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Southern Maryland 19, Long Island 16

(7/24/2022, Central Islip, LI) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs held on to beat the Long Island Ducks 19-16, behind 18 hits and six home runs.  David Harris and Jared Walker each hit two home runs, while Jack Sundberg and Zach Collier each went deep once. 

 The Blue Crabs got the bats going in the first inning off of Akeel Morris (L, 4-7). Michael Wielansky and Zach Collier both reached before David Harris hit a three-run home run.  The Ducks responded with two home runs and four runs in the bottom of the first inning off of Eddie Butler (W, 8-2). 

 Long Island kept the offense going in the second inning, taking a 6-3 lead behind four hits and five baserunners.  From there Eddie Butler settled down, pitching five innings, and holding the Ducks to six runs.  

 The Blue Crabs posted one run in the third and fourth, cutting the deficit to 6-5.  In the sixth, the Blue Crabs broke out, scoring six runs to take an 11-6 lead.  Zach Collier hit a solo home run to lead things off. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Jack Sundberg belted a grand slam, which was his first home run of the year,  giving the Blue Crabs an 11-6 edge.  

 Southern Maryland extended their lead in the sixth inning.  With one run already in, Jared Walker blasted his fourteenth home run of the year over the wall in right, putting the Blue Crabs ahead 14-6.  In the eighth, Walker struck again.  After a couple of singles, he destroyed a three-run homer to right, giving the Blue Crabs a 17-6 edge.  

 The Long Island Ducks rallied in the bottom of the eighth inning.  The Ducks hit three home runs in the inning and tallied eight hits.  Dalton Geekie pitched well in the seventh but ran into trouble in the eighth before Dario Polanco entered.  Polanco recorded two outs but also allowed four runs and four base runners.  Cody Strayer also ran into trouble before Mat Latos (S, 22) came in to record the final out.  At the end of the inning, the Ducks had cut the deficit to one, 17-16. 

 The Blue Crabs gave Mat Latos some insurance runs in the top of the ninth.  Michael Wielansky walked before David Harris smashed his second home run of the game, this time over the wall in left-center, giving the Blue Crabs a 19-16 lead. .  In the bottom of the ninth, Latos worked around a pair of baserunners to secure the win. 

 The Blue Crabs avoid the series sweep with the victory.  Southern Maryland moves to 59-25 with the victory, and 11-7 in the second half.  The Blue Crabs are back in action on Tuesday at 6:30 pm against the Lancaster Barnstormers. 

York 12, Lancaster 11

(July 24, 2022 – York, Pa.):  It was an instant War of the Roses classic on Sunday as the York Revolution came out on top in a back-and-forth extra-inning affair, taking home a 12-11 win on a walk-off single from Nellie Rodriguez in the bottom of the 10th inning.  Rodriguez racked up five RBI on the day as the Revs nabbed a much-needed series win, pulling within 4.5 games of first place.

Lancaster led early as Shawon Dunston Jr. led off the game with a double to right field and scored two batters later, on a sacrifice fly by Andretty Cordero, giving the Barnstormers a 1-0 lead.

 Oscar De La Cruz started for Lancaster and navigated the first two innings rather cleanly, allowing just one baserunner on a walk. 

 The Revs would get two base runners on with one out in the second after Jhon Nunez walked and JC Encarnacion was hit by a pitch, up and in. Elmer Reyes grounded a ball up the middle that was deflected by De La Cruz. Second baseman Melvin Mercedes fielded the ricochet but overthrew Cordero at first, scoring Nunez and moving Reyes into scoring position. Carlos Franco doubled off the Arch Nemesis, scoring two more and putting York ahead 3-1. Telvin Nash followed with his third home run since his return to York, a two-run liner that carried out to right center field. Rodriguez followed with his third home run of the weekend, another drive to right center, as the Revs went back-to-back for the third time this season, building a 6-1 lead and chasing De La Cruz after 2.1 innings.

 Connor Lien narrowly missed a third straight home run, settling for a triple off the top of the wall in right field to greet reliever Bret Clarke, and scoring on a base hit to left from Troy Stokes Jr. In total, the Revs collected six straight hits and eight straight baserunners to take a 7-1 lead.

 Lancaster did their best to chip away against Revs starter Eduardo Rivera, as in the fourth inning Ariel Sandoval hit his first home run as a Barnstormer, a two-run shot to right center, which served as just the second Lancaster hit. Sandoval plated another in the sixth on a sacrifice fly to center field, cutting it to 7-4 York. 

 Disaster struck for York in the seventh inning as Lancaster rallied for four runs and took advantage of multiple Revs miscues to grab an 8-7 lead. Jake Hoover led off the frame with a ground rule double to right center field and Tyler Hill followed with a single to left to set the table. Mercedes plated a run on a single to right field, establishing a new Barnstormers record with a hit in his 21st consecutive game. Andretty Cordero knocked in another on a bouncer up the middle. With two in scoring position, York reliever Brett de Geus missed on a wild pitch to the backstop and Mercedes crossed to tie the game. On the play at the plate, the ball kicked away from de Geus who was covering, allowing Cordero to score with heads up baserunning to put Lancaster in front. Lefty Tuck Tucker relieved de Geus and escaped further damage by striking out Trace Loehr swinging to put an end to the frame.

 Trailing by a run, Nash led off the bottom of the seventh to greet debuting Lancaster righty Brandyn Sittinger. Nash proceeded to unload on a towering homer to left center, his second of the afternoon to tie the game at 8-8. It was the 98th of his York career as he also tied Chris Nowak for the franchise record with his seventh multi home run game. 

 Tucker kept the game tied in top of the eighth, striking out the side in order. In his outing, Tucker threw seven sliders, getting whiffs on all six swings against it, while striking out all four batters faced.

 York loaded the bases for Rodriguez with one out in the eighth after Donald Goodson walked three straight batters. Rodriguez drove the second pitch of the at-bat off the batter’s eye in deep center, scoring two and putting the Revs ahead 10-8. It was his fourth extra-base hit of the weekend.

After loading the bases in the top of the ninth against York closer Jim Fuller, the Barnstormers tied the game on a two-run single bounced into right field by Sandoval who drove in five on the afternoon. It denied Fuller of a save as he was attempting to set a new Revs franchise record with his 40th all-time, but he was able to rebound, striking out Hoover to end the inning with two runners on. 

 Yefri Perez opened the bottom of the ninth against Lancaster lefty Augie Sylk with a single to left and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Nunez. Sylk retired the next two, however, striking out Reyes to end the inning with Perez stranded at third after a stolen base.

 York righty Duke von Schamann entered for the tenth, inheriting Hoover as the automatic runner at second base. After back-to-back strikeouts, Mercedes poked another single into right field to score Hoover and give Lancaster the lead again, 11-10. 

 Reyes started the bottom half at second base and Sylk opened the inning by walking Franco and Nash consecutively to load the bases for Rodriguez. In what was the only fitting end to the weekend, Rodriguez lined a base hit down the left field line to score both Reyes and Franco and give the Revs their fourth walk-off victory of the season. Rodriguez knocked in eight runs over the weekend, capped off by the second walk-off hit of his Revs career, the other being a home run last September against Southern Maryland.

 York will begin the last leg of their four-series homestand against Charleston on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.  The night features the Jungle Book Jamboree, is a WellSpan Sports Medicine Silver Slugger Tuesday, and includes Baseball Bingo presented by Edgar Snyder and Associates. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.

 Notes: The Revs walked off their opponent for the second consecutive Sunday as York did the same to Staten Island on a Melky Mesa ninth inning single seven days earlier. Franco’s two-run double in the third gave him 87 RBI on the season, moving him into a tie for eighth on the Revs single-season RBI list. Nash has four home runs in seven games since returning to York. Rodriguez tied a season-high with five RBI and homered three times on the weekend; his next homer will be the 40th of his Revs career which would move him into the career top ten.

High Point 7, Gastonia 6

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Ben Aklinski hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the High Point Rockers to a 7-6 win over Gastonia on Sunday evening at Truist Point.

The High Point rally began when Cesar Trejo doubled to left-center with one out in the ninth and the Rockers trailing 6-2. Tyler Ladendorf grounded out to second before pinch-hitter Adam Taylor delivered an infield single to score Trejo and make it a 6-3 game.  Giovanny Alfonzo then drew a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch from Gastonia reliever Henry Martinez (L, 2-1) before Michael Russell added an infield single to load the bases.

Aklinski hit a 1-0 pitch deep over the wall in left off Martinez to score the three baserunners ahead of him and deliver a 7-6 win to the Rockers. It was Aklinski’s third walk-off hit of the season, his second walk-off homer, and the first walk-off grand slam in Rockers history.

“I’ve been struggling lately in sacrifice fly situations,” said Aklinski following his blast.  “I just told myself to hit the ball 300 feet in the air. It wound up going farther than that.”

Four Gastonia pitchers had held the Rockers to just five hits all game before the ninth inning. Honey Hunter starter John Anderson was perfect through four innings until allowing Wiel’s lead-off double in the fifth.

“We had zero momentum all day,” until the ninth inning, said Aklinski.

The Honey Hunters had built a 4-0 lead on a pair of home runs by Emmanuel Tapia, a three-run shot in the second off starter Sam Burton and a solo homer in the fourth. The Rockers made it a 4-1 game in the fifth when Zander Wiel doubled and scored on an infield out by Ladendorf. High Point cut the deficit to 4-2 in the sixth on a Giovanny Alfonzo double and an RBI double by Jerry Downs.

Gastonia went up 5-2 in the seventh on Luis Castro’s run-scoring double and 6-2 in the eighth on a double by Alex Holderbach and a bases-loaded walk issued to Castro.

The walk-off win provided reliever Ryan Dull (W, 3-0) with the victory after he pitched a scoreless top of the ninth.

Newly-signed Sam Burton made his first starter and went five innings while allowing four runs on four hits and six walks. Two other new members of the Rockers, Gabriel Castellanos and Cole Aker, each threw an inning of relief as did lefty Bryce Hensley.

“Seeing (Aklinski’s) smile coming around the bases said it all,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “He’s been struggling lately. But we know we just needed to keep ourselves in the game and when you have the top of the order coming to bat, you’ll have a chance.”

The Rockers are now 43-40 overall and 4-13 in the second half while Gastonia moves to 58-24 and 14-3.

The Rockers will enjoy a day off on Monday and then head to Lexington, Ky. to face the Wild Health Genomes in a three-game series starting Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m.

Staten Island 7, Lexington 4

Charleston 13, Kentucky 2