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Gastonia 11, Lexington 0

Roger Bernal, Euclides Leyer, Quintin Torres-Costa and Sam Bordner combined to throw the first no-hitter in Gastonia Honey Hunters history tonight at Caromont Health Park, blanking the Lexington Legends 11-0 on Wednesday night.

Bernal, signed earlier this week to join a Gastonia pitching staff that has shared plenty of mountain moments, joined his new club in time to make a historic impression on 1,124 fans at Caromont Health Park.

Gastonia was seeking an opportunity to level the series against the Legends, who defeated Gastonia last night by a 10-4 score.

Bernal was facing off against Thomas Dorminy, who was trying to replicate a brilliant effort last time out against the Honey Hunters.

Bernal managed to work through a pair of walks in the first inning to hold Lexington(9-10,32-53) off the board.

In the second, Bernal worked through the frame with no considerable difficulty and got some help from an offense that had begun to swing the bats at a higher level of efficiency.

Zach Jarrett and Reece Hampton opened the second with back-to-back doubles, with Hampton´s ground-rule double scoring Jarrett. The double for Jarrett moved his hit streak to 21 games, covering all of the month of July.

In the third and fourth innings, Bernal received some defensive support from his mates, as the Honey Hunters turned double plays in consecutive innings.

In the bottom half of the fourth, Gastonia was at it again.

Hampton walked with one out, stole second and then scored on a routine ground ball to second base from Luis Roman. Hampton, breaking for third on the pitch, made a break for home as Brandon Phillips threw to first to record the second out. The throw from Isaias Tejeda was late, as Hampton slid across home, slapping the plate with his hand to give Gastonia a 3-0 lead.

Later in the frame, Tra Holmes drove home Luis Castro, who singled four times in the game to boost his average fourteen points on the night. Holmes' first RBI for Gastonia made it a 4-0 game.

In the fifth, Bernal would finish strong, earning his first 1-2-3 frame to close out his night.

In total, Bernal would walk five batters, but would keep the Legends off the board through five.

Luis Roman drove in Jack Reinheimer in the fifth to make it 5-0, adding to the margin the formidable Gastonia bullpen had to play with.

Euclides Leyer was stellar in two innings for the Honey Hunters, facing the minimum six batters, striking out three.

In the eighth, Quintin Torres-Costa put his stamp on history, logging a perfect inning to take Gastonia to the ninth, three outs away from the franchise's first no-no.

However, the wait would be torturously delightful, as Gastonia sent ten men to the plate, scoring six times against two Lexington relievers.

In the ninth, Mauro Gozzo called on Sam Bordner to finish off the no-hit bid.

Bordner struck out Phillip Ervin looking to get the first out. Brandon Phillips popped out to Roman at third, bringing up Courtney Hawkins to spoil the bid.

It would not happen, as Bordner coaxed a fly ball to right, with Jarrett squeezing out number 27 on the night, sending the Honey Hunters into subdued elation.

Bernal claimed his first win of the year with Gastonia, just hours after meeting his new team and getting acclimated to his new surroundings.

Thomas Dorminy suffered the loss, dropping his record to 5-4 on the season.

Castro led a 15-hit attack, collecting four of only seven singles in the contest. Gastonia had eight extra-base hits in the game, as Jarrett, Hampton, Roman and Tra Holmes earned multi-hit games for Gastonia.

Gastonia (15-4, 59-25) plays the rubber game of the series tomorrow night against the Lexington Legends with a 6:15 pm first pitch. Ian McKinney returns to the bump to work against Jaylen Miller.

The Honey Hunters pregame show begins at 6:00 pm.

Southern Maryland 6, Lancaster 3

(7/27/2022, Lancaster, PA) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs picked up their third straight win and clinched the series victory over the Lancaster Barnstormers on Wednesday night.  Alex Merithew (W, 2-2) pitched seven innings, allowing just two runs, while Jack Sundberg belted a pair of homers to right field. 

 The Barnstormers started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning.  Shawon Dunston Jr. reached first on a walk, before stealing second base.  Andretty Cordero ripped a base hit into center field, giving Lancaster the 1-0 lead. 

 The Blue Crabs responded quickly.  David Harris led off the top of the second inning with a solo shot over the short porch in right field, tying the game.  In the top of the fourth, the Blue Crabs took the lead.  With Alex Crosby on third base, Ian Yetsko ripped a double to left field, scoring Crosby to put the Blue Crabs ahead 2-1.  

 The Blue Crabs struck again in the top of the fifth inning.  Jack Sundberg struck a solo home run on a fly ball to right field, putting Southern Maryland ahead 3-1.  Later in the inning, Alex Crosby bounced a grounder past the shortstop, Anderson Feliz, scoring Zach Collier to put the Blue Crabs up 4-1. 

 The Blue Crabs continued adding to the lead in the sixth inning when Jack Sundberg smashed his second home run of the game, putting the Blue Crabs ahead 5-1. 

 Meanwhile, Alex Merithew went seven innings of work.  After allowing a run in the first inning, he held the Barnstormers off the board until the seventh inning.  In the seventh, Jacob Barfield led off the inning when he roped a double into the right-center field gap.  Ariel Sandoval bounced a single back up the middle, scoring Barfield, cutting the deficit to 5-2. 

 In the eighth inning, The Barnstormers clawed closer.  Melvin Mercedes reached second base on a fielding error from Alex Crosby, before advancing to third on a wild pitch.  Mercedes came in and scored on a groundout to third base. 

 The Blue Crabs tacked on a run in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 6-3.  In the bottom of the ninth inning, Mat Latos (S, 24) pitched a 1-2-3 inning, finishing by striking out Chris Proctor, securing the Blue Crabs’ 6-3 win. 

 With the win, the Blue Crabs are 61-25 on the year and move to 13-7 in the second half.  The Blue Crabs now lead the Second Half North Division standings by one game.  The Blue Crabs go for the sweep tomorrow against the Lancaster Barnstormers.   

Staten Island 10, Long Island 9

(Central Islip, N.Y., July 27, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Staten Island FerryHawks 10-9 on Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 Staten Island took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning on Rusney Castillo’s RBI single to right field off Ducks starter Joe Iorio. Carlos Castro shot the Ducks in front 2-1 in the second with a two-out, two-run home run to left field off FerryHawks starter David Martinez. The FerryHawks answered in the third when Javier Betancourt doubled and later scored on an error, tying the game at two. However, a run-scoring groundout off the bat of Lew Ford in the bottom of the inning gave the Ducks the lead back.

 A two-run fourth inning, highlighted by Betancourt’s RBI single to right and Dilson Herrera’s sac fly to right, gave Staten Island a 4-3 lead. Long Island tied it back up in bottom of the frame on Castro’s RBI single up the middle. The FerryHawks plated four more runs in the fifth inning to go in front 8-4 on RBI singles by Joseph Monge and Castillo along with a two-run base hit by Antoine Duplantis.

 Alejandro De Aza closed the gap to 8-5 in the seventh on an RBI double down the right field line. Kevin Whatley lifted a two-run double into the right field corner in the eighth, trimming the deficit to one. However, Staten Island got both runs back in the ninth on Monge’s sac fly and Duplantis’ RBI single. Deibinson Romero launched a two-out, two-run home run in the ninth to make it a one-run game but could not complete the comeback.

 Martinez (2-2) picked up the win, tossing five innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out four. Iorio (6-4) suffered the loss, surrendering eight runs on 14 hits over four and two-thirds innings with two strikeouts. Victor Capellan collected his 12th save despite allowing two runs on two hits in one and one-third innings.

 Castro completed his night with two hits, three RBIs and a run. Ford finished with three hits, an RBI and a run, while Romero added two hits, two RBIs, two runs and a walk. 

The Ducks and FerryHawks wrap up their three-game set on Thursday night. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m., with the Fairfield Properties Ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (5:20 for full season ticket holders). The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive Ducks 4-Time Champions T-Shirts, courtesy of SCOPE Education Services. It’s also a Thirsty Thursday at the ballpark! Throughout the game, fans will be able to enjoy a special buy one, get one half-price offer on all Ebbs Beer throughout the game. In addition, the Duck Club restaurant/bar on the club level will be open for all fans to enjoy. Left-hander Bennett Parry (0-1, 7.36) toes the rubber for the Ducks against FerryHawks righty Dakota Freese (1-7, 4.16).

Kentucky 8, High Point 7
 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The High Point Rockers fell to the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes 8-7 on Wednesday afternoon at Wild Health Field.

The Rockers built an early 6-0 lead but the Genomes bounced back with eight unanswered runs to take a 2-0 lead in the three-game series.

The Rockers are now 43-42 overall and 4-15 in the second half of the ALPB season.

With one out in the first, High Point’s Ben Aklinski drew a walk from Kentucky starter Dustin Beggs (W, 8-4) and moved to third on a single by Jerry Downs. Zander Wiel grounded out with Aklinski coming across to score the first run of the game. Logan Morrison followed with a single to center to score Jerry Downs.

In the third, Aklinski singled with one out and scored from first on a double by Downs. Morrison again singled to center to plate Downs to give the Rockers a 4-0 lead.

Michael Russell hit a solo homer in the fourth to put the Rockers ahead 5-0. Aklinski followed with a walk, stole second, and scored on an RBI single from Wiel for a 6-0 advantage.

The Genomes began their comeback with four runs in the fourth, coming on an RBI groundout by Samir Duenez, an RBI double from Anderson Miller, an RBI single from Gavin Johns and a throwing error by Rockers’ catcher Dakota Mulcay.  The Genomes took a 7-6 lead in the fifth on a Duenez three-run homer that chased Rockers starter Liam O’Sullivan (L, 0-3). O’Sullivan went 4.2 innings and allowed six hits and tghree walks while yielding seven runs and striking out five.

Chris Shaw’s RBI single in the sixth scored Clayton Mehlbauer to put the Genomes up 8-6.

The Rockers made it an 8-7 game with a single run in the eighth on a solo homer by J.R. DiSarcina who rejoined the Rockers on Tuesday of this week. Kentucky’s Robbie Ross, Jr. pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the Genomes to earn his first save of the year.

High Point and Kentucky will play the final game of the three-game series on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. at Wild Health Field.

York 19, Charleston 1