The top-seeded Peninsula Pilots quickly fell to the verge of elimination in the Coastal Plain League playoffs, losing 2-0 Sunday night at home to the Wilmington Sharks in Game 1 of the best-of-three East Division finals.
Game 2 is set for Monday night on the Sharks’ field in southeastern North Carolina. A Peninsula win would force Game 3 at 7 p.m. Tuesday back at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, where the playoff opener drew 2,213.
Most of them went home disappointed as Wilmington broke a 0-0 tie in the ninth inning to beat a Peninsula team that led the division in both halves of the regular season.
Starting pitchers Sam Rochard of the Pilots and Travis Lavendier of the Sharks dueled for most of the game. Rochard, a Warhill High graduate who pitched for Tennessee Wesleyan this year, gave up two hits and five walks in 6 2/3 innings. Lavendier, from Salem University in West Virginia, pitched six innings, yielding three hits and two walks while striking out three.
In the ninth, Wilmington’s Cam Suto drew a walk from reliever Cade Plummer, went to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on Cam Hassert’s sacrifice bunt.
Pilots manager Hank Morgan brought in reliever Dalton Barham, who struck out Branton Jernigan but yielded a tiebreaking single to Mike Stellrecht.
Two more singles, by Jason Culley and Drew Sturgeon, brought home the second run.
Peninsula (34-13 in the regular season) had just three hits all night, singles by Trey Morgan, Jevin Relaford and Kyle Edwards. Relievers Cade Granzow, Thomas Paxton (the winning pitcher) and Greyson Linderman each threw a hitless inning to complete the shutout for the Sharks, who were 26-19 in the regular season.
