Travis Sthele Outshines Aberdeen In 2-1 Victory For Wilmington

Wilmington, DE - The Wilmington Blue Rocks (54-73) defeated the Aberdeen IronBirds (54-72) by a final score of 2-1 on Wednesday, Sept. 3 at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium.

All was quiet for the first several innings, as Wilmington’s Travis Stehle and Aberdeen’s Boston Bateman found themselves in a pitcher’s duel. Through five frames, the Blue Rocks had five hits and the IronBirds had just three, with both starters mixing in four strikeouts.

It wasn’t for a lack of opportunity though, as the Rocks had multiple runners on in four of the first five innings but couldn’t capitalize on the scoreboard.

The scoreless tie was then broken in the sixth, as Jared McKenzie came through with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0, and Courland Lawson followed that up with an RBI single to add an insurance run and go up 2-0.

“It was just doing it together,” Lawson said. “Not a one-man team, kinda just getting on base, getting over and getting them in. It was a team effort.”

That’s where the score remained all the way until the ninth, where Stehle allowed a sacrifice fly with two outs to not just end his complete game shutout bid at 8 ⅔ innings, seven hits and seven strikeouts, but also his season.

“You come in with that [last start] in the back of your mind, and you just want to give it your all and hope for the best,” Stehle said.

“Travis is a baller, man,” Lawson said. “He’s a strike-thrower. I love playing defense behind him.”

With the victory, the Blue Rocks have tied up this six-game series at one game apiece and will look to gain the advantage tomorrow, Sept. 4 at 6:35 p.m.