Staten Island 8, York 7

(June 29th, 2023 – York, Pa.):  Trey Martin blasted a pair of long balls but the York Revolution had their own comeback effort outdone by the Staten Island FerryHawks, dropping Thursday’s series finale, 8-7 at WellSpan Park. The Revs are denied the sweep as their four-game winning streak is halted, while their first place lead shrinks to half a game over Long Island with nine to play in the first half.

The Revs were going for the four-game home sweep against Staten Island as Tom Sutera toed the rubber for the Revs against Ofelky Cabrera with a low scoring game in the early innings.

The Revs took a 1-0 lead in the second when Martin clubbed his first homer of the night and fifth of the year on a line shot just over the digital board in left center. York had a chance for more but Trent Giambrone lined sharply into a double play with the bases loaded, as Martin’s homer was one of just two hits off of Peralta in the first four innings.

Sutera retired his first nine batters but surrendered two home runs in the fourth inning, as Angel Aguilar drilled one to deep left over the Arch Nemesis for a two-run shot, and Jack Elliot hit one to right field onto the clubhouse roof, a solo homer making it 3-1 Staten Island.

Sutera finished five innings and gave up four hits and three runs on no walks and one strikeout before giving way to new Revs righty Andrew Cabezas who pitched scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh in his debut.

Meanwhile, York began to come back as Tomo Otosaka smoked an RBI hit to right field in the bottom of the fifth, making it a 3-2 game before Peralta’s exit. The Revs bats came alive late again against the Staten Island bullpen.

Martin greeted Anthony Quattrocchi in the sixth inning with a bomb over the Nemesis for his first career multi-home run game, tying the score at 3-3.

The Revs erupted for four runs in the seventh off reliever Enrique Santana. Otosaka walked to start things and Troy Stokes Jr. rapped a single up the middle. That set up Drew Mendoza who hit a laser over Brandon Pugh’s head in center field, driving in a go-ahead run for a 4-3 lead. With runners at second and third, Martin added to his great night by launching one deep to center for a sac fly, making it 5-3, York. Jacob Rhinesmith ripped one on the ground down the first base line past a diving Deibinson Romero for an RBI double, extending the lead to 6-3. Jhon Nunez bounced one up the middle for an RBI single that plated Rhinesmith for some breathing room with a 7-3 lead after six unanswered runs.

Staten Island had an answer and finally got to Cabezas, scoring two runs in the eighth inning off of three singles and an error. The first run scored when Aguilar singled and the ball got past Rhinesmith in left. Jack Elliot later added a broken bat single to left plating the second run of the inning, cutting the York lead to 7-5. Andrew Gross came in to get the last out of the eighth, retiring Romero on a ground out to second.

Will McAffer came on to start the ninth but allowed a single and a hit by pitch after recording the first out. Tasker Strobel replaced him and surrendered an RBI pitch hit single by Drew Jemison cutting the lead to 7-6, and a two-run double in the right center gap by Garrett Kueber as Staten Island snatched the decisive 8-7 lead.

The Revs went down in order in the bottom of the ninth against Williams Ramirez who notched his second save.

York will look to rebound in a four-game series at High Point beginning Friday night at 6:35 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and FloBaseball.TV beginning at 6:15 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.

Lexington 4, Lancaster 7 (Game 1)
Lancaster 11, Lexington 9 (Game 2)

A seven-run lead got away from the Lancaster Barnstormers in the second game of Thursday night’s doubleheader at Lexington.

Then, in a frantic eighth inning, the Barnstormers pulled out an 11-9 victory over the host Counter Clocks to gain a split of the doubleheader.  Earlier, Lexington slugged a pair of third inning home runs en route to an uncomplicated 4-1 win.

The Barnstormers had built an 8-1 lead through 5 ½ innings in the second game on the strength of a five-run fourth and Ariel Sandoval’s two-run single in the top of the sixth.

Bret Clarke, who had shut down the Counter Clocks for the first five innings, went back out for a sixth.  Connor Owings started the inning with a solid single to right.  Thomas Dillard drew a walk, and J.C. Encarnacion lined a three-run homer to left.  Mike Adams took over and retired the side in order, cooling off the Counter Clocks but only briefly.

Chris Brady opened the ninth with a single through the left side off Andrew Lee.  Brandt Broussard followed with a single to center, and Ronnie Dawson loaded the bases on a sinking liner to right that was trapped by Joseph Carpenter.  Owings grounded into a force out at second, driving home one.  Lee rebounded to strike out Dillard looking on a 3-2 pitch, but Encarnacion lofted a deep fly to left that carried out for his second home run, tying the game at 8-8.  Andrew Moritz walked before lefty Zach Warren came in to retire pinch hitter Jesus Tavarez on a grounder to first, sending the game to extra innings.

In the eighth, with Trace Loehr at second as the “ghost” runner, Jack Conley pinch hit for Marshall Rich and popped a bunt toward the third base line.  Lincoln Hentzman (0-2) came up short on a dive, giving Lancaster runners at first and third.  A wild pitch scored Loehr, and Conley took third on a sacrifice by Melvin Mercedes.  With Andretty Cordero batting, Conley timed a lob throw back to the mound by Brady and bolted for home, easily stealing the plate.

One out later, Ariel Sandoval cranked his second homer of the series to left center for an 11-8 lead.

Warren (1-0) allowed the ghost runner, Moritz, to score on an infield single and a ground out in the bottom of the inning but struck out Dawson to end the game, securing the win.

In the opener, a makeup game from June 7 in Lancaster, the Barnstormers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Loehr that scored Carpenter.  Lexington responded quickly in the top of the third.  Broussard doubled to left center and rode home on a home run to right by Ronnie Dawson.  Dillard added a homer later in the inning.

Sittinger (3-5) allowed a fourth run on a fielder’s choice in the fifth inning before eventually throwing the first complete game of the season by a Barnstormer.

Merandy Gonzalez (2-2) allowed four hits and a run in five innings to earn the win.

Lancaster heads to Charleston to open a four-game series against the Dirty Birds Friday at 6:35.  Brent Teller (4-3) will make the start against lefty Danny Wirchansky (1-2).  Fans may view the game on FloBaseball, beginning at 6:30.

NOTES:  Wilson Garcia hit safely in both ends of the doubleheader, extending his streak to 11 games…Yeison Coca also had four hits in the twinbill, including a bases-loaded double in the fourth inning of the nightcap…The second game win ended a seven-game road losing streak…Sandoval opened the fourth inning of the second game with a double, Lancaster’s first extra-base hit in 19 innings…It was Lancaster’s second win in five tries in extra innings.

High Point 11, Gastonia 1
 

GASTONIA, N.C. – The High Point Rockers set a season-high with 19 base hits and won the final game of the series from Gastonia by a final of 11-1 on Thursday night at CaroMont Health Park.

The win pulls the Rockers to within one game of the first place Honey Hunters in the Atlantic League South Division. High Point is now 37-18 on  the season while Gastonia stands at 38-17. Each team has eight games remaining, including one head-to-head meeting, before the end of the first half of the Atlantic League on Friday, July 7.

High Point’s Michael Russell and Ryan Grotjohn each led the way with four hits apiece. Grotjohn and Zander Wiel accounted for three RBI each. Starting pitcher Ryan Weiss (W, 3-1) went 6.2 innings for the Rockers and allowed five hits and one run while walking two and striking out seven.

High Point started the scoring in the first inning when Dai-Kang Yang hit a two-out two-run homer to dead center, scoring Russell who had singled to reach first.  In the second, Brian Parreira opened the inning with a walk and moved to second on a one-out single by Michael Martinez. Shed Long, Jr. singled to load the bases before Gastonia starter Zach Mort hit Russell with a pitch to give the Rockers a 3-0 lead. Wiel’s sac fly then gave the Rockers a 4-0 advantage.

In the third, Grotjohn started the inning with a double and moved to third on a ground out by Ben Aklinski. Parreira then singled to right to score Grotjohn for a 5-0 Rockers lead.

The Honey Hunters made it a 5-1 game in the bottom of the third on a solo homer by Braxton Davidson.

High Point put its lead back at five runs in the top of the fourth when Russell singled and Wiel unloaded a two-run homer to the 400-foot mark in center as High Point went ahead 7-1. The scoring continued with four more runs in the sixth as the Rockers took an 11-1 lead. Russell doubled and Yang singled and both scored on Grotjohn’s homer. After Ben Aklinski walked, Emmanual Tapia doubled him home with a shot that bounced off the centerfield fence.

Gastonia’s Zach Mort (L, 6-1) absorbed his first loss of the season, allowing 10 hits and seven runs with one walk and six strikeouts.

The Rockers will start a four-game series on Friday at Truist Point against the York Revolution. This weekend’s games will feature fireworks on both Friday night and Monday night with a Rockers Trucker hat giveaway on Saturday. Game time on Friday and Saturday is set for 6:35. The Rockers traditional holiday fireworks extravaganza is scheduled for Monday night at Truist Point. The live stream of all games will be available on FLO Baseball and on the Mixlr app.

NOTES: High Point’s 19 base hits broke the previous season-high of 18 set previously vs. Charleston on May 2 and So. Maryland on June 24… Zander Wiel’s home run was the 47^th of his High Point career, putting him one behind Quincy Latimore who holds the franchise record with 48 career homers… Michael Russell’s four hits marked his second four-hit night of the season.

Long Island 8, Southern Maryland 2

(Central Islip, N.Y., June 29, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 8-2 on Thursday night in the final game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. 

Khalil Lee’s two-out RBI single in the first inning gave the Blue Crabs a 1-0 lead, but the Ducks responded with back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Alex Dickerson and Wilson Ramos in the bottom of the frame to go in front 2-1. Back-to-back two-out doubles by Chance Sisco and Joe DeCarlo in the fourth increased the Ducks lead to two.

Long Island extended the lead to 7-1 in the seventh with four more two-out runs. Ramos’ three-run homer to right and DeCarlo’s RBI triple to center did the damage. Southern Maryland closed the gap to five in the eighth on Braxton Lee’s RBI single to left, but the Flock got the run back int the bottom of the frame on a two-out RBI single by Sam Travis. 

Ducks starter Robert Stock (3-0) earned the win, tossing seven and one-third innings of two-run ball, allowing four hits and four walks while striking out six. Blue Crabs starter Neil Uskali (2-3) took the loss, conceding three runs on six hits and six walks over five and two-thirds innings with four strikeouts. 

Ramos led the Ducks at the plate with two hits, four RBIs and two runs. DeCarlo added two extra-base hits and two RBIs, while Brian Goodwin totaled three hits, two runs and a walk.

The Ducks continue their homestand on Friday night when they open a four-game series against the Staten Island FerryHawks. 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 Tap Room Friday at the ballpark, and Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons for 20% off an entire meal at any of The Tap Room’s five locations on Long Island as fans exit the ballpark. It’s also a Grand Slam Friday. 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. Right-hander Joe Iorio (3-5, 5.96) gets the start for the Ducks against FerryHawks righty Ivan Pineyro (3-2, 4.35).

Charleston 10, Spire City 2