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June 20, 2004
Zebulon, NC - Josh Willingham homered twice to lead Carolina to an 8-4 win over West Tenn to close the first half at Five County Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Willingham (HR, 13, 14, 2-3, 3rbi, w) drilled a solo homer in the second for a 1-0 lead, then hit a two-run blast to left in the seventh to seal a comeback Mudcats win.
Carolina (37-33) finished the first half 37-33 and two games behind first-half champion Tennessee in the Eastern Division.
After Willingham's second inning homer, Chip Ambres (HR, 6, 1-3, 2r, rbi, w, k) slugged a homer against starter Chadd Blasko for a 2-0 lead.
The Diamond Jaxx (37-32) countered with four in the fourth against starter Ronald Belizario (ND, 3+ip, 1h, 3r, 3er, 5w, 3k) and reliever Ryan Baker (ND, 2ip, 2h, 1r, 1er, 1w, 0k). Belizario walked two and allowed a single to fill the bases before he was lifted for Baker, who entered to allow a two-run single to Mike Mallory to tie the game. After a sacrifice, Blasko chopped a single to center to plate the go-ahead run. Josh Wilson then committed an error on a low two-bouncer to score Mallory with the inning's fourth run.
Carolina tied the game against Blasko and the Diamond Jaxx bullpen in the sixth. Blasko retired the first hitter before walking two. Blasko was relieved by Evan Fahrner (L, 1-4), who surrendered a two-run double to Andy Rohleder (3-4, 2r, 2-2b, 2rbi). Later in the inning, Billy Hall (1-5, rbi, k) dropped a single over shortstop Ronny Cedeno to bring Rohleder in with the go-ahead run 5-4.
Willingham homered to left in the seventh against Fahrner, then allowed a second double to Rohleder against the left field wall. Charles Frazier (1-4, rbi, 2k) rolled a single to left to score Rohleder.
Carolina will open the second half on Wednesday afternoon in Chattanooga, Tennessee against the Lookouts. Nic Ungs (3-3, 4.62) starts the three game series at 12:15 PM ET from Bell South Park.
West Tenn 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 --- 4 3 1 7
Carolina 0 2 0 0 0 3 3 0 x --- 8 10 1 7
WP - Strelitz (2-0)
LP - Fahrner (1-4)
S - None.
HR - Willingham 2 (13, 14), Ambres (6)
Notes: Carolina went 3-3 in the final six games of the first half without the services of 1B Jason Stokes, who will have his left wrist reevaluated Tuesday morning... Rohleder's game-tying double in the sixth was his first Double-A extra base hit... From 2:00-3:00 Sunday afternoon, fathers were allowed on the outfield to play catch with their children in appreciation of Father's Day at Five County Stadium, where 4,265 fans watched Carolina's win... Pat Flury pitched two scoreless innings on Sunday, lowering his team-best ERA to 0.88... Carolina took three of four from West Tenn in the series, and has split eight games with the Diamond Jaxx. The Mudcats will play West Tenn four more times in mid-August at Pringles Park... Belizario worked just 58 pitches before being taken down by manager Ron Hassey. Belizario is expected to move into the Mudcats bullpen for the second half. Carolina's rotation for the first five days of the second half features Ungs, Bill Murphy, Peter Bauer, Trevor Hutchinson and Jeff Fulchino... Willingham's two homer game was his second of the season. Willingham homered twice against Mobile starter Duncan McAdoo on April 9 in Mobile.
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