14
THE SEAHAWK/APRIL 19, 2DD1
Wilmington Waves off to a good start in Sally Leagut
Wes Melville and swinging the bats real well,” said Finally after six road games, the Waves ‘f the inauguralfesiiy J
IS one of baseball^ an-timegreato,S
ds, "Mr. Baseball" 'Bowmv
" If Uie ffrsf weeb »l’ is any
irr(Jication of bow the entine,year will turn
out, then the Wilmington Waves have cer
tainly lived up to their promise.
The Waves opened the season in
Asheville, where they took three of four
from the Colorado Rockies’ Single-A af
filiate. In those four games. Waves’ hit
ters combined to produce 35 runs and
placed themselves atop of the South At
lantic League with the highest team bat-
_ ting average.
“We’ve been very impressive in the box
and swinging the bats real well,” said
Waves’ hitting coach Tony Harris, about
l,he;Waves’ coverall offensive perforHiknce.
Afticr tlkijwcceSsfu I .series in.Asltev^,.-
the Waves traveled to Columbia, l^.C., to
take on the Capital City Bombers in an
other four-game series. This time the first
two games were played in Columbia and
then the final two were played in
Wilmington, which included the Waves’
inaugural home opener.
In Columbia, the Waves won the first
game, 9-7, but then fell in the second as
Waves’ starter Fernando Rijo and the
Bombers’ David Musser battled to a 2-1
Capital City victory.
Finally after six road games, the Waves
were able to come to their new home and
plity • unider’ the lights -^at . I4NC
.■nWHmin"gtojl.’.v Brooks Field. Tlwy strolkitf
into thr Port City Bba.sting a t-2 recoil
and excited about getting the new relatior»-
ship off to a .strong start.
Wilmington welcomed their new team
with a capacity crowd on opening night,
and the Waves repaid their fans with a stel
lar 1-0 shutout as 5’ 10” thoroughbred Jose
Rojas gave up only one hit in seven in
nings of work.
“It was exciting,” manager Dino Ebel
said. “The fans got loud...they were en
joying themselves.”
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A deal like this is nothing to sneeze at.
o the I ,
epds, "Mr. Baseball” tommy U
- La*iordi», Who is sertFor Vk»
the parent Dodgers, was om of four fl
threw out the traditional first pitcij
pitches in this case. 1
“We couldn’t have written a betterscJ
then what we had here tonight,” L
said about the 1-0 pitcher’s duel
Waves’ closer Greg Bauer, wl
his fourth save in the home oi
was an enjoyable experience,” Bauerrf
The Waves came back the nexi
and treated the fans again toyetanoili
superb pitching performance. Even ml
exciting than the previous night,theWaiti
closed out their 2-1 win with a run inilici
bottom of the tenth inning. I
The early success has earned the WavJ
one of the top records in the southeniii]
vision of the Sally League and given iktJ
the added confidence - if they evenncedJ
it - to expect to be there all season lor^
Ebel knows his team is stocked and|
focused on making them better, bo
team and as individual players.
“We need to keep working harder aA
getting better, so we can develop thi
players so they can get to the ne
Ebel said.
Lasorda and the parent Dodgers sliaiJ
the same excitement for their up-and-co»j
ing prospects.
“These young men that we have, they'll
gonna keep getting better,” La.sorda ski
“Anybody that plays for Dino (Ebel),M
the middle of the season, he’s a beiurl
ballplayer.” !
The season is still young, but th»
Wilmington Waves are playing withal*
of confidence showing that they plan lolii
contenders right from the start. Moreovn
if nothing else, they promise to provii
great entertainment for area ba.seball fa»
I 2 2
000000 oil
000100 121
The Wilmington Waves are in ttie
middle of a seven-game homesOT
Tonight they play Savannah at Biws
Field at 7:05 P-W.
$1 off admission''wiiH'a‘6(WlftwC