Wilmington downs Hub City in extra innings
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The first game of the series between Hub City and Wilmington featured plenty of zeros. In a contest devoid of offense until extras, the Blue Rocks (25-33) beat the Spartanburgers (30-28) by a 2-1 final score in 11 innings. Both teams were scoreless until the final frame.
Hub City starter Leandro Lopez was strong through 5 2/3 innings, racking up seven strikeouts and keeping Wilmington from reaching third base. The Dominican righty allowed three hits and four walks. Lopez retired seven straight batters from the third through fifth. His opposite, left-hander Jackson Kent, was even better, spinning six scoreless innings and only throwing 71 pitches.
The Spartanburgers used relievers Seth Clark and Mailon Felix to bridge the gap from Lopez to extras. Clark struck out three of the four batters he faced. Felix dodged a pair of hits in the final two frames of regulation. It was a one-man show out of the bullpen for Wilmington. Erik Tolman set down all nine batters he faced in relief of Kent.
Keith Jones II had the only hit of the first 10 innings for the Spartanburgers. In extras, Wilmington scored two runs in the top of the 11th against Wilian Bormie (L, 1-5): automatic runner Gavin Dugas touched the plate on Sam Petersen's RBI double, and Petersen came home on a Caleb Lomavita knock.
Defensively, Quincy Scott showed off his arm in center field with two outfield assists, including one to end the top of the 11th. The Spartanburgers picked up a pair of hits from Gleider Figuereo and Scott in the bottom half. Figuereo drove in the automatic runner, Anthony Gutierrez. Wady Mendez ran for Figuereo and reached third with two outs on the Scott hit. Miguel Gomez (W, 1-0) struck out pinch-hitter Luis Marquez to strand the tying run at third.
Hub City and Wilmington match up for the second game of the series Wednesday. Spartanburgers RHP Aidan Curry (2-1, 5.28 ERA) will toss the first pitch at 6:35 p.m. ET. The Blue Rocks counter with Travis Sthele (3-2, 4.37 ERA).
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Wake Forest senior wins Juli Inkster Award, gains priceless mentorship and a 'second mom'
Wake Forest senior wins Juli Inkster Award, gains priceless mentorship and a 'second mom' It's difficult to put a price on what winning the Inkster Award is truly worth. There's the obvious $50,000 cash prize that, in the case of of 2025 winner Carolina Lopez-Chacarra, will help pay for LPGA Q-School. But the experience of two LPGA starts – this week's Meijer LPGA Classic and The Standard Portland Classic later this summer – can't be measured. Neither can the invaluable mentorship of LPGA of Famer Juli Inkster, who takes each winner on a retreat to answer questions these young players don't even know to ask. The mentorship starts with the first congratulatory phone call and never ends. "I'm building a little family," said 64-year-old Inkster of her relationships with past winners. "It's so fun." The Inkster Award is given to the highest-ranked Division I golfer in her final year of eligibility. It's reserved for seniors because Inkster is a "big team player" who values loyalty and a four-year degree. With so many players leaving school early to turn pro, Inkster wanted to add an incentive to stay. Workday, the award's presenting sponsor, backed it financially. Past winners include LPGA rookies Ingrid Lindblad (2024) and Jenny Bae (2023). "I honestly think she's just going to help me with everything," said Wake Forest's Lopez-Chacarra, who recently tied for 36th at the U.S. Women's Open at Erin Hills. "I'm lucky enough to have her here. Going to treat her as my second mom basically. I don't know if she's ready for that." Lopez-Chacarra finished her senior year ranked sixth nationally, winning twice last season. This week's Meijer marks her first non-major LPGA start, and she remains an amateur. The award also guarantees Lopez-Chacarra a spot in the second stage of LPGA Qualifying (allowing her to skip the first), held Oct. 15-18 at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Florida. Inkster won 17 times during her decorated career at San Jose State (1979-1982). She'd go on to win 31 LPGA titles, including seven majors, and play her way into the LPGA Hall of Fame. "Going from college golf where everything is done for you, when to practice, how to travel, what to wear, to going to the LPGA and now you're all by yourself," said Inkster. "I just wanted to be there for them. I've been on the low side, the high side, I've had kids. You know, I feel like I've done it all. So there is really not a question that I can't answer."
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Chaminade-Madonna WR Jasen Lopez focused on playing football, basketball in college
HOLLYWOOD — Jasen Lopez is one of the premier multi-sport athletes in the state. The Chaminade-Madonna rising senior wide receiver/point guard showcased his skills in both sports the past week. He hit a game-winning buzzer-beater in front of college coaches on May 18, then scored the first touchdown of the Lions' spring scrimmage on May 19. Advertisement Lopez plans to play both sports in college. 'It's pretty important to me and my family,' Lopez said of playing football and basketball at the next level. 'It's something I've been doing since I've been a little kid. … That's a big opportunity, and it's something I'm looking forward to doing.' Ranked No. 41 overall and the top slot receiver on the USA Today Florida Network Top 100, Lopez has scheduled official visits to Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State and West Virginia. Chaminade-Madonna wide receiver Jasen Lopez catches a pass during the Lions spring scrimmage on May 19, 2025 in Hollywood, Florida. The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder said his official visits will go a long way toward his decision. 'I just want to get up on campus, see how the coaches are, see how the campus is,' Lopez said. 'That's the place I'm going to live for the next four years, so I'll just get up there, check it out.' Advertisement More: 10 critical football recruiting questions on Florida 2026 class: Gators still rule state? Here are some other recruiting updates from Chaminade's spring scrimmage. RB Derrek Cooper Chaminade-Madonna running back Derrek Cooper watches the action during the Lions spring scrimmage on May 19, 2025 in Hollywood, Florida. Cooper, ranked No. 1 on the Top 100, took his first official visit to Auburn and said the Tigers 'set the bar.' 'Coach Nix (offensive coordinator Derrick Nix), he's a great coach,' Cooper said. 'I got to get on the board with him, draw up some plays, how things set up, how to get to the next level, how to separate yourself from different backs.' Cooper also has official visits scheduled to Miami, Alabama, Georgia, Florida State, and Ohio State. WR Denairius Gray Gray, a longtime Auburn commit, plans to take official visits to N.C. State and Ole Miss this summer. Gray is No. 22 on the USA Today Florida Network Top 100. Advertisement 'My recruitment goes off the schools that really recruit me and show me the most love,' Gray said. 'That's what's special about Auburn is my relationship with the coaches.' WR Peter Pierre The talent pipeline just keeps flowing at Chaminade and Pierre, a rising sophomore, is the latest one colleges are noticing. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound pass catcher has picked up several offers this spring, including Oregon, USC, and Washington. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Recruiting: Chaminade-Madonna WR Jasen Lopez sets official visits
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
NASCAR's big lift to race in Mexico City: A 2,300-mile journey months in the making
MEXICO CITY — Hearing the news that NASCAR would be racing in Mexico City, Lance Scott's initial reaction was similar to many within the Cup Series garage. The Hendrick Motorsports hauler driver, tasked with transporting the equipment necessary to put a car on the track for Kyle Larson each week, was admittedly skeptical. Advertisement How would the NASCAR traveling circus be able to haul everything essential to stage the sport's first international Cup Series race since 1958 and the first-ever in Mexico? The tractor-trailers would be traveling directly from Brooklyn, Mich., site of last Sunday's race, to Laredo, Texas, where they would then cross the border in a highly coordinated convoy to make their way to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit in the Mexican capital. The whole plan had a lot of moving parts, with an itinerary scheduled to the minute. And it's why Scott, and others, raised eyebrows about whether NASCAR could successfully pull it off. 'At first, no, I didn't want to do it. Absolutely, I did not want to,' Scott said. 'The not-knowing (of) going to Mexico was big. I've been to Mexico a couple times, but sitting on the beach drinking beer is a whole lot different than driving 14 hours across there.' Before long, though, a different attitude took hold — confidence that NASCAR knew the scope of the massive undertaking and had an effective plan in place. '(The meetings) made you feel really comfortable,' Scott said. 'It put (aside) all the anxiousness that I had — and I know I've talked to a few of the other (hauler drivers) too. Yeah, I feel a lot better now.' The Cup haulers went from Brooklyn to Laredo, a 24-hour drive without stops, where they met the tractor-trailers for the second-tier Xfinity Series teams also racing in Mexico but departing from North Carolina. Each hauler then crossed through customs before making the 700-mile trek to Mexico City. Letting our hauler drivers play admin on their trip to Mexico City.@GarnerTrucking | @NASCARMexico_ — Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) June 10, 2025 The task of pulling all that off fell to Tom Bryant, NASCAR's vice president of racing operations, who oversees the logistics of putting on a race weekend, from membership and credentialing to overall operations and safety. But for a task of this magnitude, Bryant's previous experience is just as important — he served for 21 years in the U.S. Army and helped manage the relocation of troops in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Advertisement 'Every one of those deployments was with different units, and every one of those appointments had a kind of slightly different mission set,' Bryant said. '… We had to move from place to place over the course of the months that we were there, so you get pretty good at understanding how to plan for and resource and execute a large movement of people and equipment through a denied area safely and effectively. 'Just in general, you have to be comfortable when you approach something like this knowing that you don't know everything you need to know. You have to be comfortable with ambiguity.' We are driving nearly 12 laps around the earth at the equator to get to #NASCARMexico! 🤯 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 11, 2025 Last summer, when NASCAR moved toward finalizing a deal to race in Mexico City, Bryant was effectively named the point person. It was his team's job to figure out how to get every piece of equipment needed to Mexico City and coordinate the transportation of drivers, team members, NASCAR officials, and essential staff. This required numerous meetings with American and Mexican government officials, league executives, the teams, and many other entities. After nine months of meetings, a plan took shape. This included requiring each hauler, 132 in total, to document its contents in a manifest, a time-consuming endeavor required by customs officials. If a team brings a part across the border, that item must come back. No exceptions. 'Every single thing in those haulers crossing the border has to be accounted for and has to be listed on the manifest,' Bryant said. 'All that information has to be submitted to customs authorities for both governments, U.S. and Mexico. And particularly for Mexico, there's permits associated with it so that all of the equipment is accounted for, all the permits and things that we needed to cross the border and operate in Mexico have been done.' Advertisement NASCAR has done something like this before, though on a smaller scale. From 2005 to 2008, the Xfinity Series raced in Mexico City, and some of the plans from that venture were also implemented this time. Some aspects, though, needed an overhaul. For instance, this time, NASCAR arranged all the travel for its Cup and Xfinity teams, whereas last time, each team was responsible for handling its own travel. 'Super, super easy. Different from what we normally do, but well organized. Super well organized,' Front Row Motorsports crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, who served as crew chief in three Xfinity races in Mexico City, said of NASCAR's previous stint in Mexico. 'You knew what was going on. And once you got into the garage area, it felt like any other race weekend. It felt like you were at a race, and the only difference was a lot more people. There were a ton of people there.' Ready or not here we come Mexico City — Stoney Greene (@StoneySGreene) June 10, 2025 To help manage everything, NASCAR partnered with Private Jet Services, which has worked with various leagues that have held games outside the U.S., and Rock-It Cargo, a global logistics company whose credits include several major events, such as when it moved 200 18-wheeler haulers to Mexico City as part of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour. Team personnel began making their way to Mexico City midweek. With Xfinity off this past weekend, teams from that series had a relatively straightforward path to get their haulers to Laredo — they left directly from their respective shops. For the Cup teams, the process was more complex. On Sunday morning at Michigan International Speedway, the garage was a hive of activity — and nothing related to the race later that afternoon. Part of the Mexico City plan called for every team to have a backup hauler carrying its Mexico City racecars arrive at the track from North Carolina. Those cars were then loaded onto the teams' primary haulers. The U.S. Border Patrol supervised the operation. Once the race finished, the haulers left for Laredo, each with two drivers. They arrived late Monday, and the hauler drivers then went to a nearby hotel to sleep. The next morning, the border crossing procedure began. Before being permitted into Mexico, every hauler had to drive through an X-ray machine — essentially, the truck equivalent of security screening at an airport. Advertisement After crossing, the haulers were divided into 12 packs that left in 20-minute intervals to begin the drive to Mexico City. Accompanying each convoy was a heavy security detail that included the Mexican National Guard. And in case a tractor-trailer suffered a breakdown, the final pack included a tow vehicle. Multiple rest stops were allotted for each hauler. And because Mexico City officials wanted to avoid a large contingent of trucks driving through the city during rush hour, further clogging the already heavily congested traffic in a city with 21 million people, the schedule was laid out so the haulers would enter the city at off-peak hours. Every hauler was also equipped with a toll responder to help keep things moving. On Tuesday, the Xfinity haulers rolled into Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. On Wednesday, the Cup haulers followed. They will remain at the track through the weekend, then they'll begin the voyage back to the United States. The following weekend, both series race at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, 2,500 miles away. 'Who the hell would want to do it if it was easy?' Bryant said. 'If you want it easy, then it'd be no fun.' (Top photo of NASCAR haulers during a parade before a March race in Las Vegas: Christopher Trim / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
