SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL

Published: August 13, 2008

Winston-Salem’s relievers held Wilmington scoreless for six of nine innings last night. The other three innings killed the Warthogs.

The Blue Rocks scored seven runs in the first inning, five in the third and two in the sixth on the way to a 14-1 Carolina League victory last night at Ernie Shore Field.

Manager Tim Blackwell of the Warthogs used seven pitchers, including catcher Adam Ricks, who pitched a perfect ninth inning. The first six pitchers were starter Matt Long (7-11) and relievers Steven Spurgeon, Matt Davis, Henry Mabee, Wander Perez and Michael Dubee.

Blackwell said he used Ricks in the ninth because several relievers worked last night after pitching over the weekend.

“The bullpen again did a nice job in unusual circumstances,” Blackwell said. “I know it was a hard game to watch.”

John Ely (7-11) will start tonight at 7 in the final game of the three-game series.

“This is the one day we hope John Ely can pitch nine innings and take up the slack,” Blackwell said with a smile.

The Warthogs, who have lost four straight, again struggled defensively. After committing a total of nine errors in the previous two games, Winston-Salem committed four more last night.

Catcher Matt Morizio went 2 for 4, scored twice and drove in four runs for Wilmington. Former Warthog Paolo Orlando hit a solo home run, went 2 for 5 and drove in three runs. Leadoff man Derrick Robinson went 2 for 4 with two hits and an RBI.

Wilmington starter Ed Cegarra (5-6) allowed one earned run on four hits and two walks, and he struck out five in six innings. Reliever Aaron Hartsock gave up two hits and struck out three in three innings and got his first save.

Winston-Salem had six hits, and no Warthog had more than one hit. Third baseman C.J. Retherford went 1 for 3 and drew a walk. Estee Gaines, the leftfielder, went 1 for 3 and scored the Warthogs’ lone run.

The Warthogs were down 7-0 before they went to bat. Wilmington’s Robinson bunt singled to start the game and quickly stole second. Orlando reached on an error, with Robinson scoring. Orlando stole second, took third on a groundout and scored on Brad Correll’s single. A double and a walk loaded the bases, and Anthony Seratelli walked to make the score 3-0. Morizio cleared the bases with a three-run double and reached third on a relay throw wide of the plate. Jarrod Dyson made the score 7-0 with a sacrifice fly.

Long gave up seven runs, five earned, on five hits, two walks and two errors in his inning.

Spurgeon had one scoreless inning, but then gave up five runs in the third inning. The damage included a solo home run by Orlando.

Spurgeon gave up five earned runs in his two innings,.

Wilmington added two runs in the fifth off Mabee on an error, a double, a run-scoring groundout, and an RBI single.

The Warthogs finally scored in the sixth inning. Gaines doubled, Retherford singled, and Gaines scored on a fielder’s choice with Dale Mollenhauer running.

WILM. ab r h bi W-S ab r h bi

Rbnsn cf 4 2 2 1 Rthrfrd 3b 3 0 1 0

Orlando rf 5 3 2 1 Mllnhr 2b 4 0 1 1

McCnnll ss 5 0 0 1 Shelby cf 4 0 1 0

Correll dh 5 1 1 1 Bnvcho 1b 4 0 1 0

Mertins 2b 4 2 2 1 Sanchez rf 3 0 0 0

Jhnsn 3b 3 2 0 0 Harris dh 4 0 1 0

Seratelli 1b 3 2 1 1 Paiml ss 4 0 0 0

Morizio c 4 2 2 4 Killian c 4 0 0 0

Dyson lf 3 0 0 1 Gaines lf 3 1 1 0

Totals 36 14 10 11 Totals 33 1 6 1

Wilmington 705 002 000 — 14

Win.-Salem 000 001 000 — 1

E–Paiml 2, Sanchez, Mollenhauer. LOB–Wilmington 1, Winston-Salem 7. 2B–Mertins, Morizio, Orlando, Gaines. HR–Orlando. SB–Orlando 2, Mertins, Robinson.

Wilmington IP H R ER BB SO

Cegarra, W (5-6) 6 4 1 1 2 5

Hartsock, S, 1 3 2 0 0 0 3

Winston-Salem IP H R ER BB SO

Long, L (7-11) 1 5 7 5 2 0

Spurgeon 2 3 5 5 1 1

Davis 2 0 0 0 0 2

Mabee 1 2 2 0 0 0

Perez 1 0 0 0 0 2

Dubee 1 0 0 0 0 0

Ricks 1 0 0 0 0 0

HBP–by Spurgeon (Mertins). T–2:40. A–2,977.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — Akga Desia, an experienced rock climber from Winston-Salem, had to be rescued after falling 50 feet from a mountain Saturday.

26-year-old Desia fell while climbing on Ledge Springs Trail, and landed on her feet.  A rescue team stabilized her on site and hoisted her to safety.

“You try and be real careful doing this…there’s no room for error, you’re not allowed a mistake,” said Danny Longuillo, a climber for five years.

Languillo said he saw Desia and about ten other climbers repelling themselves off the ledge.  He believes the accident could have been prevented.

“There were safety precautions that could have been taken,” Languillo said.  “You can always have another person at the bottom to break the rope for you as you come down.”

Surry County EMS officials said this was not their first rescue in the area.  Officials have said the ledge Desia fell from tends to give the most experienced climbers problems.

Desia is being treated at the trauma center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.  Officials have not released the extent of her injuries.

WINSTON-SALEM — A six-story office building will be the first phase of mixed-use development outside Winston-Salem’s new downtown baseball stadium, team officials announced Tuesday night.

At a reception for about 200 business leaders in the city, Billy Prim, owner of the Warthogs — who will be renamed once they move downtown next year — and owner of Primo Properties said the first two floors of the 118,000 square foot, to be built behind the stadium’s right field wall, building will be open by the first game next April.

Craig Davis Properties and Commercial Realty Advisors are assisting Primo Properties in the joint venture, to be called One Ballpark Center.

Prim said the building has received commitments for 42,500 square feet of space, including offices for the team’s headquarters and a team store.

Prim also said a restaurant has signed on for the concourse level right, but he declined to name specifically any of the tenants.

The first 32,000 square feet of the building will be ready by Opening Day next year. The remainder will be complete by the first game of 2010, Prim said.

Developers hope the $22.6 million stadium will attract about $189 million in investments in the area which sits just off Business 40 near Peters Creek Parkway.

While the street level may include some retail, he said the Class A office suites for businesses will start at about 5,500 and be available for purchase, probably in the range of $200 to $225 per square foot.

JOURNAL REPORTER

Published: August 11, 2008

It was a grand opening fit for the Grand Old Party.

Republicans young and old, some donning newly minted “McCain” buttons and boaters, showed up for the grand opening of the 2008 McCain victory office in the Forsyth County Republican Headquarters on Cloverdale Avenue in Winston-Salem today.

Linda Daves, chairwoman of the N.C. Republican Party, said during the opening ceremony that the GOP is picking up momentum as the November election draws closer.

“This is a big year, I think the Democrats should be worried,” she said. “Anyone that thinks that this state won’t vote McCain for president is out of touch with North Carolina.”

About 100 people attended the opening ceremony and U.S. Sen. Richard Burr delivered the keynote address. He shook hands and posed for pictures with supporters, and said that he was pleased to see Republicans doing so well this year.

“Trust me when I tell you all that as we get closer to the November 4th, it will be the leadership and principles that win us the election,” he said during his speech. “I can’t remember a time in history when so many Republicans had the chance to carry out the types of change we needed.”

Bill Miller, chairman of the Forsyth County Republican Party said that the office will be beneficial to the McCain and Republicans. He said in past elections the offices had around 500 Republican party volunteers to help make phone calls and canvass neighborhoods in hopes of getting people to register to vote Republican.

The office space for Sen. John McCain and N.C. Republicans is one of three that are set to open up this week, in hopes of luring new voters to vote Republican this election. The other GOP office openings will be in Greensboro and Raleigh.

WINSTON-SALEM – John D. McConnell has been named as the first chief executive officer in the 86-year history of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

McConnell, 54, comes to Winston-Salem from Dallas, where he has been executive vice president of health system affairs at University of Texas Southwestern since 2003. In that position, he has had overall responsibility for UT Southwestern’s university hospitals and clinics as well as the faculty physician practice.

As CEO, McConnell will oversee the clinical, research and academic enterprise for Wake Forest Baptist, reporting to the Medical Center’s board of directors. He expects to begin work at Baptist by Nov. 1.

“This institution is outstanding, but it’s been a closely guarded secret,” McConnell said Wednesday morning. “I will be communicating the strengths of this institution that is so important to the economic future of the Triad.”

Steve Robertson, co-chairman of the CEO search committee that formed last November, said McConnell’s work at UT Southwestern overseeing their integration of research, academics and clinical service will serve him well at Wake Forest Baptist.

“There is no doubt we felt he had all the attributes that will benefit our organization,” he said. “He had an outstanding reputation in Dallas where he was known to be a leader.”

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – In his first game against his former team, Paulo Orlando lifted Wilmington past late-charging Winston-Salem 7-6 in the series opener on Monday night at Ernie Shore Field. After being traded by the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, Orlando played his first game for the Blue Rocks against his former team and finished 3-for-4 with a double, triple, two runs and an RBI.

The early offense helped the Blue Rocks avert a late collapse as the Warthogs trailed 7-3 after seven innings, but got within a run with two runners on base in the ninth inning. Tyler Chambliss retired Dale Mollenhauer swinging to preserve the win, while collecting his league-best 22nd save of the season.

Wilmington grabbed an early lead with a run in the first inning off Warthogs starter Jacob Rasner. Orlando doubled and scored on a two-out single by Brad Correll. Winston-Salem answered in the bottom half of the first as C.J. Retherford and Mollenhauer led off with back-to-back singles. John Shelby III followed with a two-run double to put Winston-Salem in front 2-1.

The Blue Rocks manufactured a run in the third inning to knot the score at two. Derrick Robinson singled, stole second and moved to third on a ground out. Correll collected his second RBI by bringing Robinson home when he hit into the second out of the inning.

Wilmington gained control in the fourth inning when Robinson reached on a single and scored on a triple by Orlando. It was Orlando’s league-high 13th triple. Chris McConnell followed with an RBI single to give the Blue Rocks a 4-2 lead. Both teams would exchange a run in the fifth inning as Wilmington maintained a 5-3 lead.

A two-out rally off Warthogs reliever Matt Zaleski in the seventh inning produced two more runs of the Blue Rocks who were aided by four Winston-Salem errors. Everett Teaford (8-5) lasted 6 2/3 innings and held the Warthogs to three runs on seven hits to earn the win. Rasner (4-7) took the loss while allowing four runs on six hits in five innings of work.

The two clubs will continue with the second of this three-game series on Tuesday night at Ernie Shore Field. The Warthogs will hand the ball to RHP Matt Long (7-10, 4.46), while the Blue Rocks are expected to start RHP Ed Cegarra (4-6, 5.27). The first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.