tied the game in the fifth inning off Wilmington starter Noel Arguelles. A leadoff single by Sandy Leon was cashed in when Cutter Dykstra roped a double off the wall in left.
Arguelles was removed before the sixth, and the Nats seized the lead in the seventh. Selik had faced just two more than the minimum from the fourth to the sixth innings, and the Nats started the decisive inning with a J.P. Ramirez walk. After Leon popped out, Jose Lozada doubled down the right field line to give Potomac a lead it would not relinquish. Dykstra then struck again with an RBI single that edged Potomac’s lead to 3-1.
Selik (1-4) worked around a one-out double in the seventh and retired the Rocks in order in the eighth.
With two outs in the ninth, Eury Perez bunted back to the Rocks’ third pitcher of the night, Glenn Gibson. Gibson fired a bullet to first that was mishandled by John Whittleman; the error extended the inning and the Nats took advantage. Jeff Kobernus tripled off the wall in right to score the fourth run, then Hood doubled to make it 5-1.
Selik came out to pitch the ninth and retired Whittleman and Tim Ferguson. Yem Prades grounded to third but Lozada made the Nats’ second error of the game. As if magnetized to him, the ball was hit at Lozada two more times. Jose Bonilla hit a chopper off his glove that was an infield single before Alex McClure popped out to short to end the game and give Selik just the second complete-game win in the Carolina League this season.
Potomac looks to make it three in a row Saturday night at 6:05. Danny Rosenbaum locks horns with Elisaul Pimentel; the broadcast can be heard online beginning at 5:40 p.m.
Will Flemming is the Broadcasting Director for the Potomac Nationals.
