Royals on the Farm 9/6 -- and then there was one

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: Frederick 3, Blue Rocks 1 (1-hitter; Frederick wins best-of-3 series 2-0)

CF Duarte 1-4, HR, RBI, RS -- .125, homer with 2 out in 9th broke up no-hitter
everybody else had an 0-fer

Pimentel 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K, HRA -- L, 0-1, 4.50 ERA, not bad start but less than zero run support
Chambliss 2 hitless IP

Wilmington's playoff race in 2007 lasted all of 2 games as Keys SP Chorye Spoone came within an out of a no-hitter and shutout and was a homer and error away from a perfect game to close out the sweep in style. Rocks starter Julio Pimentel stranded 2 in the 2nd and gave up a 2-run homer in the 4th to make it 2-0 Keys. Spoone was perfect through 4 1/3 IP before an error allowed Brian McFall to reach base. Spoone went on to retire the next 13 consecutively and Pimentel gave up a run on 2 hits in the 7th. Spoone had his no-hitter through 8 2/3 but Jose Duarte clubbed a solo homer in the 9th to break it up as well as the shutout. Marc Maddox followed with a ground out to end the Rocks' season. Keys 3B Ryan Finan was 1-3 with a homer and 2 RBI and Spoone went the distance with an ER on a hit and 9 Ks.

Wilmington finished 75-62. A rehash of Rocks stat highlights will be doled out tomorrow. The Keys also eliminated the Rocks in the 2006 semifinals.

Rookie -- Idaho Falls: Casper 3, Chukars 2

SS Moustakas 0-3, BB -- .314
LF Tucker 1-3, S, RBI (10), K, CS -- .328
CF Ortiz 2-3, S -- .324
DH Robinson 0-4, K -- .339
1B Seratelli 1-4, 2B (19), 2 K -- .324

Baldwin 1 2/3 IP, 2 ER, H, BB, K, HRA -- 2.87 ERA
Snipes 4 IP, 2 H, BB, 6 K -- 5.37 ERA
Denton 1 2/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 K -- L, 1-2, 4.15 ERA
Hughes 2/3 IP -- 3.59 ERA

An 8th-inning run broke the tie as Casper evened the last regular season series at 1 game each. Starter Burke Baldwin allowed a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 1st to give Casper a 2-0 lead but the Chukars tied it in the 3rd on a Wilson Tucker single that scored 2 runs thanks to a Rockies error. The 2-2 tie held into the 8th when Chukars P Chris Denton gave up a leadoff triple and 1-out single to break the tie. The Chukars stranded 1 in the 9th as RP Randall Taylor notched his 5th save. Casper 1B Jeff Cunningham was 3-4 with 2 errors (12), 2 doubles (14), his 8th homer and 2 RBI (29) to move to .254 and P Marco Duarte got the win with 2 IP of 2 hits, a walk and K to move to 3-1 with a 3.21 ERA.

IF is 22-15. The final game of the regular season is tonight as IF's Zach Peterson (5-3, 3.00, with his stuff kinda hoped they'd saved him for playoffs) vs. Casper's Brandon Miller (2-1, 5.05). The playoffs start Saturday with a best-of-3 set against the Orem Owlz with game 1 in Orem and games 2 and 3 in IF. IF swept Orem in the first round in 2006.