Southern Maryland 9, Gastonia 7

WALDORF, Md. - The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs trailed the Gastonia Honey Hunters by as much as 7-0 but scored nine unanswered runs en route to a 9-7 victory.  The Blue Crabs bats were quiet to start, while the Honey Hunters piled up runs on Eddie Butler. But the Blue Crabs bats came alive in the fourth inning, while the bullpen shut down the Honey Hunters.

After a scoreless first, the Honey Hunters tacked on three runs in the second inning.  Gastonia had four consecutive batters reach, including three doubles.  Emmanuel Tapia drove in two runs while Stuart Levy brought one in to give the Honey Hunters a 3-0 lead. 

 The Honey Hunters kept the action going in the fourth, adding four more runs.  The first three batters picked up hits before Jake Skole hit a two-run opposite-field homer to give the Honey Hunters a 7-0 lead.  

 The Blue Crabs got the bats going in the fourth, while John Anderson, Gastonia’s starter, struggled with control. With runners on second and third, Braxton Lee launched a double to put the Blue Crabs on the board. 

 In the fifth, with the Blue Crabs trailing 7-2, Anderson’s control problems resurfaced.  After surrendering a leadoff single, he walked three consecutive batters, bringing a run home. Gastonia then turned to Onas Farfan (L, 2-2), who hit Alex Crosby on the first pitch, driving home another run.  The Blue Crabs tacked on two more in the fourth, cutting the deficit to 7-6. 

 In the sixth, the Blue Crabs broke through.  Onas Farfan conceded a single to Jack Sundberg and a hit to Michael Wielansky to get things started in the sixth.  David Harris then drove a double to deep right scoring two, giving the Blue Crabs an 8-7 lead.  Southern Maryland added a run in the eighth inning when Joe Deluca’s sacrifice fly drove in Matt Hibbert. 

 The bullpen for Southern Maryland was terrific, pitching four innings and allowing no runs on just two hits.  Dario Polanco (W, 3-0) pitched a 1-2-3 sixth, while Bradley Roney and Endrys Briceno pitched a clean and seventh and eighth.   Mat Latos (Sv, 16) also pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up the save in the Blue Crabs’ 9-7 win. 

 The Blue Crabs move to 43-16 with the victory.  Southern Maryland has only seven games remaining in the ALPB First Half.  They return to Regency Furniture Stadium on Tuesday when they take on the York Revolution 

Lancaster 5, Long Island 2

Trayvon Robinson snapped out of a slump, and Augie Sylk picked up his first win since May 25 as the Lancaster Barnstormers took down the Long Island Ducks, 5-2, Sunday afternoon at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 The win gained a split of the four-game series for the Barnstormers.

Robinson finished the afternoon 3-for-4 and played a role in all five Lancaster runs.  The left fielder, who had been hitless for six games prior to Sunday, ripped a two-run double into the right field corner with two outs in the top of the fourth as Lancaster went ahead, 2-0. 

 He singled to open the seventh off Ryan Meisinger (0-1) in a 2-2 ballgame.  Anthony Peroni dropped a single into shallow left to add a second runner.  Trace Loehr moved the runners up with a bunt, and Melvin Mercedes put the ‘Stormers in the lead to stay with a sacrifice fly to left.

With one out in the eighth, Andretty Cordero picked up his third hit of the afternoon on a single to right.  Colton Shaver hit a slow roller on the right side.  De Carlo chased it down in the shallow outfield, but his hurried throw was wide, sending Cordero to third.  Robinson worked a count to 3-2, and, with Shaver running, launched his second double of the afternoon over Dustin Woodcock’s head in right.

Meanwhile, Sylk (3-6) tossed seven innings, finding trouble only in the fourth.  The 24-year-old lefty yielded only three hits while walking four and striking out five.

 Outside of the problematic fourth, he faced only one batter over the minimum.  In the fourth, he hit L.J. Mazzilli with a pitch, and then Mazzilli survived a rundown after leaving too soon.  As Alejandro De Aza struck out, Mazzilli stole second, then scored on a double by Sam Travis.  Sylk walked two before Vladimir Frias tied the game on a sacrifice fly.  Woodcock walked, but Sylk got Austin Rei to ground into a force out to end the inning.

 Tyler Suellentrop pitched a scoreless eighth, and West Tunnell did likewise in the ninth for his first Atlantic League save.

 The Barnstormers head to Lexington for a Tuesday night game against the Legends.  Nile Ball (3-3) will make the start for Lancaster.  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube channel, starting at 6:30.

 NOTES:  Cordero has a 17-game hitting streak when playing a defensive position…Sylk made his longest start of the season…The Barnstormers are 5-0 in single games against Long Island, 0-4 in doubleheader contests.

High Point 18, Lexington 7
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers tied a franchise record by scoring 18 runs during an 18-7 win over the Lexington Legends on Sunday afternoon at Truist Point

The Rockers scored their 18 runs on 18 hits including three doubles and three home runs.  Ben Aklinski went 4-for-6 with two runs scored, a home run and a game-high four RBI. Zander Wiel had a pair of doubles and two RBI while Jay Gonzalez and Mike Gulino each had three hits and three runs scored.

The win moves the Rockers to 34-25 on the season, 6.5 games behind Gastonia which is 40-18. The Honey Hunters have a magic number of one to clinch at least a share of the first half South pennant.

Jonah Scolaro (W, 2-1) started for the Rockers and gave up a run in the first before gaining a pair of strikeouts to escape the inning.  Aklinksi tied the game in the bottom of the first with a solo homer.

Lexington took a 3-1 lead in the third but the Rockers opened things up with a five-run fourth inning. Aklinski had a two-run single but a Lexington fielding error led to a pair of unearned High Point runs.

“Jonah battled out there today but he got those strikeouts when he really needed them,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “We’re swinging the bats better than we have in a long time. This was a great series for us. We needed three good games.”

Scolaro went five innings and allowed four hits and three runs while striking out four. Nathan Bates came on in the sixth and allowed five hits and three runs in two-thirds of an inning as Lexington closed the margin to 6-5 before lefty Bryce Hensley relieved and used just one pitch to escape the jam. He then pitched a shutout inning in the seventh and Adam Choplick did the same in the eighth. Centerfielder Johnny Field gave up a run on a hit and three walks in the ninth.

The Rockers cracked the game open with an eight-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth. Downs and Wiel each had an RBI double while Tyler Ladendorf and Giovanny Alfonzo each hit three-run homers in the frame.

Aklinski credited the Rockers sweep of the Legends to being at home.

“(The) West Virginia (series) took a lot out of us,” said Aklinski. “Then we had a long travel day up to Long Island. Winning the first game of this series gut us excited.”

The Rockers will enjoy an off-day on Monday before starting a 13-day stretch of playing every day. High Point will travel to Chareston for a three-game series starting Tuesday and will be back at Truist Point on Friday for a holiday weekend series with Southern Maryland.

York 13, Staten Island 4

(June 26, 2022 – York, Pa.):  The York Revolution’s offensive fire from Saturday night refused to burn out on Sunday, as the Revs put forth another prolific showing and completed the sweep of the Staten Island Ferryhawks, winning 13-4.

 JC Encarnacion, fresh off two home runs in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 19-1 victory, continued his hot stretch by clearing the bases with a double down the left field line with two outs in the first inning, giving York the early 3-0 lead.

 After the offense stranded the bases loaded in both the second and third innings, York started the fourth inning with 10 straight batters reaching base safely, including a streak of four consecutive hits that plated runs. Carlos Franco started the barrage with a two-run single off the corner of the Arch Nemesis in left. Encarnacion singled in another before Josue Herrera knocked in one more with a double to deep center. Jhon Nunez capped off the stretch with a two-run single to right-center. Elmer Reyes was later hit by a pitch with the bases loaded which scored the seventh run of the inning and pushed York’s lead to 10-0.

 After Encarnacion (4-for-5) led off the fifth with a single, securing his second consecutive four-hit game, Herrera drove a two-run homer over the wall in left-center for his fifth of the season, extending the lead to 12-0. For Encarnacion, the leadoff single marked six straight at-bats with a hit, three of which went for extra bases, with six RBI on that spurt.

 In the sixth, the FerryHawks opted for lefty Alex Katz who was greeted by Connor Lien delivering a missile to left-center field for his ninth home run of the year, making it a 13-0 rout. After Nellie Rodriguez singled, Franco fouled a ball off the foot of home plate umpire PJ McConville who exited the game after a lengthy delay, prompting crew chief Derek Moccia to take over behind the plate. Katz struck out Franco after the delay and forced Encarnacion to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

 Staten Island finally broke the shutout with four runs in the top of the seventh against York reliever Brett De Geus, including an RBI single from Ricardo Cespedes and a two-run double from Dilson Herrera. 

 Fresh off a 1-2-3 pro debut the night before, lefty Tuck Tucker pitched the eighth inning. He allowed a hit but finished another scoreless frame with a groundout, flyout and his first professional strikeout to end the frame. 

 Nick Howard pitched the final three outs to give York its first sweep of the season.

 York starter Alex Sanabia (3-1) tossed six shutout innings, scattering seven hits to earn the victory.

 The Revs will hit the road next for a six-game trip to Southern Maryland and Long Island before returning home on July 4 vs. Lancaster.  Tuesday’s opener at Southern Maryland begins at 6:35 p.m., and Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and the WOYK YouTube channel beginning at 6:15 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.

 Notes: The Revs 38 runs across the weekend series marked the third-most in a three-game series in franchise history, coming two shy of the record set in July, 2019 against New Britain. Franco extended his on-base streak to 39 games, now bringing him six shy of Nate Espy’s franchise record set in 2007. The Revs are on a season-best four-game winning streak. Howard worked his fifth consecutive scoreless outing, allowing one hit in five innings while striking out 10 during that stretch. Reyes is now 15-for-33 (.455) with six multi-hit games and 12 RBI on a seven-game hitting streak.  Lien’s home run was his seventh in the last 12 games; he also has 17 RBI during that span and finished the weekend sweep going 6-for-13 with three homers, five RBI, and eight runs scored.  Encarnacion’s four-hit game was his second straight and third in the last seven games; it was also his fourth game of at least three hits in the last seven, as he has gone 16-for-30 (.533) over that span.  Encarnacion also has back-to-back four RBI games and has five multi-RBI games in the last nine, totaling 16 RBI on eight extra-base hits (five homers, two doubles, one triple).  Herrera has posted back-to-back three-hit games and has five RBI in the last two contests; he also finished the weekend with four extra-base hits (three doubles, one homer), tallying at least one in all three games of the sweep.

Charleston 7, Kentucky 6