Myrtle Beach Pelicans get past Wilmington Blue Rocks in extra innings

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans had a scare against the Wilmington Blue Rocks in extra innings Saturday night.

However, late-game heroics lifted the Pelicans.

After giving up two runs to the Blue Rocks in the 10th inning, Myrtle Beach scored three runs in the bottom half to take a 4-3 victory over Wilmington at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.

“It shows a lot about this team. Early in the season you always try to create an identity as a team and it’s pretty obvious the grit and the never-quit mentality we have,” first-year Pelicans manager Mark Johnson said. “Hopefully we carry it and it snowballs into a thing where you don’t quit throughout the season and you don’t quit no matter what the score is.”

That was certainly the case in extra innings Saturday.

After Jack Lopez hit an RBI triple and Frank Schwindel had two-out RBI single in the 10th inning to give the Blue Rocks a 3-1 lead, Myrtle Beach made its push.

Pelicans infielder Jeimer Candelario hit a two-RBI single to tie the game in the bottom of the 10th. Then, Caratini hit a fielder’s choice but right fielder Billy McKinney scored the game-winning run after a throw by second baseman Ramon Torres to the plate was off on a Caratini fielder’s choice to end the game.

“That just shows the grit of our team,” McKinney said. “Everyone plays together pretty well and that was a pretty impressive comeback. I’m new to this team so I’m pretty pleased with that for sure.”

After Wilmington took a two-run lead in the 10th inning, McKinney knew the Pelicans would have a shot.

“A lot of teams, they just kind of deflate; it’s pretty tough to come back from that, I’ll admit,” McKinney said. “But we started off with [Jacob] Hannemann getting a great at-bat and a walk and same as [Mark] Zagunis and we started rolling from there. It was pretty impressive to see the team fight back like we did.”

Pelicans starter Paul Blackburn struck out six in five innings and allowed one run on four hits and one walk for a no-decision. Starling Peralta gave up the two late runs to Wilmington, but picked up the win as he struck out five and allowed four hits and one walk.

Juan Paniagua struck out six and allowed no hits in three scoreless innings, which Johnson said was huge.

“[Blackburn] was OK today. He had pretty good command of his fastball early on and he had a good outing. Paniagua was outstanding, just gave us those three innings that kept us in the game,” Johnson said. “Then, Peralta got the vulture win after giving up two. He struggled a little bit with his command but we were lucky enough to pick him up there in the 10^th.”

Candelario paced the Pelicans’ offense – which had eight hits – as he went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and one run scored, and Caratini was 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Myrtle Beach was 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.

Matt Alvarez received a blown save and the loss after he gave up three runs on one hit and three walks in the 10th inning.

Meanwhile, Wilmington starter Alec Mills allowed just one run on four hits and no walks in 5 1/3 innings for a no-decision. Estarlin Cordero and Andrew Edwards combined for 3 2/3 shutout innings out of Wilmington’s bullpen.

“Their pitchers are good; granted they wouldn’t be here if they weren’t,” McKinney said of Wilmington. “They did a good job the whole game keeping us to one run and we just kind of fought to get those last three runs, which was nice.”

The Pelicans lead the series with the Blue Rocks 2-1, and will look to take the four-game series as Myrtle Beach hosts Wilmington on Sunday at 5:05 p.m.

“It’s an incredible group of guys. Just to be able to come to work and to be able to work with the guys we have here is a bonus,” Johnson said. “Any time you have a group like this, it just makes you want to come to the field every day. The guys work hard, they root for each other and everybody’s upbeat, positive and in it for the moment. It’s fun to be around every day.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2015 at 12:13 AM with the headline "Myrtle Beach Pelicans get past Wilmington Blue Rocks in extra innings."