Scottsdale got one in the 1st and three in the 2nd as they cruised to a 4-1 victory on Sunday night.
Two Nationals appeared in the game:
● Seaver King started at short and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. He had two putouts and two assists on defense.
● Sam Petersen was in right field and was 0-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch and a run scored. He fielded five hits and had one putout.
With the win, the Scorpions improve to 16-6 lead the league by two games. They return to action on Tuesday with a visit to Mesa to play the Solar Sox.
Ok, maybe that’s not fair. But either way, Wilmington’s run of ineptitude was extended to three seasons (for the players, five for the front office, natch) in 2025.
It’s a familiar story. The Blue Rocks had the oldest set of batters in the South Atlantic League by more than a full year (23.1 vs. 22.0) but were dead last in:
- Runs – 3.28/G (4.3)
- RBI
- Walks
- BA .212 (.225)
- OBP .293 (.320)
- OPS .599 (.663)
Unlike the previous two levels, the pitching was only marginally better, allowing 4.7 R/G (4.3) and in the the bottom third of the league in nearly every category, despite playing half of its game in a pitcher-friendly park. The defense was a tick below league average as well.
If there is anything close to a silver lining, it’s that the three of the statistical best bats were at the league average age and three of the five pitchers were below the 3.2 FIP that’s considered the mean for most leagues. Unfortunately the #1 pitcher will most likely not be seen north of Florida until 2027.
Without further ado, here are the obligatory Top 5’s…
| TOP 5 BATS | TOP 5 ARMS |
| 1. Sam Petersen, OF .302 GPA, 20BB, 18SB in 44G |
1. Travis Sykora, RHSP 1.21/1.13/0.67, 14.26 K/9IP in 29⅔ IP (6GS) |
| 2. Elijah Nunez, OF .285 GPA, .415 OBP, 14SB in 36G |
2. Alex Clemmey, LHSP 2.47/3.67/1.33, 11.65 K/9IP in 87⅓ IP (19GS) |
| 3. Branden Boissiere, 1B .246 GPA, 16 2B, 23SB in 74G |
3. Austin Amaral, RHRP 2.05/1.80/0.73, 0HR in 41⅓ IP (23G, 12GF, 8SV) |
| 4. Caleb Lomavita, C/DH .244 GPA, 21E, 7PB in 73G |
4. Josh Randall, RHSP 6.44/3.12/1.43, 1.53 BB/9IP in 29⅓ IP (6GS) |
| 5. Seaver King, SS .233 GPA, .953 FPct. |
5. Anthony Arguelles, RHRP 3.34/3.57/1.24, 9.37 K/9IP, 5.08 BB/9IP in 56⅔ IP (38G, 19GF, 2SV) |
A reminder that, unlike the boys in Durham, we try to avoid double-dipping. So if you’re thinking “what about__________?” odds are it’s because he pitched elsewhere for more innings. For any lurking MASN Commenters, that’s what’s known as a clue.
The exception here is Seaver King who played more in Harrisburg but was better in the tax shelt…er, Delaware. But with the current performance in the AFL—even against subpar pitching—it’s clear he should be ranked somewhere, so why not the fifth-best bat in a group that had trouble hitting water after falling off a pier?
Folks interested in seeing the full team stats can find them here. The pitching data can be viewed here.