High Point 5, Lexington 4 (10 innings)
 

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Ben Aklinski hit a sacrifice fly to center field and Quincy Latimore beat the throw home to give the High Point Rockers a 5-4 win in 10 innings over the Lexington Legends on Wednesday night at Truist Point.

With the game tied at four, High Point closer Ryan Dull struck out the side in the top of the 10^th. With Latimore starting the bottom of the 10^th on second, he moved to third on a fly ball to right by Roldani Baldwin. Aklinski then worked Lexington reliever Aneuris Rosario to a 3-1 count before hitting a fly ball to shallow center. The Legends centerfielder Darian Sandford made the catch as Latimore tagged but the throw up was the third base line, allowing Latimore to score the winning run.

The sac fly marked Aklinski’s fourth walk-off hit of the season. He singled home the winning run vs. Staten Island on May 20 and beat the FerryHawks with a home run on May 22. The Rockers beat Gastonia on August 21 on an Aklinski grand slam.

Dull earned the win to improve to 4-1 while Rosario absorbed the loss, his first decision of the year.

The win keeps the Rockers a half-game in front of the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes who shutout Staten Island 4-0 on Wednesday.

High Point starter Neil Uskali went six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits including a solo homer from Manuel Geraldo.  The Rockers had trailed 3-0 before tying the game in the fourth on a double by Michael Martinez, an infield single by Jay Gonzalez, and RBI singles from Michael Russell and Logan Morrison.

Trailing 4-3 in the eighth, Aklinski opened the inning with a walk, stole second, moved to third on a ground out by Martinez and scored on a ground out by Gonzalez.

The Rockers are now 58-52 overall and 19-25 in the second half of the season.

The third and deciding game of the series between the Rockers and Legends will be played on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

York 3, Southern Maryland 2

(August 24, 2022 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution and Southern Maryland Blue Crabs had another gritty one-run battle on Wednesday evening at PeoplesBank Park as this time York came out on top, 3-2 thanks to seven shutout innings from Eduardo Rivera.

 Both teams threatened multiple times as the game remained scoreless into the sixth.

 The Crabs got two on with one out in the top of the second inning, but a broken bat line drive resulted in a double play escape for Rivera.
The Revs got two on with one away in the bottom of the fourth after a Telvin Nash single off the right field fence and a Nellie Rodriguez walk, but a ground ball to third resulted in an inning-ending double play for the Blue Crabs. Nash’s one-out single was the first hit York could manage on the night against Crabs lefty Alsis Herrera.

 Tensions rose in the top of the fifth after Blue Crabs first baseman Jared Walker, leading off the top of the inning, made a late time call at the plate which appeared to upset Rivera. The fireballing righty got him swinging on the next pitch, and Walker swiftly charged toward him after words were exchanged. Benches cleared and Walker was ejected. After the delay to sort things out as both teams had gathered near the pitcher's mound, Rivera gave up two hits later in the inning but stranded two after another strikeout ended the frame.

 Herrera continued to cruise for Southern Maryland into the sixth inning, but Rodriguez finally broke the tie with a line drive home run over the Arch Nemesis with two outs, putting York ahead 1-0 on his 18th of the year.

 Rivera quickly found himself in trouble in the seventh after surrendering a leadoff walk and a bunt single. He retired the next three with a strikeout on a two-strike foul bunt by Matt Hibbert, followed by a groundout and a flyout.

 Rivera (7-3) finished seven shutout innings with seven hits allowed, just two walks, and a Revs career-high nine strikeouts. 

 The first two reached for the Revs in the bottom of the seventh on singles by Yefri Perez and Jhon Nunez. Both moved up on a sacrifice bunt from Josue Herrera, and JC Encarnacion was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. Elmer Reyes drove a ball to the warning track in right center, allowing Perez to come across and score on a sacrifice fly, bringing the Revs lead to 2-0. 

 The Blue Crabs once again got two on to start the inning in the eighth, this time against reliever Brett de Geus who was greeted with a walk and a single. De Geus struck out the next two before Zach Collier drove an opposite field RBI double to put Southern Maryland on the board, cutting the lead to 2-1. Roniel Raudes relieved de Geus, striking out Ian Yetsko on three pitches to end the threat.

 York produced a huge insurance run in the eighth against reliever Patrick Baker, courtesy of a two-out rally that began with a double to deep right by Troy Stokes Jr. Nunez plated Stokes Jr. with a single to center as Stokes Jr. beat the throw home to add to York’s lead and make it 3-1. 

 Two more reached to start the ninth inning against York closer Jim Fuller with a run scoring on a ground out, but Fuller got Braxton Lee to ground out to second to end the game and snap the Revs’ four-game losing skid, securing his 15th save of the season and Revs franchise record 44th of his York career.

 York will look to win the series and end the 12-game homestand on a high note with Courtney Mack taking the ball against Daryl Thompson on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m.  It is a Throwback Thursday (70s) with tickets on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.

 Notes: Rivera’s outing is his longest since going seven shutout innings on the road at Southern Maryland on June 30. His nine strikeouts surpass his previous Revs career-best of eight in a complete game win vs. Southern Maryland on September 21, 2021. Rodriguez’ home run is the 43rd of his Revs career, moving past Jason Aspito for eighth on the franchise’s all-time list. Rodriguez walked twice, pushing his season total to 96 free passes, nine shy of Nash’s Atlantic League single-season record of 105 set in 2019. Melky Mesa doubled in the sixth for the 96th double of his Revs career, four shy of joining Andres Perez and Isaias Tejeda in the Revs’ 100-double club. 

Lancaster 7, Long Island 6

LANCASTER, Pa. - Ariel Sandoval has paid enormous dividends for the Lancaster Barnstormers since his arrival in late July, but, perhaps, never more than Wednesday night.

 The Lancaster center fielder lined a single to left, his fourth hit of the night, to drive home the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the ninth as the Barnstormers rallied past the Long Island Ducks, 7-6, in a thriller at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

 Lancaster’s victory, combined with a Southern Maryland loss at York, advanced the second half lead for the Barnstormers to 3 ½ games with 23 remaining.

 With the score tied at 5-5 entering the ninth inning, Long Island loaded the bases with one out on three straight walks from West Tunnell (4-0).  Alejandro de Aza hit a shallow pop foul behind third base.  Andretty Cordero, on the run, made the catch with his glove extended.  The Ducks took a gamble and turned L.J. Mazzilli loose from third.  He beat the throw home to put the visitors ahead, 6-5.  Tunnell got Deibinson Romero to fly out to end the inning.

 Melvin Mercedes opened the bottom of the ninth with a single into right center off Tyler Webb (2-4).  He went to second on a wild pitch, and, one out later, the Ducks opted to walk Cordero intentionally.  Colton Shaver also walked to bring up Sandoval.  He ripped a breaking pitch from Webb over Romero’s head at third.  Mercedes strode home with the tying run, and Cordero easily scampered home with the game winner.

 Phil Caulfield opened the night with a home run for the Ducks, but the Barnstormers quickly responded.  Mercedes greeted starter Stephen Tarpley with a bloop single to right and took second on a Trayvon Robinson bunt.  Tarpley left the game with an injury, and Cordero lined a single into left center to tie the game off Chris Cepeda, then stole second.  Sandoval, two batters later, grounded a single up the middle to score Cordero for a 2-1 lead.

 Long Island went ahead in the fourth.  Romero picked up the tying run with a broken bat bloop hit to left.  After an error on the return throw moved runners to second and third, Lancaster opted to walk Joe DeCarlo intentionally to load the bases.  Matt Chamberlain picked up another walk to force home the lead run, and Dustin Woodcock made it 4-2 with a sac fly to center.

 Sandoval doubled to left center, the ‘Stormers’ only extra base hit of the night to start the bottom of the fourth and scored on a two-out single inside first by Anthony Peroni.

 However, the Ducks pushed the lead back to two in the top of the sixth.  Woodcock drove a two-out double into the left field corner off Bret Clarke.  Anfernee Seymour rolled a single just to the left of second, and Woodcock scored when Jake Hoover’s throw was out of the reach of first baseman Colton Shaver.

 Jacob Barfield grounded a single through the hole on the left side to score Sandoval in the seventh, and the Barnstormers tied the game in the eighth on a bases loaded sacrifice fly to right by Trace Loehr, scoring pinch runner Chris Proctor from third.

 Brooks Hall (3-1) will try to pitch Lancaster to the sweep on Thursday evening.  He will be opposed by right-hander Akeel Morris (5-9).  Fans may tune into the game on the Barnstormers YouTube channel, starting at 6:25.

 NOTES:  The win was only Lancaster’s second of the season when trailing after seven innings…Sandoval had been hitless in his previous three games…Peroni extended his hitting streak to 12…Cordero’s RBI in the first was his 99th of the season…He has amassed 154 hits…Mercedes has hit safely in eight straight…Cameron Gann started for Lancaster and struck out seven in five innings…He now has 126 on the year, 14 shy of the club mark, set by John Anderson in 2019.

Gastonia 11, Charleston 2

The Gastonia Honey Hunters got off to a fast start offensively and rode a stellar pitching performance from John Anderson to defeat the Charleston Dirty Birds 11-2 on Wednesday night at Appalachian Power Park.

In the process of winning their 75th game in just 110 openings, they supplanted the 2000 Somerset Patriots for most stolen bases in a single season with 266, breaking the Atlantic League record in the third inning. Cole Freeman took second in the third inning to secure the record for the second-year franchise.

Gastonia started hot, as Zach Jarrett singled home Jack Reinheimer to open the scoring in the first. Luis Roman increased the first inning lead with a three-run homer to right, stretching the lead to 4-0.

A pair of runs in the third and fourth frames boosted the advantage for Anderson and the Honey Hunters to 8-0.

From there, Anderson threw six-plus innings, surrendering a single run on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts. The effort earned Anderson his eleventh win of the season, tops on the squad.

Jake Skole would put the icing on the celebratory cake, sending his 20th home run out of right field, giving Gastonia(75-35,30-14) an 11-1 lead.

On the night, the 14-hit attack was led by Luis Roman, who had a pair of extra-base hits, including a homer, to go with five RBI.  Herlis Rodriguez and Emmanuel Tapia each had three hits for Gastonia, with Jack Reinheimer collecting two safeties in the contest.

Charleston was led by Scott Kelly with a pair of hits on the night.

Alec Kisena was saddled with the loss, falling to 0-3 on the season for Charleston(45-63,19-22). 

Alex Sanabia takes the mound for Gastonia in Thursday's 6:35pm rubber game against Charleston´s Michael Gunn.

Kentucky 4, Staten Island 0