Gastonia 7, High Point 6

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The Gastonia Honey Hunters scored runs in four consecutive frames and withstood a ninth inning rally to defeat the High Point Rockers 7-6 on Wednesday night at Truist Point.

Zach Godley looked for win number two on the season, as he battled Ivan Pineyro, who was seeking his third win against zero losses.

High Point got the upper hand early as Jerry Downs hit a two-run homer off Godley to give the Rockers a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

Gastonia would retaliate immediately in the second, as Jake Skole tripled and scored on an Emmanuel Tapia RBI groundout to trim the lead to 2-1.

In the third, Herlis Rodriguez lifted a home run to left field, his fourth of the season, to level affairs at 2-2.

High Point would respond as Tyler Ladendorf drove a line drive beyond the left field wall for his eighth homer of the season to put the Rockers back on top 4-2.

In the fourth, Pineyro ran into a spot of trouble, walking the bases loaded. Luis Roman would score on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 4-3.

In the fifth, the offense clicked into gear, as Gastonia slugged four consecutive doubles with two outs, taking a 6-4 lead on the Rockers. Zach Jarrett, Luis Roman, Jake Skole and Luis Castro would trade places with each other in successive at-bats to claim the lead for the Honey Hunters.

Godley pitched his way through the sixth inning, making him poised to win his second game in as many decisions for Gastonia. Godley finished the night tossing six frames, allowing five hits and striking out six High Point batters.

Gastonia tacked on another run in the seventh, as Castro drove Roman home with his second double of the game. The 7-4 advantage would take Gastonia to the late innings, with their highly effective bullpen waiting to close out the Rockers.

Chad Sobotka and Sam Bordner pitched scoreless innings to turn things over to Jesus Balaguer in the ninth.

Trailing 7-4 in the ninth, the Rockers surged behind a leadoff infield single from Quincy Latimore and when Michael Martinez was hit by a pitch from Balaguer, the Rockers had the tying run at the plate. Adam Taylor lined a single to right to score Latimore and make it a 7-5 game. Logan Morrison then pinch-hit and lined a 3-2 pitch to right to plate Martinez and cut the margin to 7-6.

But the rally fizzled as Giovanny Alfonzo’s sacrifice bunt attempt was fielded by Tapia who threw out Taylor at third. Balaguer then struck out Jay Gonzalez and Tyler Ladendorf to earn his 14th save of the year.

The save for Balaguer preserved the win for Godley, who moved to 2-0 on the year. Pineyro absorbed the loss. moving his record to 2-1.

John Anderson gets the ball for Gastonia, as he takes on High Point´s Craig Stem. The game will be aired on the Honey Hunters Radio Network, with pregame beginning at 6:20 pm.

Lancaster 4, York 2

(July 6, 2022 – Lancaster, Pa.): The York Revolution kicked off their second half by continuing a home-and-home series with the Lancaster Barnstormers on Wednesday night, and despite a well-pitched game by Jorge Martinez and a spirited comeback bid, dropped a 4-2 heartbreaker at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

 Lancaster got on the board early as Colton Shaver drove a solo home run to the short porch in right field to lead off the second inning. It was the first home run allowed this year to a right-handed hitter by Martinez.

 They would double the lead in the third courtesy of a Kelly Dugan RBI groundout. It scored Shawon Dunston Jr. who had started the inning with a single and made his way to third on a stolen base and a Melvin Mercedes sacrifice bunt.

 York got a runner in scoring position with nobody out in the fourth with Troy Stokes Jr. leading off on a single and advancing to second on a balk by starter Erik Manoah. It was the first hit that the Revs mustered against Manoah who went through the order perfect the first time around. Manoah answered by forcing a lineout and two ground balls to get out of the inning still leading 2-0.

 York finally got on the board in the top of the sixth. Yefri Perez started off the inning with a walk and made his way to third on a Jhon Nunez single. Perez came across to score on a double play ball to cut the lead in half at 2-1.

 Martinez was able to battle through the sixth inning despite loading the bases. After a two-out walk and single, Martinez struck out Jake Hoover on a high fastball to escape the jam. Martinez finished his day after six, allowing just two runs while striking out four in a no-decision.

 York started the seventh inning with back-to-back singles from Carlos Franco and Nellie Rodriguez. For Franco, the single increased his Revs record on-base streak to 49 consecutive games. JC Encarnacion continued to rake against the Barnstormers as he ripped a double down the third base line to score Franco and tie the game at 2-2. 

 Tuck Tucker was the first to enter in relief for the Revs, getting Dunston Jr. to fly out to right field for a quick first out in the bottom of the seventh. After walking Mercedes, Tucker was able to get Dugan to ground out softly to second before giving way to Nick Green. With a runner in scoring position, Green needed just one pitch to get Andretty Cordero to bounce back to the mound to get out of the inning and keep the game tied at 2-2.

 LeDarious Clark led off the bottom of the eighth with an infield single, but was carted off after apparently injuring his ankle while sliding into second base on Shaver’s infield hit. After a sacrifice bunt, York brought the infield in an attempt to cut down the go-ahead run. Green forced Anderson Feliz to ground to second base, but Perez’s throw to the plate skipped away from Nunez, allowing both the pinch-running Trace Loehr and Shaver to score to put the Barnstormers ahead 4-2.

 York got two runners on with one out in the ninth against West Tunnell on a walk to Franco and single from Josue Herrera. With two on and one out, Encarnacion drove a ball to deep right center field, coming mere inches shy of giving the Revs the lead. Instead, Dunston Jr. made the running catch against the fence and doubled off Franco at second base to end the game.

 York falls to 8-11 in the season’s War of the Roses series, while the current five-game series is now even at 2-2, leading to a rubber match on Thursday in Lancaster with Alex Sanabia taking the ball against Oscar De La Cruz beginning at 6:30 p.m.  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 6:10 p.m. with Darrell Henry and Jake Ness on the call.

Staten Island 3, Long Island 1

STATEN ISLAND, NY— Matt Solter matched a franchise-best tossing seven innings Wednesday at Fairfield Properties Ballpark to spearhead a 3-1 FerryHawks win over the Ducks. Staten Island’s second straight win kickstarts a (2-0) second-half of the Atlantic League campaign and closes the gap in the ‘Battle of the Belt’ rivalry to nine games to six in favor of Long Island.  

 Despite only receiving 2.25 runs per game through his first 12 starts of the season, Matt Solter was given a lead early when the FerryHawks plated the first run in the fourth inning. Working against Ducks starter Cody Beckman, Ricardo Cespedes got the fourth inning jumpstarted with a single, before thieving second base. Justin O’Connor, making his Atlantic League and FerryHawks debut, rolled a one-out single through the left side to bring home Cespedes for a one-run lead.  

 Solter (2-6) only allowed two hits through the first five innings, protecting the 1-0 lead until the sixth. The Ducks rally started rather quietly when Johnni Turbo took off for first base on a wild pitch, getting there successfully for a “single.” Turbo, though, would be caught stealing second base by Bryan Gonzalez, wiping the bases clean with two outs. Joe De Carlo and Alejandro De Aza followed with singles, before Sam Travis collected the fourth single of the inning to score De Carlo from third. Solter induced a pop out of Deibinson Romero to keep the game tied at 1-1 after six innings.  

 Beckman lasted a season-best six innings in his third start of the year and allowed just the fourth inning tally. He struck out six and walked three in his third time facing the FerryHawks.  

 Chad Hockin was first to follow Beckman, starting the seventh inning against the bottom of the FerryHawks lineup. Alfredo Reyes took an 0-2 pitch and sent it into left field for a leadoff base hit, before Bryan Gonzalez’ sacrifice bunt moved him to second base. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Reyes was brought around on a double down the left-field line by Antoine Duplantis to make it 2-1. Duplantis would swipe third base, before the Ducks decided to intentionally walk Angel Aguilar to face Cespedes with runners on the corners. With three balls and one strike on the left-handed swinger, Hockin’s fifth offer squeaked through De Carlo, pushing Duplantis home from third on the Cespedes walk. The rally ended when Dilson Herrera popped out to first, but the two-run inning which brough seven batters to the plate earned Staten Island a 3-1 lead. 

Solter finished his fourth seven-inning outing of the season by working a 1-2-3 seventh inning, whiffing the final two batters he faced. Working on 10 days rest, Solter struck out six and walked just one in his 13thstart of the 2022 campaign.  

 While Sandy Baez and Chris Cepeda preserved the 3-1 deficit for the Ducks in the eighth and ninth innings, Joe Kuzia and Victor Capellan protected the two-run lead for the FerryHawks. Kuzia made his team-leading 25thappearance, allowing just a hit batsman in the eighth inning. Victor Capellan allowed a one-out ninth-inning walk to Deibinson Romero, but worked around it to pick up his second save in as many nights.  

 Staten Island (20-47) and Long Island wrap up their two-game set on Thursday afternoon. RHP Hector Guance goes for the FerryHawks against Ducks RHP Joe Iorio with first pitch at Fairfield Properties Ballpark scheduled for 1:00 PM. The FerryHawks Pregame Show gets going at 12:45 PM.  

 Postgame Notes: Staten Island’s bullpen has not allowed a run in three straight games (9.0 IP)...Ricardo Cespedes recorded his first three-hit game of the season and has multiple hits in three straight games...Victor Capellan has not allowed an earned run in 13 consecutive appearances (15.0 innings, 15 K, 6 BB)...Antoine Duplantis has hits in 9 of-the-last 10 games and is batting .360 in six games against Long Island.

Kentucky 8, Lexington 2

Southern Maryland at Charleston, Postponed (makeup July 7)