Lexington 3, Long Island 2 (10 innings)

(Lexington, Ky., July 10, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Lexington Legends 3-2 in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon in the final game of a three-game series at Wild Health Field.

 Alejandro De Aza put the Ducks in front in the third inning with a two-out, two-run double down the left field line off Legends starter Jalen Miller. It stayed that way until the bottom of the ninth when a two-out, two-run home run to left field by Dwight Smith Jr. tied the game at two.

 Lexington went on to win the game in the 10th inning. Courtney Hawkins hit a one-out grounder to third with the bases loaded, but Deibinson Romero’s throw home to try and retire Tillman Pugh was just late.

 Neither starter factored into the decision. Ducks starter Akeel Morris threw six and two-thirds scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out six. Miller lasted five innings, giving up two runs on two hits and four walks with six strikeouts. Henry Owens (1-3) picked up the win with two scoreless innings of relief, striking out two. Sandy Baez (3-2) suffered the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on five hits in one and one-third innings.

Lancaster 10, Kentucky 4

Melvin Mercedes blasted a two-run homer and RBI triple, leading the Lancaster Barnstormers to a come-from-behind, 10-4 win over the Wild Health Genomes Sunday afternoon at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

 It was the eighth consecutive home win for the Barnstormers, who are 5-1 in the season’s second half.

 A pair of homers by former American League long ball champ Khris Davis staked the Genomes to a 4-1 lead through the first 4 ½ innings, but the visitors could not hold it.

 Mercedes slugged a two-out homer onto the right field tents with Trace Loehr aboard in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to one.

 The bottom of the sixth provided Lancaster with a lead on a series of odd plays.  Andretty Cordero led off with the second of his four hits, a single to left.  Max Povse (4-6) hit Colton Shaver with a pitch to add a second runner.  Trayvon Robinson’s grounder on the right side was fumbled by first baseman Luke Becker to load the bases.  Povse retired Jake Hoover and Loehr without the tying run scoring.  He then struck out Devon Torrence, but the third strike rolled past catcher Chase Vallot.  He tried to throw home but pulled Povse off the plate as Cordero scored the tying run.  Shawon Dunston, Jr. hit a slow grounder to third which was fielded by Moises Sierra.  Sierra, instead of throwing to first, tried to tag out Robinson, resulting in a chase and a tackle at the bag as Shaver crossed with the lead run.

 Cordero and Robinson each doubled in the seventh as Lancaster extended the lead to 6-4.  The Barnstormers struck for four more in the eighth.  Loehr greeted Alexis Candelario with a single inside the third base bag, and Torrence walked.  Both runners moved ahead on a wild pitch then scored on Dunston’s single into right.  Mercedes belted a triple to the gap in right center for a 9-4 lead and later scored the tenth run on Cordero’s fourth hit, a single to right center.

 Meanwhile, the Barnstormers ran four right-handed relievers out to the mound for an inning each.  Chase Johnson (2-6) was perfect in the sixth as was Josh Graham in the seventh.  Scott Shuman yielded a two-out single in the eighth.  Tyler Suellentrop walked Vallot and gave up a single to Gavin Johns before striking out Becker and Jimmy Paredes and retiring Davis on a fly ball to right to complete the sweep.

 The four relievers combined to strike out six in the four scoreless innings.

 Lancaster is off on Monday and will host the High Point Rockers in a three-game series beginning on Tuesday night.  Erik Manoah (1-1) will make the start for the Barnstormers against Ivan Pineyro (2-1).  Fans may tune into Blue Ridge 11 or the Barnstormers YouTube channel, beginning at 6:30.

 NOTES:  Cordero had his first four-hit game…He has hit safely in 21 of 24…Mercedes has hit safely in nine straight, going 14-32 (.438)…The homer and triple were his fifth of each…Dunston has 12 hits in the last six games…Robinson was 7-for-11 with six RBI against the Genomes and is 22-for-51 (.431) in his last 14 games…The bullpen has thrown 15 straight scoreless innings…The Barnstormers won the season series, six games to three.

York 7, Southern Maryland 3

(7/10/2022, Waldorf, MD) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs fell short in game three of the series with the York Revolution.  The Blue Crabs had won seven of their last eight games coming into the series finale, but York managed to pull out a 7-3 victory this afternoon. 

 Jorge Martinez (W, 7-4), the starter for York, pitched five innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs in the victory.  Martinez threw 108 pitches in the start but tacked on 10 strikeouts. 

 The Revs started the scoring in the first inning.  Yefri Perez doubled to right-center field on the first pitch of the game.  The next batter, Elmer Reyes, punched a single past the glove of Jared Walker, scoring Perez.  York added an insurance run in the second when Troy Stokes Jr scored on a sacrifice fly.  

 The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs got two runs back in the bottom of the third inning.  With Jack Sundberg on second and Raul Shah on first, David Harris drove a base hit into right field, bringing in Jack Sundberg.  The next batter, Alex Crosby, roped a double to left-center field, scoring Shah to tie the game at 2-2. 

 York picked up runs three runs across the fourth and fifth innings off of defensive mistakes, going ahead 5-2.  But, in the bottom of the fifth, David Harris launched a solo home run over the Mini Monster, cutting the deficit to 5-3.  

 From there the bats went quiet.  Alex Merithew (L, 1-1) allowed only four earned runs across seven and two-thirds innings.  Mat Latos entered in the ninth inning, allowing two runs in the inning, giving the Revs a 7-3 win.  

The Blue Crabs fall to 52-20 and are one game back in the North Division in the second half.  Southern Maryland looks to get back in the win column on Tuesday when they take on the Staten Island FerryHawks. 

Gastonia 5, High Point 2

GASTONIA, N.C. - Zach Jarrett hit two home runs and drove in three, as Gastonia rallied for three runs in the fifth inning to defeat the High Point Rockers on Sunday evening by a 5-2 score at CaroMont Health Park.

Reilly Hovis was pitted against Rockers right-hander Liam O´Sullivan. O´Sullivan was seeking his first win of the season, while Hovis was in search of win number six on the year.

Jarrett put Gastonia on top in the second inning, as the Hickory left fielder drove the baseball atop the batting cages in left field to give Gastonia the early 1-0 lead.

High Point responded quickly, as Tyler Ladendorf evened the game at 1-1 with a solo shot to left center field. The homer for Ladendorf was his ninth on the season.

Jarrett would put Gastonia on top again in the fourth, launching his second homer of the night to the cages in left center, giving the Honey Hunters a 2-1 advantage. The home run was his ninth on the year, going with 35 RBI during the campaign.

In the fifth inning, the game slowed dramatically as a steady drizzle fell at CaroMont Health Park.

Cam Williamson led off the High Point with a single, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Jay Gonzalez.

After Hovis lost Ladendorf on a walk, Mauro Gozzo pulled Hovis for Quintin Torres-Costa, giving the southpaw the charge of dealing with High Point power threat Jerry Downs.

Downs singled to center, giving the Rockers a chance at a crooked number with less than two outs.

After Torres-Costa struck out Zander Weil, Adam Taylor would tie the game with a dribbler to the left side of the infield, scoring Williamson. The run would even the game at 2-2, forcing Hovis to endure a no-decision.

In the bottom of the fifth, Jake Skole and Luis Castro reached to open the inning. A Stuart Levy bunt moved the runners up ninety feet.

With Herlis Rodriguez at the plate against High Point reliever Jonathan Crawford, Crawford delivered a wild pitch, scoring Skole, to give Gastonia the lead back at 3-2. Rodriguez and Jack Reinheimer walked to load the bases for Joseph Rosa, who singled to right, scoring Castro, bumping the lead to 4-2.

A sac fly from Jarrett would close out the scoring for Gastonia, taking their lead to 5-2, heading to the sixth.

After Torres-Costa ran into a bit of trouble, Euclides Leyer was summoned from the bullpen to stop the High Point rally. 

Leyer would force a ground out of Jerry Downs to end the threat and give Gastonia a chance to win their fifth straight against the Rockers.

Jesus Balaguer pitched a scoreless seventh to close out the contest, earning his sixteenth save of the season.

Torres-Costa claimed the win to move his record to 4-2 on the year. O´Sullivan absorbed the loss, falling to 0-1 on the season.

Game two was slated to begin later in the evening, but persistent rain in the area, coupled with deteriorating field conditions, prompted a postponement of the nightcap. A make-up will be announced at a future date.