Gastonia 1, High Point 0

GASTONIA, N.C. - Jerry Keel pitched his best game of the 2022 season and Gastonia scratched across an early run to take down High Point 1-0 for their fourth consecutive win of the week.

Keel was quietly dominant on this night, as he mixed speeds, located impeccably and kept the High Point hitters off balance for much of the evening. Keel pitched 6.2 innings, scattering four hits and striking out seven. Keel completed his effort in just 95 pitches, going beyond six innings pitched for the first time this season.

Gastonia got their only run in the game as Alex Holderbach, Keel´s battery mate for the game, singled to left, scoring Reece Hampton in the second inning.

In the seventh, Keel would surrender his second hit to Giovanny Alfonzo, prompting Mauro ¨Goose¨ Gozzo to bring on Euclides Leyer.

In the specialty role, Leyer would coax a fly ball from Mike Gulino to end the seventh.

In the eighth, Sam Bordner made a bit of history for the Honey Hunters, pitching the franchise´s first immaculate inning. The rare feat occurs when a pitcher throws three consecutive strikeouts in the span of nine consecutive strikes.

In the ninth, Jesus Balaguer pitched a perfect frame to seal the win for Gastonia(48-21), running their second half record to 4-0. The save for Balaguer was his fifteenth of the year, placing him in second place in the Atlantic League behind Mat Latos.

Gastonia collected six hits, with none going for extra bases.

The shutout for Gastonia was their eighth of the season and their first 1-0 shutout at Caromont Health Park this year.

Tomorrow, Gastonia plays a doubleheader against High Point, beginning at 4:15pm. Reilly Hovis will open the twinbill on the bump, followed by Ian McKinney. Derek Smith will bring the call on the Honey Hunters Radio Network, with pregame beginning at4:00pm on WGNC am1450 and 101.1fm. An audio stream is available at www.gohoneyhunters.com, with the Honey Hunters youtube channel serving the viewing audience. 

Charleston 6, Staten Island 4

STATEN ISLAND, NY— Charleston’s three-run seventh inning was just enough to push the Dirty Birds past the FerryHawks, 5-4, in the middle game of their three-game set Saturday evening at SIUH Community Park. Staten Island’s loss, their first of the second half of the season, snaps a franchise-best four-game winning streak and sets up a rubber game with the Dirty Birds Sunday evening.  

 FerryHawks starter Dakota Freese worked into the seventh inning in a 2-2 tie, but failed to finish what would be the game-changing frame. Back-to-back walks to Scott Kelly and Angel Garced put two aboard with no one out for Scott Burcham. The third baseman laid down an attempted sacrifice bunt, which was bobbled by Freese for an error. With the bases loaded, Nick Heath delivered a sacrifice fly to break the 2-2 tie. After an RBI single by Diego Goris made it 4-2 Dirty Birds, Edgardo Alfonzo summoned Eric Marinez out of the bullpen. Marinez got Nick Longhi to pop out, but Engel Beltre followed with an RBI single to make it 5-2. Engle’s second hit of the day scored his 7thRBI of the series so far.  

 The FerryHawks responsed immediately in the home half of the seventh inning, reciving a two-run blast by Andres Noriega into the left-field corner. His first Atlantic League home run cut the deficit to 5-4.  

 Dirty Birds starter Ryan Lawlor (4-2) managed to finish the seventh inning, despite the Noriega home run. He allowed four runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts.  

Freese (1-6) twirled 6.1 innings of five run (four earned) baseball, with three strikeouts and four walks.  

 Francisco Carillo made his FerryHawks debut by tossing a scoreless top half of the eighth inning to keep it at a one-run game.  

 Joe Testa and Kevin Siegriest combined to toss perfect eighth and ninth innings for Charleston, earning the Dirty Birds their second win of the second half, 5-4.   

 Charleston started the scoring early on Saturday, getting a first-inning two-run home run from Engel Beltre. His second home run in as many games put the Dirty Birds ahead 2-0 before the FerryHawks had a chance to hit.  

 Staten Island fought back quickly, cutting the deficit in half with a first-inning sacrifice fly by Angel Aguilar to score Antoine Duplantis. Aguilar factored into the tying run in the third inning when his two-out double got Ricardo Cespedes to the plate. After Aguilar swiped third base, Cespedes singled to tie the game at 2-2. 

 Staten Island (22-48) and Charleston wrap up their three-game series on Sunday evening at SIUH Community Park. LHP Anthony Rodriguez opposes LHP Denson Hull with first pitch slated for 4:00 PM. The FerryHawks Pregame show starts at 3:45 PM.  

 Postgame Notes: Staten Island’s bullpen has not allowed a run in the last five games (18.2 innings)...Ricardo Cespedes (2-for-4) recorded his fourth multi-hit game over the last five days...Angel Aguilar (2-for-3) garnered his team-leading 23rdmulti-hit performance...FerryHawks starting pitchers have gone at least 5.0 innings in eight straight games. 

Lexington 4, Long Island 1

(Lexington, Ky., July 9, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Lexington Legends 4-2 on Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game series at Wild Health Field.

 Lexington grabbed the game's first run in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI groundout to short from Montrell Marshall off Ducks starter Anderson DeLeon. A three-run third, highlighted by Courtney Hawkins’ two-run home run to left and Isaias Tejeda’s solo homer to left, increased the Legends lead to 4-0.

Dustin Woodcock put the Ducks on the scoreboard in the ninth with a two-run home run to right field, his second consecutive game with a two-run homer in the ninth. However, The Ducks were unable to pull even.

 Legends starter Thomas Dorminy (4-3) earned the win, tossing seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out five. DeLeon (3-3) took the loss, surrendering four runs on five hits and four walks over three innings of work with four strikeouts.

 Alejandro De Aza led the Ducks offensively with three hits. Johnni Turbo and Sam Travis each added a pair of hits.

 The Ducks and Legends wrap up their three-game set on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. from Wild Health Field. Fans can follow all the action on the Long Island Ducks Broadcast Network. Live streaming HD video and audio will be available via BoxCast on LIDucks.com as well as on the Ducks official Facebook page and YouTube channel. Right-hander Akeel Morris (4-5, 5.50) toes the rubber for the Ducks against Legends righty Jalen Miller (3-2, 6.00).

Southern Maryland 7, York 3

(7/9/2022, Waldorf, MD) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs picked up their third win in a row on Saturday night, defeating the York Revolution by a score of 7-3. The win moved Southern Maryland’s record to 4-1 in the second half. 
Daryl Thompson (8-2) got the starting nod for the Crabs on an overcast Saturday Night. The “Prince of La Plata” picked up yet another quality start, striking out seven over seven innings of three-run ball. The outing was good enough for Thompson to pick up his eighth win of the season. His eight wins are second on the team, only to McKenzie Mills lead leading nine. 

The Crabs’ lineup was once again very good behind Thompson, scoring early and often against York Starter Austin Nicely (2-7). The 27-year-old’s tough season continued, as he gave up six earned over 5 ⅔ innings. Nicely struck out only four. 

Michael Baca was the star of the show for Southern Maryland’s offense. The Blue Crabs nine-hole hitter went 2 / 3 in the contest, collecting three RBIs on a second-inning triple and a sixth-inning single. 

A trio of Crabs combined for the other RBI knocks in the game. Braxton Lee opened up the scoring in the second with an RBI single. He would later come around to score on Baca’s triple. 

Catcher Ryan Haug joined the party after York tied up the game in the bottom of the fifth. Southern Maryland’s catcher knocked Nicely out of the ballgame with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the sixth.

After Baca singled him home, Jack Sundberg extended the Crabs’ lead when he hit his fifth triple of the season past the glove of York center fielder Connor Lien. 

York’s three runs all game in the early innings against Thompson. After left fielder J.C Encarnacion singled home Nellie Rodriguez in the fourth and catcher Lenin Rodriguez homered in the fifth, designated hitter Melky Mesa tied the game with a single. The 3-3 score was the closest York would get to tasting victory, as they were shut down by Thompson and the Southern Maryland bullpen for the latter half of the game. 

Patrick Baker threw two perfect innings in relief of Thompson, striking out one.

The finale of this series will take place right back at the Reg in Waldorf at 2:05 Sunday Afternoon. Pregame autographs and catch on the field will begin around 1:30.

Lancaster 5, Kentucky 1