High Point 14, Southern Maryland 2

HIGH POINT, N.C. – One Southern Maryland error in the first inning opened the floodgates leading to 10 High Point runs on Sunday as the Rockers went on to defeat the Blue Crabs 14-2 in front of a crowd of 2,161 on Father’s Day at Truist Point.

So. Maryland pitcher Willie Rios walked Michael Russell to open the bottom of the first. Rios then had High Point’s Shed Long, Jr. ground into a double play. Two batters, two outs. The Rockers’ Zander Wiel then lifted a high fly ball straight up from home plate that catcher Isaias Quiroz could not corral as the ball landed in fair territory. That error then led to High Point getting seven base hits and two walks as they scored 10 unearned runs on So. Maryland. Wiel made up for the pop-up by hitting a three-run homer in his second at-bat of the first inning.

“We all know baseball is a crazy game but it’s still amazing what one mistake can do,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “Not just in the game but it changed the series.

“One guy got a hit and led to another guy getting a hit,” said Keefe. “Then Beau Taylor steps up, we’re only up one, he drives in two and that opened it up. Sometimes just the smallest things can make the biggest difference.”

The victory gave the Rockers a 2-1 series lead as they improved to 31-15 on the season. Gastonia remains 1.5 games in front in the Atlantic League’s South Division as the Honey Hunters defeated Staten Island 5-1 to improve to 32-13.

Both starting pitchers got the decision tonight. High Point pitcher Ryan Weiss (W, 2-0) pitched six innings, giving up two runs, seven hits while striking out nine. Rios (L, 0-2), gave up 10 runs, all unearned, on seven hits and three walks in his one inning pitched.

The Blue Crabs plated a run in the second. Alex Crosby reached base with a double to right field and moved to third on a groundout by Jose Rosario. Crosby scored the Blue Crabs first run on a wild pitch from Weiss.

Southern Maryland made the score 10-2 in the third. Jack Sundberg reached on a single then scored on Crosby’s single to center field.

The Rockers pushed two more runs across in the sixth. Aklinski and Taylor got on with back-to-back singles. Ryan Grotjohn then hit a two-run double to make the score 12-2.

In the seventh, Montrel Marshall reached on single to right field, his second hit of the game. Russell singled to put two aboard before Long, Jr. doubled.  Russell then scored on a wild pitch from Jacob Gilliland to give the Rockers 14 runs in the end of seven innings.

High Point will have Monday off and then will start a three-game series against Lexington on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m at Truist Point. The game will be available on FloBaseball.com and also on the Mixlr app.

NOTES: High Point’s 10 runs in the first marked the most runs in a single inning by the Rockers… RHP Kyle Barraclough had his contract purchased by the Boston Red Sox on Sunday and he is expected to report to the AAA Worcester, Mass. Club… Ryan Weiss tied the team season-high with nine strikeouts. Ben Braymer and Mickey Jannis have each had nine strikeout games in 2023.

Long Island 10, York 4

(York, Pa., June 18, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the York Revolution 10-4 on Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game Father’s Day weekend series at WellSpan Park.

Long Island jumped out in front 1-0 in the top of the second versus York starting pitcher Pedro Vasquez as Chance Sisco drove home Alex Dickerson by way of a sacrifice fly. The Ducks made it 2-0 in their favor in the third frame courtesy of an RBI ground-rule double to left center field off the bat of Sam Travis. York got to within 2-1 in the fourth against Long Island starter Scott Harkin thanks to a run-scoring double from Trey Martin. 

Sisco was at it again in the sixth plating Dickerson for the second time as the catcher doubled into the right field corner for a 3-1 Ducks advantage. Tzu-Weil Lin capped off the big frame for the visitors as he cracked a three-run home run over the right field wall which put the Flock out in front 6-1. The hit parade continued in the seventh as Travis launched a two-run tater to left center field to make it 8-1 Long Island. Leading 8-3 in the ninth, back to back run-scoring two base hits from Dickerson and Brian Goodwin put the Flock out in front 10-3 as the balanced offensive attack gave the Ducks a series victory in the Keystone State. 

Harkin (1-1) collected his first win of the season, allowing just a single run on two hits in five innings pitched, walking two while striking out four. Vasquez (2-1) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on six hits in five and two-thirds innings on the mound, walking and striking out three. 

Dickerson led the way on the offensive side with four hits, an RBI, and three runs scored. 

The Ducks continue their road trip on Tuesday night when they open up a three-game midweek series against the Staten Island FerryHawks. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park. Fans can follow all the action live on Flo Baseball by CLICKING HERE. Right-hander Joe Iorio (2-4, 6.17) gets the start for Long Island against a FerryHawks starter to be determined. 

Long Island returns home on Tuesday, June 27, to begin a three-game set against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. 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). The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive Ducks Foam Fingers, courtesy of Drake’s Cakes. It’s also a Triple Play Tuesday! 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.

Lancaster 11, Charleston 0

The Lancaster Barnstormers were able to flush out the system on Sunday afternoon.

Following a six-game losing streak with five narrow defeats, the Barnstormers routed the Charleston Dirty Birds, 11-0, in the series finale at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

Andretty Cordero paced the offense with a homer and five RBI while Brandyn Sittinger and three relievers combined on a two-hit shutout.

Lancaster took control of the game immediately.  Melvin Mercedes doubled to left center on the first pitch thrown by Colt Webb (1-1) and moved up as Cordero flied to deep right center.  Kelly Dugan picked up that run with a sacrifice fly.  Lancaster rebuilt as Ariel Sandoval doubled inside the third base bag and scored on a single into right by Wilson Garcia.

Jalen Miller bobbled the transfer on a two-out ground ball by Mercedes in the second leading to Lancaster’s third run.  Cordero followed with a soft line drive single into left center.  Yeison Coca scored from second.  Mercedes raced around to score as well as the throw went into second base.

An RBI double to left by Coca and Cordero’s 404-foot homer up on the left field hill stretched the lead to 9-0 in the bottom of the fourth.

An RBI single to Sandoval and a wild pitch led to Lancaster’s final two runs in the sixth.

Sittinger (3-3) worked the first six innings.  He allowed a single to left center by Luis Roman in the second and Jose Bermudez’ double in the third, a ball that skipped past Sandoval’s diving effort.  The right-hander walked one and hit a batter while striking out six.  Garrett Granitz, Cole Aker and Tyler LaPorte pitched a scoreless inning apiece to close out the afternoon.

Lancaster will entertain Gastonia on Tuesday evening at 6:30 with Brent Teller (2-3) on the hill.  Fans may view the game on Blue Ridge 11 and FloBaseball beginning at that time.

NOTES:  Cordero’s five RBI were the most by a Barnstormer this season and the most Cordero has had in his two seasons…He has 150 RBI in a Lancaster jersey…His homer was Lancaster’s first in six games…Coca’s double in the fourth extended his hitting streak to 11, one shy of the season high for the club…Granitz got three groundouts on seven pitches in his return, pitching for the first time since 2021…Lancaster has now thrown three shutouts this season…The club has a run differential of +7 on the year.

Gastonia 5, Staten Island 1

For the third time in as many games this weekend, Staten Island got off to a lead in the first inning.

And for the third contest in a row, Gastonia answered back to beat the FerryHawks.

Zach Jarrett’s two-run homer in the bottom of the first was all the Honey Hunters needed to complete the sweep of Staten Island, as they won 5-1 on Sunday.

After Brandon Pugh scored his third first-inning run of the series, on Angel Aguilar’s RBI single, Jarrett launched a ball beyond the left-field wall.

His 17 home runs are the most by any player in the Atlantic League, moving past Frederick’s Leobaldo Cabrera. Jarrett also has 43 RBIs, only behind teammate Carlos Franco’s 45 for the most in the league.

Jarrett’s homer gave Gastonia a 2-1 lead, and the pitching staff took care of Staten Island for the rest of the game.

Gunnar Kines had his second straight great outing, allowing just one run on four hits in six innings. He started several hitters off with a curveball, before throwing a ton of changeups and mixing in his four-seamer.

Over his past two starts, Kines has allowed one run and struck out 13 batters in 12.2 innings pitched.

His ERA has decreased from 7.58 to 4.38 after the two starts, and Kines now has a record of 5-1.

Gastonia’s bullpen was perfect on Sunday afternoon.

Todd Van Steensel, Sam Freeman and Bryan Blanton all threw perfect frames in the seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.

Van Steensel issued three elevated balls for outs, Freeman struck out two and Blanton fanned one.

Blanton, who’s been dominant all season long for the Honey Hunters, has stepped into the ninth-inning role over the past week while Jaime Schultz has struggled.

The right-hander now has a 1.23 ERA with 33 strikeouts and 11 walks.

With Yankees High-A Hudson Valley last year, Blanton had allowed 11.9 walks-per-nine innings. With Winnipeg of the American Association, he issued 8.3 BB/9.

Blanton has cut that number in half, as he’s given up just over four walks for every nine innings this year with Gastonia. His strikeouts-per-nine is also up to 14%, the highest it’s been since 2019.

Blanton missed the 2020 and 2021 seasons with back-to-back elbow surgeries, so the recovery process has included slowly but surely improving his control.

“Going into 2022, I was kind of trying to find out how to re-pitch again pretty much after missing two full years,” Blanton said. “And I think last year, I started off rough. I kind of found it in Winnipeg, and then this offseason I really focused on finding the strike zone more. And I think it was just the repetition of doing it every day was what really led to the walks being down this year.”

Blanton recorded his second save of the season on Friday, and closed out the weekend sweep of Staten Island on Sunday.

Scott Manea and Luis Curbelo both stayed hot, with Manea homering for the second consecutive game and Curbelo having back-to-back multi-hit games.

Kevin Santa had a couple hits as well, one of them being a hard-hit run-scoring double in the fifth inning. In his second game as a Honey Hunter, Santa recorded his first RBI and also stole his first bag.

The Honey Hunters improved to 32-13, which is their best win percentage (.711) so far this year). They remain in first place in the South by a game and a half.

Gastonia will now travel to Lancaster to face off against the Barnstormers, who are losers of six of their past seven.

The series starts on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Frederick 7, Lexington 5