Long Island 10, Southern Maryland 5

(Central Islip, N.Y., June 28, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 10-5 on Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

Southern Maryland struck first on an RBI single to center field by Braxton Lee in the first inning. However, a six-run third inning gave the Ducks a 6-1 lead. Chance Sisco’s solo home run, Alejandro De Aza's two-run double, Sam Travis’ RBI single and Alex Dickerson's two-run homer did the damage. Ruben Tejada scored on a throwing error in the fifth, extending the Ducks lead to six. 

A four-run seventh inning for the Blue Crabs, including a pair of RBI groundouts by Braxton Lee and Alex Crosby, trimmed the Ducks lead to 7-5. Long Island responded with three runs in the eighth on Sisco’s two-run double to right and Brian Goodwin’s sacrifice fly to right, ballooning their lead back up to five. 

Ducks starter Stephen Woods Jr. (7-2) earned the win, tossing six innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and four walks while striking out five. Blue Crabs starter Jesse Estrada (0-2) took the loss, yielding seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and a walk over seven innings. 

Sisco led the Flock offensively with two extra-base hits, three RBIs and two runs. Travis added two hits, an RBI and a run, Tejada had two hits, two runs and a walk, and Dickerson added a homer, two RBIs, two runs and a walk. 

The Ducks and Blue Crabs wrap up their three-game set on Thursday night. 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 Lew Ford Oversized Baseball Cards as part of the Ducks 2013 Championship 10th Anniversary Series. It’s also a Thirsty Thursday, and all fans will be welcome to visit the Duck Club restaurant/bar during the game, where there will be a special on Well Drinks for just $10 and a buy one, get one half price offer on all Ebbs craft beer and Fountain hard seltzer products in the ballpark as well during the game. Right-hander Robert Stock (2-0, 6.10) toes the rubber for the Ducks against Blue Crabs righty Neil Uskali (2-2, 7.15). 

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. Those unable to make the game can follow all the action live on Flo Baseball by CLICKING HERE.

Lexington 5, Lancaster 1

Home runs by Connor Owings and Thomas Dillard in the bottom of the first provided Lexington with all of the offense it needed as the Counter Clocks defeated the Lancaster Barnstormers, 5-1, in a matinee on Wednesday at Counter Clocks Field.

The loss was Lancaster’s sixth straight away from Clipper Magazine Stadium.

Owings drove a pitch from Nile Ball (2-3) over the left field wall with one out in the bottom of the first inning.  Dillard followed with a blast to right, the first time Lancaster has allowed back-to-back homers all season.

Lancaster, despite having the leadoff runner aboard five times in the game, only managed to score in the third.  Yeison Coca drew a leadoff walk from newcomer Mike Kickham (1-0).  Two successive hitters grounded into force plays, but Melvin Mercedes kept the inning alive with a base on balls.  Andretty Cordero singled through the left side to score Marshall Rich.  The throw home sent Mercedes to third and Cordero to second.  Catcher Mitch Ghelfi attempted to cut down Cordero and missed, but Lancaster sent Mercedes home and he was cut down easily on a perfect return throw to the plate.

The Counter Clocks produced insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.  After the third double play in three innings was turned behind Ball, Mitch Ghelfi kept the inning alive with a single through the left side.  Josue Huma drew a walk to pick up a second runner.  Brandt Broussard doubled off Cordero’s glove down the third base line for a 3-1 lead.  Zach Warren was summoned from the bullpen and yielded a two-run single to right center by Ronnie Dawson.

Lancaster and Lexington will play a doubleheader Thursday at 5:00.  Brandyn Sittinger (3-4) and Bret Clarke (0-4) will make the starts for the Barnstormers.

NOTES:  Wilson Garcia singled in his third at bat, extending his hitting streak to nine…Mercedes reached base three times…Andrew Moritz went 4-for-4 for Lexington, but only one of the four hits left the infield…Ariel Sandoval has hit safely in 28 of his 31 starts…He stole his first base since his May 20 injury and his 12^th of the year.

Gastonia 7, High Point 3

Gastonia recorded six straight hits off High Point starter Matt Solter in the bottom of the third inning, which led to a six-run frame and helped the Honey Hunters win 7-3 on Wednesday night.

The win secured the series for Gastonia, as the Honey Hunters are now two games above the Rockers for first place in the South.

Solter had retired the first six batters he faced, and also had a 3-0 lead heading into the third.

He had the early advantage because Gastonia starter Sam Gaviglio allowed three runs on two hits and three walks in the second, as High Point struck first and was looking to even up the series at a game apiece.

Solter was facing the bottom of the Honey Hunters order.

Here’s how it went:

7. Steven Sensley – Double

8. Luis Curbelo – RBI Single

9. Braxton Davidson – RBI Single

1. Cole Freeman – Single

2. Kevin Santa – Single

The next hitter was Zach Jarrett, with the bases loaded and nobody out in a 3-2 Gastonia deficit.

Jarrett hit a sharp liner into right-center, bouncing and going right past the running attempt of Michael Martinez in right. The ball went all the way to the wall, allowing all three runners on base to score and Jarrett to end up at third.

“Just trying to get something up in the zone that I can try to drive to the outfield, especially with no outs there,” Jarrett said about his mindset heading into the at-bat. “Something on the ground isn’t gonna do much for us. Just trying to stay disciplined, not trying to help the pitcher out or help the defense out in any way. I was fortunate to get a pitch to do that with, and I was able to cash in.”

Jarrett’s bases-clearing triple gave the Honey Hunters a 5-3 lead, and that’s all they ended up needing.

Carlos Franco tacked on a run with an RBI groundout, and Sensley hit a solo home run in the following inning to make it 7-3.

The Gastonia bullpen was phenomenal on Wednesday, throwing a combined six innings of scoreless, one-hit ball.

Sam Freeman came on in relief of Gaviglio, and he pitched two scoreless frames. Ryan Conroy and Jake Miednik then pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings, respectively.

Bryan Blanton got the call for the eighth, retiring the side in order. He then went back out for the ninth and put a couple runners on, but finished off the 7-3 victory.

Jarrett’s been impressed with the bullpen this season, and he recognizes how important it has been to the team’s success.

“It’s huge,” Jarrett said. “It’s been crazy this year because we’ve had so many guys get picked up… Whenever the guys get here, they’re stepping up and doing their thing, which is awesome to watch. It does give you confidence as hitters, and obviously on defense, that they’re gonna go out there and throw strikes and get the job done.”

The Honey Hunters pitching staff allowed just three High Point hits, which is the offense’s lowest amount recorded on the year. The Rockers have seven hits through the first two games of the series.

Gastonia improved to 38-16 after its second win in as many days against the Rockers, who fell to 36-18.

Game three of the series is scheduled for Thursday night at 6:35 at Gastonia’s CaroMont Health Park. The game will be available on FLO Baseball and the Mixlr app.

York 6, Staten Island 5

(June 28th, 2023 – York, Pa.):  Alejandro Rivero came up clutch late in the game both defensively at third base and with a big home run as the York Revolution eked out a 6-5 win over the Staten Island FerryHawks on Wednesday evening at WellSpan Park. The Revs have won four straight, maintaining their 1.5-game lead for first place with 10 games to play in the season’s first half.

York started the scoring in the bottom of the third. Ryan January got hit by a pitch to lead off the threat and Trent Giambrone doubled down the left field line setting up runners at second and third with none out. Tomo Otosaka singled to right on the first pitch, bringing home January. Troy Stokes Jr. remained hot and smoked a double down the third base line bringing Giambrone home from third. Drew Mendoza drove in Otosaka with a sac fly to right as the Revs led 3-0 after three.

The Revs loaded the bases with none out in the fourth and added to the lead, but only scored one on a Giambrone sac fly to left to make it 4-0.

Revs starter Jorge Martinez (3-2) did not allow a hit against Staten Island until the top of the fifth. He surrendered his only run after Luis Castro doubled to deep center with two outs in the fifth, cutting the Revs lead to 4-1.

The Revs responded and went up 5-1 on an RBI single to right center by Jacob Rhinesmith in the bottom of the fifth, plating Trey Martin who had walked and stolen his 20th bag of the season earlier in the inning.

The FerryHawks inched back in the late innings.

Revs reliever Denson Hull handled a scoreless sixth but allowed a leadoff single to Jack Elliot in the seventh. That started a two-run inning as righty Victor Capellan was greeted with a double to left center by Deibinson Romero and an RBI ground out by Roldani Baldwin. Matt Winaker added a two-out RBI single, drawing the Hawks within 5-3.

Kevin Krause bounced an RBI single up the middle off lefty J.P. Woodward in the eighth, ending Woodward's career high-tying streak of eight consecutive scoreless appearances and bringing Staten Island within a run at 5-4. With first and second and two outs, Baldwin smashed one to third as Rivero dove to his left and snagged it on a short hop before firing to second in time for the force as the Revs escaped with the one-run lead intact.

Rivero launched a solo bomb over the Arch Nemesis in the bottom of the eighth, adding insurance as the Revs led 6-4. 

Tasker Strobel gave up a sac fly to Brandon Pugh in the top of the ninth, but ended the game with the tying run on base when Angel Aguilar poked one toward the middle that was speared by a diving Giambrone who flipped to second to end the game as the Revs held on for the one-run victory.

Notes: Strobel’s save was his second of the year; his first came on May 31 at Long Island, the day that the Revs pulled into a tie for first place for the first time. The Revs have been in first place at the end of all but one game since (23 total) and their 1.5-game lead remains tied for their largest of the half. York leads Long Island by 1.5 games and now leads Southern Maryland by 3.5 games in the standings. Woodward had allowed just one hit in nine scoreless innings in the month of June prior to Wednesday’s appearance; the run was unearned as he still has not allowed an earned run in over a month. Martinez did not allow a hit through the first four innings, a night after Revs pitchers combined to hold the Hawks without a hit through the first 5.1 innings. Martinez made his first start in 12 days (back) and earned his first win since May 11. It was the 26th win of his Revs career, fourth-most in franchise history. The Revs improve to 18-8 at home, having won 13 of the last 16 at WellSpan Park. Eight of nine starters in the batting order scored or drove in a run. Otosaka reached four times and went 3-for-4, posting his team-best sixth game of at least three hits while taking over the league lead in on-base percentage at .470. Stokes Jr.’s RBI was his 18th in 15 games in June. Mendoza’s RBI was his 45th in 45 games on the season and 31st in his last 26 games. York is now 8-4 in one-run games. Revs righty Tom Sutera (3-3, 7.40) faces Staten Island right-hander Ofelky Peralta (0-1, 12.00) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. It is Basketball Night and Hunger Free Thursday presented by Members 1st Federal Credit Union. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.

Spire City 8, Charleston 6