Frederick 5, Long Island 4 (Game 1)

Long Island 4, Frederick 2 (Game 2)

(Central Islip, N.Y., June 8, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks split a single admission doubleheader with the Frederick Baseball Club on Thursday night at Fairfield Properties Ballpark, losing game one 5-4 before taking game two 4-2. 

Frederick opened the scoring in the third inning of game one on Starlin Castro’s RBI single to right and Raudy Read’s RBI double down the left field line off Ducks starter Joe Iorio. Long Island closed to within one in the bottom of the inning on Boog Powell’s sac fly to center off Frederick starter Winston Lavendier. 

It stayed that way until the sixth when the Ducks scored three two-out run to take a 4-2 lead. Alex Dickerson’s bases loaded walk and Adeiny Hechvarria’s two-run single to left did the damage. Frederick answered back with three unearned runs in the seventh on RBI singles by Jose Marmolejos and Jimmy Paredes plus a run-scoring balk to take a 5-4 lead. 

Neither starter factored into the decision. Iorio tossed six innings of two-run ball, allowing seven hits and a walk while striking out two. Lavendier lasted five and two-thirds innings, giving up four runs on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Arnaldo Hernandez (3-2) picked up the win with one and one-third scoreless innings of relief, striking out two. Kyle Lobstein (0-1) took the loss, conceding two runs on three hits and a walk in one-third of an inning.

Frederick struck first again in game two on Read’s RBI single and Paredes’ run-scoring fielder’s choice in the first inning off Ducks starter Stephen Woods Jr. The Ducks came back to tie it at two in the second on solo home runs to right field by Dickerson and right-center by Tzu-Wei Lin off Frederick starter Elih Villanueva. 

Hechavarria’s sac fly to center in the fourth put the Flock on top 3-2. Brantley Bell wrapped up the scoring in the sixth with a mammoth solo homer to left. 

Woods Jr. (5-1) earned the win, tossing five and two-thirds innings of two-run ball, allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out seven. Villanueva (1-4) took the loss, surrendering four runs on six hits and a walk over six innings with five strikeouts. Kevin Quackenbush picked up his seventh save of the season with a scoreless seventh inning. 

The Ducks continue their homestand on Friday night when they open a three-game series against the York Revolution. 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). Following the game, all fans in attendance will be treated to a Fireworks Spectacular, presented by Forte Construction and TAP Electric. It’s also a Tap Room Friday at the ballpark, and Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons for 20% off your entire meal at any of The Tap Room’s five locations on Long Island as fans exit the ballpark. It’s a Grand Slam Friday as well. The sixth inning will be designated as the Grand Slam Inning, and if the Ducks fourth batter of the inning launches a home run with the bases loaded, one lucky fan will win $25,000! Left-hander Ian Clarkin (1-1, 4.81) gets the start for the Ducks against York righty Carlos Espinal (2-0, 2.70).

Southern Maryland 3, High Point 2

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point Rockers fell to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 3-2 on Thursday at Truist Point. Isaias Quiroz hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth to secure the win for the Blue Crabs.

High Point is now 25-12 and remains a half-game behind Gastonia (25-11) in the Atlantic League’s South Division. The Honey Hunters lost 4-2 at Charleston on Thursday night.

The Rockers were cruising along with a 2-0 lead until the eighth inning. In a well-pitched matchup between High Point starter Kyle Barraclough and So. Maryland starter Mitch Lambson, the Rockers were able to carve out a narrow lead. Shed Long, Jr. led off the bottom of the first with a solo homer for a quick 1-0 advantage. The score remained that way until the sixth when Ben Aklinski blasted a solo homer, his first in eight games, to stake the Rockers to a 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Barraclough was outstanding on the mound. He retired the side in order on 11 pitches in the first. In the second, the Blue Crabs’ David Harris singled and moved to third on a double by K.C. Hobson. But Barraclough, making his first start for High Point, struck out the last three hitters in the order to hold the Blue Crabs at bay.

Barraclough allowed a harmless double in the third and retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth, exiting after five innings and 58 pitches. Jeremy Rhoades pitched two innings for the Rockers and kept the Blue Crabs scoreless, allowing one hit, one walk, and striking out one.

The Blue Crabs scored two runs in the eighth off Taylor Guerrieri on a pair of walks, a hit batter, and a sacrifice bunt that went for a base hit when two Rockers infielders ran into each other.

With the lead gone, the Rockers turned to closer Ryan Dull in the ninth. Through his first 13 innings of the season, Dull had allowed just one hit and nary a run. But catcher Isaias Quiroz greeted Dull with a solo homer to left to put the Blue Crabs in front for the first time. x

Lambson went seven innings, giving up two runs and eight hits, while striking out five. James Dykstra (W, 2-1) put the Rockers down in order in the eighth to secure the win while Isaac Matson (S, 2) set down all three hitters he faced in the ninth to notch his second save of the year.

The Rockers will start a three-game series at Charleston on Friday at 6:35 p.m. at GoMart Ballpark.

Charleston 4, Gastonia 2

J.C. Escarra hit two home runs on Thursday against the Dirty Birds.

They were both solo shots.

And they were the only two runs scored by the Honey Hunters, as Gastonia lost 4-2 and dropped two out of three against last-place Charleston.

Escarra’s first homer was a moonshot to right field, landing 393 feet away from home plate and tying the game at one in the fourth inning.

After Charleston scored three straight runs, Escarra hit his second to dead center in the eighth.

The Atlantic League Player of the Month in April/May started the series 0-for-8, but then got a hit in his final three at-bats, two of them long balls.

Escarra now has 10 homers and 33 RBIs on his season.

While his heroics have helped Gastonia win a ton of games in 2023, the two bombs hit by Escarra were the only runs scored by the Honey Hunters in a losing effort on Thursday.

Sal Romano got his third start of the year, and the score was 1-0 Charleston after he threw his first pitch.

Jalen Miller hit a high fly ball to left, Escarra leapt but it was out of his reach and landed just beyond the fence.

It was Miller’s second home run in as many at-bats, dating back to the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game. And those are the only two homers he’s hit this year.

After Escarra’s game-tying solo shot in the fourth, the Dirty Birds answered when Bobby Bradley led off the inning by hitting a high pop up to shallow left. Escarra came in, Carlos Franco and Jack Reinheimer went out, and the ball fell directly halfway between the two infielders. Bradley ended up sliding in safely at third base, since nobody was covering the bag.

Luis Roman’s grounder to first plated Bradley to give Charleston a 2-1 advantage.

Gastonia’s defensive miscues continued the inning after, as Jose Bermudez led off the frame with a sharp grounder right to Curtis Terry at first.

Terry played it on the backhand, but the ball went right through his glove and into right field. The first baseman went to his dugout after the E3 to retrieve a new mitt.

Yefri Perez then hit a ball deep to right-center field that one-hopped the wall, and he ended up at third with an RBI triple.

This was the fourth triple of the series for the Dirty Birds, and the third that scored a runner.

Miller’s RBI single scored Perez and gave his team a 4-1 lead in the fifth.

Gastonia threatened in the seventh frame, collecting three singles against reliever Victor Lopez to load the bases with two outs for Reinheimer.

The shortstop hit a sharp line drive to center right at Perez for the final out.

Escarra’s second homer cut it to a 4-2 game, and Gastonia threatened once more in the ninth.

Steven Sensley worked a pinch-hit walk, and Braxton Davidson reached base via the free pass as well.

The Honey Hunters had two on with one out, and Cole Freeman came to the plate as the go-ahead run.

Freeman had gotten a hit in his last two at-bats.

He hit a line drive, but right to Miller at second, who tossed to Diego Goris to double up Sensley and end the ball game.

Gastonia, who was leading Charleston in the standings by 15.5 games just a couple nights ago, dropped two straight to the Dirty Birds and lost the series.

The Honey Hunters remain in first place in the South Division, as the High Point Rockers also lost on Thursday night.

They now travel to Frederick, Maryland to take on the Question Marks in a weekend series. Gastonia is 9-0 on the year against Frederick, and it looks to continue its success.

First pitch on Friday is at 7 p.m.

Lancaster 8, Lexington 0

The Lancaster Barnstormers waited an extra half-hour for the blanket of smoke in the area to clear, then proceeded to blank the Lexington Counter Clocks, 8-0, Thursday evening at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

With the win, the Barnstormers completed a perfect homestand and extended the club’s winning streak to six.

A night after the game was scrubbed due to poor air quality, the haze lifted in time for the clubs to take the field.  Starters Brandyn Sittinger (2-3) and Jerad Eickhoff (3-4) took a scoreless duel into the bottom of the fourth when a wild play led to the game’s first runs.  Lancaster had the bases loaded on a single by Trayvon Robinson, a ground rule double by Jack Conley and a walk to Jake Hoover when Yeison Coca hit a slow ground ball to the backhanded side of shortstop Manuel Geraldo.  Geraldo took a glance at third, then cut loose a wild throw between first and second that rolled into right field and allowed three runs to score.  Melvin Mercedes singled home Coca with a fourth run.

The Barnstormers stayed on the attack for the next two innings.  Robinson doubled over the head of left fielder Hector Roa to open the fifth and scored on a single up the middle by Joseph Carpenter.  In the sixth, Raymells Rosa walked the first two batters and allowed an RBI single to Andretty Cordero.  Alsis Herrera hit Kelly Dugan with a pitch to load the bases.  Robinson, after barely missing a grand slam down the left field line, grounded a two-run single into left to produce the game’s final runs.

Sittinger worked five innings in his first start since May 16.  The right-hander allowed one single and one walk in five innings while fanning five.  Bret Clarke fired two perfect innings of relief.  Brian Marconi stared down the biggest Lexington threat of the night when Ronnie Dawson lined out to Dugan with two runners in scoring position.  Newcomer Jesus Liranzo yielded a single and a walk in the ninth but worked out of trouble in his Atlantic League debut.

The Barnstormers will open a three-game series at Staten Island Friday evening with right-hander Brent Teller (2-1) on the hill.  Fans may tune into FloBaseball, beginning at 6:55.

NOTES:  Lancaster’s starting pitchers have allowed only one earned run in 18 innings over the final three games…It was the first shutout of the season for the Lancaster staff…Robinson had his second three-hit game of the hometand…Joseph Carpenter extended his hitting streak to seven and his RBI streak to four…Mercedes has reached base on 19 of 39 plate appearances over the last nine games.