Gastonia 5, Southern Maryland 3

GASTONIA, N.C. - The Gastonia Honey Hunters got a superb pitching effort from John Anderson and scratched out 11 hits on the night to defeat the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 5-3 at Caromont Health Park on Wednesday night.

John Anderson took the hill for Gastonia, trying to snap a three game losing skid while seeking a 10-win season for the left-hander. His opposition was one of the hottest pitchers in the Atlantic League, reigning ALPB Pitcher of the Month Eddie Butler.

Anderson was in control for Gastonia, as he was able to breeze through the first five frames against Southern Maryland without surrendering a hit.

His bid for a no-hitter was broken up with two out in the sixth as Jack Sundberg doubled to left, just beyond the outstretched glove of Jake Skole.

Anderson would strand Sundberg at third, keeping his shutout intact.

For Gastonia, the offense was back to the typical pestering nature that has caused so many problems for opposing defenses this season.

Cole Freeman, who signed on Tuesday with the club, started for a second consecutive night and showed the fans at Caromont Health Park why he was the latest acquisition built for speed.

Starting at second tonight, Freeman collected three hits, stole a pair of bases and played solid defensively in place of Joseph Rosa, who got the night off from the field.

Freeman joined in on the base running fun as the club stole seven bags in the contest, pushing the Honey Hunters to within nine swipes of the 2000 Somerset Patriots.

Gastonia got on the scoreboard in the second inning as Luis Roman scored on a passed ball, giving the Honey Hunters a 1-0 lead.

In the fifth, Gastonia plated three runs, as Alex Holderbach scored on a  throwing error by Raul Shah after Jack Reinheimer reached on a fielder's choice.

Joseph Rosa would drive home Reinheimer with a base hit, pushing the lead to 3-0. Two batters later, Rosa would score on a single by Luis Roman to boost Gastonia to a 4-0 advantage.

Emmanuel Tapia delivered a solo shot to center field in the sixth, closing out the scoring for Gastonia and making it a 6-0 game..

With enough offense to pick up the win, Anderson would get through 6.1 innings before manager Goose Gozzo called on his bullpen to close out the Blue Crabs.

Euclides Leyer would support Anderson in the seventh, coming on to keep Southern Maryland from inching closer than the two runs allowed by Anderson.

Anderson closed the night with six strikeouts, allowing just one walk for the evening.

Sam Bordner and Jesus Balaguer came on to end the game, as Balaguer claimed his 22nd save of the season.

The setback for Eddie Butler was just his third loss of the year, as Southern Maryland(70-32,22-14) was unable to secure the season series with the win tonight.   

Gastonia(71-33,26-12) will conclude the series against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Thursday evening with the rubber game of the set. Adrian Cook will face off against Dakota Chalmers at 6:15pm. The Honey Hunters Radio network will air at 6pm with the Honey Hunters pregame show on WGNC am1450 and 101.1fm. The audio stream can be found at www.gohoneyhunters.com.

High Point 4, Charleston 1
 

 CHARLESTON, W.Va. – It didn’t take long for new High Point catcher Roldani Baldwin to make a good impression on his Rockers teammates. The former Boston Red Sox farmhand and Dominican Republic native was released by Boston’s Class AAA Worcester team on August 5. On Tuesday of this week, he joined the Rockers and manager Jamie Keefe immediately inserted him into the starting line-up.

Baldwin was behind the plate for Tuesday’s 8-4 win over Charleston as he belted a three-run homer in helping to power the Rockers to the win.

And if that wasn’t enough to convince his teammates that he can play, Baldwin gave an encore performance on Wednesday night, collecting a double and a homer and scoring twice in leading the Rockers to a 4-1 win over the Dirty Birds. The win was the fourth straight for the Rockers as they heat up in their second half pursuit of the Atlantic League’s South Division pennant.

Baldwin had some familiarity with the Rockers, having been a Red Sox teammate with Jeter Downs, the brother of High Point first baseman Jerry Downs, and pitcher Kutter Crawford, the brother of former Rockers reliever Jonathon Crawford.

“Roldani’s had an immediate impact,” said Keefe on Wednesday night. “He is a very experienced catcher who has been around the game a long time and has great tools. He knows how to work with our pitching staff and has earned the trust and respect of his teammates very quickly.”

Baldwin’s arrival will add to High Point’s already talented corps of catchers in Mike Gulino and Dakota Mulcay

Wednesday night’s game was scoreless through five as starters High Point’s Ivan Pineyro (W, 5-3) and Charleston’s Derrick Adams (L, 5-7) kept the hits to a minimum. Pineyro, who moved into a tie for the team lead with his fifth win of the season, went five innings and allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out three and keeping Charleston scoreless.  Adams went eight innings and allowed just two runs on eight hits while striking out seven and not issuing a walk.

The Rockers broke the ice in the fifth when Baldwin doubled to lead off the inning. Jay Gonzalez was thrown out on a swinging bunt by Adams, moving Baldwin to third. From there, Giovanny Alfonzo drove a fly ball to right with Baldwin scoring on the sacrifice fly.

In the sixth. Michael Russell singled, moved to second on a single by Ben Aklinski then took third on a Downs ground out. Zander Wiel’s fly ball to center scored Russell on yet another sacrifice fly.

The Dirty Birds cut the lead in half in the seventh off reliever Devin Fontenot. Charleston’s Devon Torrence drew a walk and then the former Ohio State cornerback stole second and moved to third on a ground out by Miles Williams. Scott Burcham lined a single to center to bring Torrence home and make it a 2-1 game.

But Baldwin settled matters in the top of the ninth. Ricardo Gomez relieved Adams to start the inning and Quincy Latimore beat out an infield single. Baldwin then blasted a home run to left to put the Rockers up 4-1 and seal the win.

Tyler Higgins allowed one hit and struck out one in pitching the ninth inning and earning his first save of the season.

The Rockers are now 55-49 overall and 16-22 in the second half. While High Point still has a substantial deficit to make up in catching Gastonia for the second half title, Wednesday’s win, coupled with a loss by Kentucky, put the Rockers at least temporarily in a tie for the top wild card berth, pending the outcome of Lancaster’s game with York.

The Rockers will go for the sweep of the three-game series on Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. at Appalachian Power Park.

Long Island 4, Staten Island 2

(Central Islip, N.Y., Aug. 17, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks 4-2 on Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 Both teams exchanged zeroes until the top of the fifth inning when Antoine Duplantis’ RBI single to left field off Ducks starter Ryan Meisinger gave the FerryHawks a 1-0 lead. Andres Noriega’s RBI double to right in the sixth doubled the lead to two.

 Long Island closed to within 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth on Jose Sermo’s RBI single to left off FerryHawks starter Augie Sylk. A three-run eighth then gave the Ducks a 4-2 lead. Tzu-Wei Lin’s RBI single through the right side tied the game, and Phil Caulfield’s two-run double down the right field line put the Flock in front.

 Neither starter factored into the decision. Sylk tossed five and one-third innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and four walks while striking out five. Meisinger surrendered a run on nine hits and a walk over five innings with three strikeouts. Wladimir Pinto (1-0) picked up the win with a scoreless eighth inning, striking out two. Victor Capellan (5-3) suffered the loss, yielding three runs on three hits and two walks in one inning. Tyler Webb collected his 12th save with a scoreless ninth, striking out the side.

 Caulfield led the Flock offensively with three hits, two RBIs and a walk. Carlos Castro added three hits and a run scored.

 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).

York 10, Lancaster 3

YORK, Pa. - For the second straight night, the Lancaster Barnstormers have not been able to hoist the Community Cup on the field at People’s Bank Park in York.

 Lancaster went 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position, and York put the game away with seven runs in the bottom of the seventh as the Revolution won for the second straight night, 10-3.

 The Barnstormers’ lead in the War of the Roses now stands at 16-12 with four games left to play.

 In the top of the first, Melvin Mercedes led off with a single punched into left off Duke von Schamann (6-4).  Andretty Cordero stroked a grounder to third baseman Josue Herrera, who made a clean throw to second, but it appeared the setting sun blinded second baseman Yefri Perez, with the ball escaping into right field.  Mercedes wheeled around to score, and Cordero ended up at second.  Lancaster only managed a walk to Trayvon Robinson over the rest of the inning, setting the tone for a night where the ‘Stormers left a season-high 16 runners on base.

 York would tie the game on a Melky Mesa homer in the second and take the lead off Erik Manoah (3-2) in the fourth.  With one out, Anderson Feliz mishandled a grounder by Nellie Rodriguez for an error.  Mesa checked his swing and hit a dribbler between the mound and home plate.  Manoah’s throw skipped past first baseman Joseph Carpenter, and runners ended up at second and third.  Perez’s blooper to left drove home the lead run.

 That lead grew to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth.  After a brief, bench-clearing incident ensued a heated discussion between catchers Chris Proctor and Lenin Rodriguez, Manoah walked Rodriguez.  J.C Encarnacion doubled into the left field corner, and Rodriguez eventually scored on a Telvin Nash grounder to third.

 The Barnstormers had substantial opportunities to tie the game or take the lead over the next two innings.  In the sixth Carlos Ventura was hit by a pitch, and Trace Loehr singled off reliever Carlos Ventura.  Ventura left with an injury and was replaced by Roniel Raudes.  Mercedes dropped a sacrifice bunt down.  Raudes throw bounced through Perez covering, and Carpenter scored.  Cordero struck out, Jacob Barfield walked to load the bases, but Raudes fanned Trayvon Robinson and coaxed a force play grounder out of Ariel Sandoval to quell the threat. 

 Lancaster also got runners to first and third with one out in the seventh, but lefty Tuck Tucker struck out Loehr and got Mercedes on a pop up to keep the one-run lead.

 Cam Booser walked three, all on full counts, and allowed a single to open the seventh.  Josh Graham took over and was immediately greeted by Nellie Rodriguez’ long two-run double to right as York took a 6-2 lead.  Mesa delivered a sac fly for the inning’s fourth run.  With two outs, Herrera singled up the middle.  Connor Lien capped the inning with a two-run homer down the left field line.

The Barnstormers got the first two runners on base in each of the final two innings and finally scored when Feliz crossed the plate on a grounder to third by Trace Loehr.

 Nile Ball (7-3) will take the mound on Thursday against Eduardo Rivera (5-3) as the Barnstormers attempt to salvage the series.  Fans may tune into the YouTube Channel, starting at 6:25.

 NOTES:  There was a 48-minute rain delay before play started…Ariel Sandoval extended his hitting streak to 12, tied for the third longest on the club this season…All nine Lancaster starters reached base at least once by hit, walk or HBP…Lancaster maintained a 2 ½ game lead over Southern Maryland in the North race but dropped into a tie for second in the wild card, one-half game behind the High Point Rockers…Earlier in the day, the Barnstormers placed OF Shawon Dunston, Jr. on the injured list with a hip injury…He has not played since August 6…Lancaster pitchers struck out 11 batters, the ninth straight time the staff has struck out 10 or more against York and the 42nd time the club has done it this season.

Lexington 4, Kentucky 3 (10 innings)