Perfect.

That’s exactly what the Honey Hunters bullpen was in four innings of work on Thursday night, as it helped shut the door on the Rockers in Gastonia’s 7-4 victory to win the series against High Point.

Gastonia pitching retired 13 straight Rockers, tallying seven consecutive strikeouts to end the ball game.

Gunnar Kines got his first start of the season for the Honey Hunters.

He went five innings, giving up four runs and exiting with his team holding just a 5-4 lead.

Sure enough, that lead was big enough for the ‘pen.

Ryan Williamson pitched the sixth and seventh, retiring all six batters he faced with ease.

The southpaw worked a seven-pitch sixth inning, getting a couple flyouts and a groundout to put down the bottom of the order quickly.

He then faced 9-1-2, retiring the side by getting two ground balls – both to Carlos Franco at third – and a strikeout of Michael Martinez, the hitter’s third K of the day.

Williamson needed just nine pitches to get through the seventh frame.

He passed the baton to David Richardson, who was coming off a rough outing on Tuesday night where he gave up four runs on four hits.

The big hit he allowed was the game-winning three-run homer off the bat of Beau Taylor.

Taylor was due up fourth in the inning against Richardson.

The two didn’t get a rematch though, as Richardson struck out the side – the batters all swinging at his curveball in the dirt.

Richardson had a game plan coming into the appearance, and he executed it to perfection.

“Focus. I wanted to attack,” Richardson said. “I know they’re an aggressive team, so I didn’t just wanna feed them fastballs. I know I have a good curveball, so I wanted to get ahead. And once I got ahead, I wanted to put them out.”

And put them out he did.

Richardson fooled John Nogowski, Zander Wiel and Ben Aklinski on his curve down in the zone to get them out on strikes.

Nogowski and Wiel are two of the most dangerous hitters in the Atlantic League, but they were no match for Richardson on Thursday.

Gastonia manager Goose Gozzo then turned to lefty Tyler Thomas to get the final three outs.

Thomas had 31 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched coming into the game.

Make that 34 in 20.

Thomas got Taylor, Ryan Grotjohn and John Daly all to go down swinging to close out the contest.

That’s the first save of the year for the southpaw, who has an ERA of 0.90 and has pitched sensationally in 2023 for Gastonia.

The bullpen wouldn’t have had a game to close out, though, if it wasn't for the offense doing its part for the third night in a row against High Point.

Cole Freeman and Curtis Terry had huge nights, as the two have been swinging pretty hot bats recently for the Honey Hunters.

Freeman went 2-for-4 on Tuesday and stole a bag while coming in as the designated pinch runner on Wednesday.

He continued his great play against the Rockers on Thursday, going 3-for-3 and ending the night just a triple shy of the cycle.

Freeman started off the third inning with a double into left-center field, where Daly jumped and the ball went over his head and one-hopped the wall.

He then scored on Jack Reinheimer’s RBI single, which also hit off the left-center field fence.

After Reinheimer swiped his 17th base of the season, Zach Jarrett knocked him in with a two-bagger.

A couple batters later, Terry stepped up to the plate.

Gastonia’s first baseman went 2-for-3 with a home run on Monday and had another multi-hit night and knocked in a couple runs against High Point on Tuesday. He singled and came home to score one of six first-inning runs on Wednesday.

And Terry’s hot bat continued on Thursday.

He capped off a four-run fourth inning, with Jarrett on second after his double, by crushing a baseball beyond the left-center field wall for a two-run shot.

It was Terry’s fourth long ball of the year, and he wasn’t finished there.

The former Texas Ranger hit a run-scoring double in the fifth, as he drilled a ball to deep center and Daly wasn’t able to make what would’ve been an incredible running catch near the wall.

The double plated J.C. Escarra, and it gave the Honey Hunters some breathing room.

After a 5-0 lead became 5-4, Terry’s two-bagger made it 6-4 Gastonia.

Terry’s slugging percentage is now up to .425, and it was only at .330 on Friday, May 26.

He’s seven for his last 16, which is an average of .438, in the past four games.

Gozzo gave much praise to both Freeman and Terry, who have been picking it up at the plate as of late.

“They didn’t get off to the kind of starts that they wanted to, but they’ve worked real hard battling back,” Gozzo said. “They’re pros. They’re pros that have been around a while and understand and they keep working at it.”

Gastonia’s series win means that the Honey Hunters at 21-9 are now tied in the loss column with the Rockers, with High Point being a half game up at 22-9.

The season series is now tied 3-3 between the South Division rivals, with the teams not meeting until June 27 in Gastonia.

The Honey Hunters will now host the Lexington Counter Clocks, while High Point will head home to play Charleston.

The first game for both three-game weekend sets is on Friday at 6:35 p.m.

York 18, Long Island 3

(Central Islip, N.Y., June 1, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the York Revolution 18-3 on Thursday night in the final game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. 

The Ducks hit the road on Friday night to begin a three-game series with the Lancaster Barnstormers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Clipper Magazine Stadium. Fans can follow all the action live on Flo Baseball by CLICKING HERE. Right-hander Stephen Woods Jr. (4-0, 3.03) gets the start for the Ducks against Barnstormers righty Brent Teller (1-1, 4.96). 

Long Island returns home on Tuesday, June 6, to open a three-game set against the Frederick Baseball Team. 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 a Triple Play Tuesday at the ballpark! If the Ducks turn a triple play during the game, one lucky fan will win $25,000. Simply sign up prior to first pitch at the Ticket Kiosk on the main concourse to be eligible. Tickets for the game, and all Ducks games, are available by visiting the Fairfield Properties Ballpark box office, calling (631) 940-TIXX or CLICKING HERE. 

The Long Island Ducks are members of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a Professional Partner League of Major League Baseball. Over 8.5 million fans have enjoyed the Ducks brand of affordable, fun entertainment at Fairfield Properties Ballpark since inception in 2000. For further information, visit LIDucks.com or call 631-940-DUCK (3825).

Frederick 7, Staten Island 6

Frederick took the rubber match in exciting fashion on Thursday night, walking off Staten Island thanks to a Kole Cottam single in the ninth inning.

For the third time in the series, Staten Island struck first with a big swing, this time a three-run home run by Roldani Baldwin in the second inning. 

As they have done in most of their comebacks, Frederick slowly chipped away. In the third inning, Leobaldo Cabrera blasted yet another home run, which cut it to 3-1. For Cabrera, it was his sixth straight game with a home run, passing Craig Dedelow's streak of five games to start the season. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Kole Cottam led the inning off with a solo blast to center field. After an Osvaldo Abreu single and walks by Craig Dedelow and Jimmy Paredes, Jose Marmolejos drove a ball to deep center field, which easily scored Abreu from third. The throw from the outfield came into third base, and skipped away allowing Dedelow to score as well, putting Frederick ahead. The next batter, Starlin Castro, knocked a base hit to make it 5-3. 

In the seventh inning, Staten Island got to Jeff Johnson, scoring a run off of an RBI single and then chasing him after loading the bases. Jack Elliott hit a fly ball to center field, and Leobaldo Cabrera threw to second to double off the runner trying to advance. The home plate umpire ruled that the run scored before the out was recorded, thus tying the game at five.

Frederick wouldn't wait long to break the tie, as Craig Dedelow hit a solo home run to the opposite field to put Frederick back in front 6-5.

In the eighth inning, Jack Weinberger allowed a leadoff single put quickly erased him with a double play. After another single, Cottam gunned down a potential base stealer to end the inning. 

Arnaldo Hernandez then pitched the ninth, but after recording the first two outs rather quickly, he allowed a solo home run with two outs to Angel Aguilar to tie the game. After loading the bases, Hernandez was able to get a flyout to end the threat and keep the game tied. 

In the ninth, Starlin Castro drew a one out walk and was run for by Scott Kelly, who moved to second on a Raudy Read single. With two outs, Kole Cottam knocked a base hit up the middle, scoring Kelly to give Frederick the 7-6 win.