Lancaster 11, Lexington 5

LANCASTER, Pa. - A two-run homer by Chris Proctor in the bottom of the sixth inning put the Lancaster Barnstormers ahead to stay en route to an 11-5 win over the Lexington Legends Thursday evening at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

 The win was Lancaster’s 12th in the last 13 games and moved the club 4 ½ games ahead of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the second half North chase.

 David Lebron (5-3) issued a leadoff walk to Joseph Carpenter who took second on a wild pitch before Proctor, a catcher obtained in an earlier trade with the High Point Rockers, cleared the boards in right for a 6-4 lead.

 Lancaster had jumped ahead in the second inning as Ariel Sandoval’s grounder to third plated Trayvon Robinson who beat the throw from Montrell Marshall home.  After the Legends had tied the game on a passed ball in the top of the fourth, RBI singles by Sandoval and Carpenter, plus a bases loaded walk to Melvin Mercedes advanced Lancaster’s lead to 4-1 through four.

 Tillman Pugh followed a pair of walks with a two-run double to left in the top of the fifth, and Marshall tied the game with a solo homer in the top of the sixth.

 Courtney Hawkins again brought the Legends back with an RBI single in the top of the seventh, but Lancaster put the game away in its half of the inning.

 Marshall’s two-out error on a ground ball by Carpenter allowed Robinson to scamper home with a run and keep the inning alive.  Chris Proctor walked, and Jake Hoover drove home both with a double to right.  Melvin Mercedes yanked a double to left to knock Hoover home for a 10-5 lead.

 Lancaster added an unearned run without a hit in the eighth.

 Nile Ball (7-3) worked the first six innings to earn the win.  The right-hander, who took a no-hitter into the sixth against Lexington on June 28, yielded five hits and four runs.  He walked three and struck out nine.

 Lancaster will host the Legends again on Saturday night with fireworks to follow.  Right-hander Cameron Gann (6-8) will take the hill.  Fans may also tune into the Barnstormers YouTube channel, starting at 6:25.

 NOTES:  Ball broke a four-way tie for the team lead in wins…Lancaster reached double figures in runs for the fourth time in the last eight games…Ariel Sandoval extended a hitting streak to nine games; Anderson Feliz moved his to eight…The Barnstormers reached double digits in strikeouts for the 40th time this season.

Gastonia 9, High Point 4
 

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Gastonia Honey Hunters scored five runs in the fifth inning to erase a 3-0 High Point lead and went on to defeat the Rockers 9-4 Friday night in front of a crowd of 2,188 at Truist Point.

Both starting pitchers cruised through the first three innings. High Point’s Bryan Quillens allowed four hits through four innings while striking out five and keeping the Honey Hunters off the board. Gastonia starter Dakota Chalmers struck out six Rockers in his three innings of work.  Chalmers left after the third and the Rockers greeted reliever Reilly Hovis with a three-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, the Rockers put together five straight base hits. Giovanny Alfonzo and Mike Gulino singled before Michael Russell doubled to score Alfonzo. Ben Aklinski beat out a slow chopper to short for an infield hit that scored Gulino. Jerry Downs then lined an RBI single up the middle to plate Russell and give High Point a 3-0 advantage.

Quillens exited after the fourth inning due to an injury and Cole Aker was summoned from the bullpen. After a lead-off single by Stuart Levy, Jake Skole hit a two-run homer. Aker walked Reece Hampton and Jack Reinheimer beat out an infield single. Gabriel Castellanos took over for Aker and allowed an RBI fielder’s choice to Zach Jarrett and also scored two runners on wild pitches as the Honey Hunters took a 5-3 advantage.

Levy doubled to lead-off the sixth for Gastonia and scored on a sac fly by Hampton to give the Honey Hunters a 6-3 lead. A triple by Joseph Rosa in the seventh followed by a run-scoring single from Jarrett and a sac fly by Levy put Gastonia up 8-3.

The Rockers rallied in the eighth, putting two runners on before Russell stroked an RBI double to make it an 8-4 game. But the rally died and Gastonia added another run on a single, an error and a wild pitch in the ninth.

Aker (L, 2-3) took the loss while Hovis (W, 6-5) earned the victory.

High Point is now 51-49 on the season and 12-22 in the second half. Gastonia improved to 70-30 and 25-9.

High Point and Gastonia meet in the second game of the three-game series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

Staten Island 6, Southern Maryland 4

(8/13/2022, Staten Island, NY) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs lost to the Staten Island FerryHawks on Friday night, despite leading for most of the way.  The Blue Crabs had a 4-1 lead going into the seventh inning, but Staten Island scored five runs en route to their 6-4 victory.

 The Blue Crabs struck first in the top of the third inning.  Ian Yetsko led off the inning with a double to deep left field before Mike Falsetti drove him in on a bloop single into right.  The FerryHawks scored a run in the bottom of the third before the Blue Crabs got the offense going again in the fourth.  Zach Collier drove in Jared Walker to take a 2-1 lead.  With Collier on second, Raul Shah roped a line drive into left field, scoring Collier to give the Blue Crabs a 3-1 lead.

Southern Maryland kept the scoring going in the fifth inning. Michael Wielansky singled before Braxton Lee walked, placing runners on first and second. Two batters later, Raul Shah bounced one into left field, scoring Wielansky to give the Blue Crabs a 4-1 lead.

 Meanwhile, Adrian Cook was rolling.  Cook only allowed two hits and one run across the first six innings.  In the seventh inning, the Staten Island FerryHawks rallied.  Staten Island scored five runs on four hits and one walk. 

 Alsis Herrera (L, 0-1) entered the game with the Blue Crabs ahead 4-2.  Later in the inning, with runners on the corners, and the Blue Crabs ahead 4-3, Dilson Herrera knocked a base hit into left, tying the game.  The next batter, Angel Aguilar, pushed a base hit into right field, scoring two and giving the FerryHawks a 6-4 lead.

 Meanwhile, the FerryHawks bullpen shut down the Blue Crabs’ bats.  Vin Aiello (W, 1-3) pitched an inning, while Joe Kuzia and Victor Capellan (Sv, 15) sealed the eighth and ninth innings.  The Blue Crabs look to win game two as they take on the Staten island FerryHawks tomorrow at 6 pm.

Charleston 7, Long Island 3

(Central Islip, N.Y., Aug. 12, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Charleston Dirty Birds on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 Charleston took an immediate 1-0 lead when Anfernee Seymour led off the ballgame with a solo home run to left field off Ducks starter Stephen Tarpley. A throwing error on a sac bunt that scored Diego Goris and a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of Yovan Gonzalez in the second extended the Dirty Birds advantage to three.

 Long Island closed to within 3-2 in the third on a passed ball that scored Phil Caulfield and Carlos Castro’s RBI double to left-center off Dirty Birds starter Denson Hull. The Ducks then tied the game at three in the fifth on a sac fly to left by Deibinson Romero.

 The Dirty Birds went back in front for good with a four-run seventh inning. RBI singles by Yovan Gonzalez, Scott Burcham and Alfredo Gonzalez, along with a sac fly from Seymour, did the damage.

 Hull did not factor into the decision but lasted four innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks with one strikeout. Ryan Lawlor (6-2) got the win with a scoreless inning of relief, striking out two. Tarpley (4-6) suffered the loss, surrendering six runs (four earned) on six hits over six innings with eight strikeouts.

 Caulfield led the Flock offensively with two hits and two runs scored. Castro and Alejandro De Aza each chipped in with two hits as well.

 The Ducks and Dirty Birds continue their three-game set on Saturday 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). It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Night, presented by Decision Women in Commerce and Professions.

Kentucky 12, York 2

August 12, 2022 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution bullpen was bitten by the walk in Friday’s series opener, dropping the series opener to the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes, 12-2 at PeoplesBank Park.

 Revs starter Alex Sanabia was strong, starting the game with three scoreless frames, striking out seven of his first nine batters and seven of his first eight outs while allowing just one hit and one walk.

 Genomes starter Ryan Kellogg matched Sanabia through three innings as York stranded four runners with the game remaining scoreless.

 Wild Health got on the board in the fourth. With one out in the frame and a runner on second, Felix Pie lined a base hit into right field, and an initial strong throw from JC Encarnacion held runner Khris Davis at third. First baseman Telvin Nash tried to flip behind Pie at first, but the ball skipped away, allowing Davis to score the game’s first run on an error. Two batters later, a base hit from Gavin Johns scored Pie to make it 2-0.

 York got a run back in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single from Jack Kenley, plating Melky Mesa who had reached on a one-out double, the 92nd of his Revs career (third all-time). 

 Another run scored for the Genomes on a sacrifice fly by Luke Becker in the fifth. Encarnacion’s throw had beaten runner Clayton Mehlbauer, but home plate umpire Bill Worthington ruled that he got under the tag of Lenin Rodriguez at the plate, making it 3-1 Genomes. 

 The day for Sanabia ended after five innings as he allowed three runs while striking out eight, tying his Revs career-best, and walking just one.

 Yoel Espinal relieved Sanabia in the sixth and did not record an out. Espinal walked the first three he faced and hit Johns with a pitch to force in a run. Carlos Ventura entered and his first pitch hit Chase Vallot, pushing home another run. Mehlbauer plated two more on a single, suddenly expanding the Genomes lead to 7-1. Ventura was able to retire the next three he faced to end the inning.

 Courntey Mack pitched a scoreless seventh inning in his first relief appearance in York, and Roniel Raudes handled a scoreless eighth.

 York got back on the board in the seventh when Encarnacion led off the inning with a double to left and scored on a fielder’s choice grounder from Nellie Rodriguez. The Revs, attempting to get back in the game, had two on with two out after a Carlos Franco walk, but Mesa went down swinging to end the frame.

 The Genomes batted around again in the top of the ninth, plating five more runs on a ground out, two singles, and a bases loaded walk by reliever Nick Green.

 Brett de Geus entered with a bases loaded jam but escaped without any further runs. He struck out Jimmy Paredes looking and got Pie to fly out to center field, with Troy Stokes Jr making a great diving play in the gap.

 The Revs got two hits in the ninth against former teammate Josh Martin but came up scoreless, dropping the series opener 12-2.

 York will look to even the series on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. as right hander Nick Travieso makes the start against right hander Dustin Beggs. The night features the Parrothead Party presented by PA Virtual Charter School and the Hawaiian Shirt Giveaway presented by WellSpan Health.