Southern Maryland 5, York 4

(August 23, 2022 – York, Pa.):  Melky Mesa jumpstarted the offense and moved closer to a York Revolution franchise record, but the Revs dropped a back-and-forth opener to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, their fourth straight loss, 5-4 on Tuesday night at PeoplesBank Park.

 For the first time on the homestand, the Revs scored first on a two-run homer to right field from Mesa. He jumped on the first pitch he saw from Eddie Butler, scoring JC Encarnacion who had led off with a single. It was Mesa’s 72nd homer of his Revs career, and brought his RBI total to 306, now six RBIs shy of Andres Perez for the franchise record (312). 

 Southern Maryland got those two runs back in the second inning on a two-out, two-run ground rule double to right center from leadoff hitter Jack Sundberg, tying the game at 2-2. The Blue Crabs had three hits in the inning, all of which came on the first pitch against Revs starter Duke von Schamann.

 Lenin Rodriguez put the Revs back in front in the bottom of the second with an RBI single to right, continuing his hot stretch with the seventh run he’s driven home in the past five games.

 The Crabs answered back in a big way in the top of the third with back-to-back solo homers to right center from Joe DeLuca and right field by Alex Crosby. It was the first time since July that opponents have gone back-to-back off the Revs, putting Southern Maryland ahead 4-3. 

 Butler faced the minimum from the third inning until the seventh, with two base runners being erased on a back-pick at first and a 1-4-3 double play. 

 York got scoreless innings in relief from Roniel Raudes in the sixth and Doug Olcese in the seventh. Raudes had two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 sixth. 

 The span of facing the minimum for Butler ended in the seventh as Connor Lien worked a one-out walk and scored on an RBI double to deep left center by Josue Herrera, tying the game at 4-4. Rodriguez hit a line shot to left field one batter later that was caught by Sundberg with Herrera doubled off at second to end the inning. 

 Zach Collier led off the top of the eighth for the Blue Crabs with a single to center against Carlos Ventura and stole second and third, putting the go-ahead run 90 feet away with one out. Ventura got Michael Baca to swing and miss for strike three, but it became a wild pitch, allowing Collier to score and Baca to reach first. After another strikeout, Ventura was lifted for Tuck Tucker who got the left-handed hitting Sundberg to fly out to left field, ending the inning but not before the Crabs took a 5-4 lead.

 York got two on in the eighth against James Dykstra, courtesy of two walks, but came up empty as the Blue Crabs righty struck out the side. Elmer Reyes had worked an 11-pitch walk early in the inning but was eventually stranded at second base. Mesa drove three foul balls deep to right, just missing turning the game around.

 York went down quickly against closer Endrys Briceno in the ninth inning, falling by a final of 5-4. 

 The Revs will turn to Eduardo Rivera as they look to snap the skid and even the series on Wednesday night starting at 6:30 p.m. It is Wednesday Night Live and a PeoplesBank Kids Eat Free Wednesday. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.

Notes: Nellie Rodriguez walked twice, increasing his league-leading total to 94 on the season, now 11 shy of the Atlantic League single season record of 105 set by teammate Telvin Nash in 2019. Olcese has now gone three scoreless, hitless innings to begin his Revs career. Lenin Rodriguez (1-for-2) is now 6-for-13 with seven RBI over his last five games.

Lancaster 9, Long Island 3

LANCASTER, Pa. - Andretty Cordero went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles on Tuesday evening to lead the Lancaster Barnstormers to a 9-3 win over the Long Island Ducks in the opener of a three-game series at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

 With the win, Lancaster remained 2 ½ games ahead of Southern Maryland in the North race and also gained a game on the three closest competitors in the wild card standings.

 Melvin Mercedes drove a two-run homer onto the right field deck off Ryan Meisinger (3-3) in the bottom of the third for a 2-1 Lancaster lead.  One out later, Cordero singled into left for the second time in the game.  Colton Shaver and Ariel Sandoval picked up walks to load the bases, and the Barnstormers scored two more when second baseman Tzu-Wei Lin made a wild throw on a double play relay on a Jacob Barfield grounder.

 Lancaster would tack on three more runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Jake Hoover led off with a single to center.  Meisinger walked the next two batters before departing for reliever Wladimir Pinto.  Pinto threw a wild pitch to score Hoover, then walked Trayvon Robinson to reload the bases.  Cordero found the gap in left center for a two-run double that extended the lead to 7-2.  Pinto walked Colton Shaver to reload the bases before retiring three straight to get out of the inning.

 Cordero doubled with one out in the sixth, and Shaver walked for the third straight time.  Both scored when Alejandro de Aza raced back on a deep fly by Barfield, turned and lost the handle on the ball.

 Nile Ball (8-4) yielded the three Long Island runs in his six innings of work while yielding only four hits.  He pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the third, allowing one run on a double play grounder.  A second Long Island run came home on a bases loaded balk in the fourth.  Jose Sermo knocked in Deibinson Romero with a long sac fly to left center for the third Long Island tally.

 Lancaster will send Cameron Gann (6-8) to the mound on Wednesday night against Ducks lefty Stephen Tarpley (4-7).  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube channel, starting at 6:25.

 NOTES:  Cordero now has 152 hits and 98 RBI, both league-leading totals and on pace for breaking the club record in both categories…He also took over the batting lead from Long Island center fielder Alejandro de Aza, .337 to .334…Mercedes’ homer was his first since July 26 and 11th of the season…Anthony Peroni extended his hitting streak to 11…Lancaster is 8-5 against the Ducks on the season and 3-1 in the second half…The Barnstormers are tied for second in the wild card race, one-half game behind High Point.

Lexington 11, High Point 3
 

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Lexington Legends scored eight times in the third inning and went on to post an 11-3 win over the High Point Rockers on Tuesday night at Truist Point.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI double from Montrell Marshall, the Legends used a three-run homer from Courtney Hawkins to go ahead 4-0 in the third. Isaias Tejeda followed with a solo homer and later in the third, Teodoro Martinez hit a grand slam to give the Legends a 9-0 lead.

The Rockers started Austin Parsley (L, 0-1) on the mound. The former UNCG pitcher, who went 10-5 for the Spartans this past spring, started off strong, striking out the first two batters he faced and setting the Legends down in order in the first. Parsley struck out the side in the second and allowed a single run. It was in the third that Parsley ran into trouble.

High Point turned to knuckleballer Mickey Jannis who came on in the fourth and pitched five shutout innings, holding the Legends to just one hit and striking out four.  Cam Cotter pitched the ninth for the Rockers and allowed a pair of runs on two hits.

High Point was held to just one hit through the first five innings by Lexington starter Daniel Corcino (W, 5-10) before the Rockers’ offense scored three times in the sixth. Jerry Downs and Quincy Latimore reached on singles before Roldani Baldwin blasted a three-run homer, his fourth round-tripper in the last seven games.The Rockers are now 57-52 overall and 18-25 in the second half.

The Rockers will host the Legends again on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. High Point will send righty Neil Uskali (4-4, 4.13 ERA) to the mound to face the Legends’ David Lebron (6-3, 4.66).

Charleston 7, Gastonia 4

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The Charleston Dirty Birds jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and used a 3-run seventh inning to win the opener of a three-game series against Gastonia at Appalachian Power Park. The 7-4 win for Charleston was their third series opening win against the Honey Hunters in the last four series between the two clubs.

Dakota Chalmers got the start for Gastonia against Charleston´s Derrick Adams. Chalmers was looking for his second win of the season, while Adams was seeking his first win in four starts against the Honey Hunters.

Charleston took advantage of a pair of walks in the first inning, as Edwin Espinal left the yard, off Chalmers, for his seventh homer of the season, giving the Dirty Birds a 3-0 lead.

In the second frame, Charleston grew their lead to 4-0, as Scott Burcham scored on a throwing error from Alex Holderbach, who tried to cut down Yovan Gonzalez as he attempted a steal of second.

Adams, with early support in hand, worked through five innings without allowing a run. Adams surrendered four hits while striking out a pair of Gastonia hitters.

Gastonia got on the board in the sixth, as Joseph Rosa tripled off Charleston reliever Nate Peden and scored on a sacrifice fly from Zach Jarrett, cutting the lead to 4-1.

Charleston scored three times in the seventh to build an insurmountable lead, as Yovan Gonzalez got the critical two-run base hit to grow the Dirty Birds lead to 7-1.

Gastonia was able to close the gap with a run in the eighth, followed by two in the ninth inning to cut the deficit to 7-4. Cole Freeman, who led the Gastonia offense with three hits, doubled a pair of runs home in the ninth to get the Honey Hunters within shouting distance.

The rally was stopped short, as Ricardo Gomez struck out Jack Reinheimer to end the game, securing the win for Adams, moving his record to 6-7 for Charleston(45-62, 19-22).

Chalmers absorbed the loss for Gastonia, as his record levels to 1-1 on the campaign.

John Anderson takes the mound for Gastonia, as he will oppose Alec Kisena on Wednesday at 6:35pm.

Staten Island 9, Kentucky 7