High Point 5, York 1
HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point’s Mickey Jannis became the Atlantic League’s first eight-game winner as he threw six shutout innings and held York to just four hits in leading the Rockers to a 5-1 win over the Revolution in front of a crowd of 2,001 at Truist Point on Saturday night.

The win allowed the Rockers to make up ground on Gastonia which split a doubleheader with Southern Maryland on Saturday. The Rockers are 38-19 in the Atlantic League and trail the Honey Hunters (40-18) by 1.5 games with six contests remaining in the first half.

Jannis (W, 8-1) allowed just four hits and three walks while striking out three over his six innings of work. A.J. Cole struck out the side in the seventh in his lone inning of work while Jameson McGrane set the Revolution down in order in the eighth. Jeremy Rhoades allowed a run in the ninth before Ryan Dull came on to record the final two outs and collect his league-leading 11^th save of the season.

The Rockers scored all the runs they would need with three in the bottom of the second. Dai-Kang Yang led off the inning with single and moved to third on a ground rule double to right by Beau Taylor. Ryan Grotjohn was hit by a pitch by York starter Nick Raquet to load the bases. Ben Aklinski delivered a line drive to center that became an RBI sacrifice fly for High Point’s first run. Catcher Brian Parreira then singled to bring home Taylor and Grotjohn scored on John Daly’s ground out to second base.

The Rockers increased their lead to 4-0 in the fifth when Shed Long, Jr. drew a one out walk and scored from first on Zander Wiel’s double off the left field wall. Michael Russell padded the Rockers’ lead to 5-0 with his sixth homer of the year, a solo shot with one out in the seventh.

York starter Nick Raquet (L, 6-5) gave up four runs in his six innings of work on five hits while walking two and striking out two.

The Rockers had just six hits on the night with Parreira leading the way with two.

Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. on Sunday at Truist Point. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and available on the Mixlr app.

Long Island 8, Staten Island 6

(Central Islip, N.Y., July 1, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks 8-6 on Saturday night before a past-capacity crowd of 7,005 in the second game of a four-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. 

Staten Island opened the scoring in the first inning on Kevin Krause’s sacrifice fly to center field off Ducks starter McKenzie Mills. Long Island responded in the bottom of the first on Sam Travis’ two-run home run to center field off FerryHawks starter Nick Beardsley. Joe DeCarlo’s RBI single to right in the second extended the Ducks lead to 3-1. 

Garrett Kueber trimmed the Ducks lead to one in the third with a solo homer to left, but Chance Sisco’s solo blast over the right field wall in the bottom of the frame made it a 4-2 game. The FerryHawks jumped in front with a three-run fourth, highlighted by Deibinson Romero’s sac fly, Matt Winaker’s run-scoring groundout and Mikey Edelman’s RBI double.

Long Island pulled even at five in the fourth on Ruben Tejada’s RBI single to left. The FerryHawks took a 6-5 lead in the fifth on Luis Castro’s sac fly to center. The Ducks answered with a three-run seventh to take an 8-6 lead, with Brantley Bell’s sac fly to center and DeCarlo’s two-run double to left doing the damage.

Neither starter factored into the decision. Mills pitched five innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and three walks with one strikeout. Beardsley lasted three and two-thirds innings, yielding five runs on six hits and four walks with three strikeouts. Jose Jose (4-1) earned the win, tossing two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk with one strikeout. Enrique Santana (1-1) suffered the loss, surrendering three runs on two hits and three walks in one inning. Kevin Quackenbush picked up his ninth save with a scoreless ninth. 

Alex Dickerson led the Ducks with three hits and scored a run. DeCarlo added two hits and three RBIs, Travis had a hit, two RBIs and two runs, and Sisco added a hit, an RBI, two runs and two walks. 

The Ducks and FerryHawks continue their four-game series on Sunday 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). Following the game, all fans in attendance will be treated to a Fireworks Spectacular, presented by Fairfield Properties. Right-hander Scott Harkin (1-2, 11.81) toes the rubber for the Ducks against FerryHawks southpaw Jesse Remington (1-2, 7.07).

Lancaster 10, Charleston 4

Joseph Carpenter belted a tying home run with two outs in the top of the ninth, and the Barnstormers exploded for seven runs in the top of the tenth as Lancaster took down the Charleston Dirty Birds, playing as the Wheelers, 10-4, Saturday afternoon at GoMart Ballpark.

It was Lancaster’s third straight win in the club’s final at bat and the second in a row where the ‘Stormers were one out away from defeat.

Carpenter connected off Williams Jerez’ first pitch of the at bat after the left-hander had struck out Wilson Garcia and retired Trayvon Robinson on a grounder to third.  It was only the second Lancaster hit since the second inning and the team’s first extra-base hit of the afternoon.

Andrew Lee (3-1) survived an infield single and intentional walk in the home ninth, setting the Barnstormers up for their winning inning.  Edison Suriel (1-2) hit Trace Loehr with a pitch then walked Jake Hoover to load the bases with “ghost” runner Jack Conley taking third.  Suriel coaxed a foul pop up from Melvin Mercedes for the first out, but Andretty Cordero snuck a ground ball past the diving second baseman Jalen Miller to give Lancaster a 5-3 lead.  Ariel Sandoval was walked intentionally to reload the bases.  Garcia plugged the gap in left center for a two-run double, and Robinson followed with a three-run shot to left center.

Tyler LaPorte gave up singles to Bobby Bradley and Justin O’Connor to start the home tenth but got a double play out of Luis Roman to quench the threat.

Lancaster scored in each of the first two innings to take the early lead.  Cordero scored from third in the top of the first, bolting for home plate as pitcher Colt Webb threw to first on a comeback.  In the second, Cordero singled to right center again, driving in Hoover from second for the 2-0 edge.

Roman stroked the fourth straight hit off Lancaster starter Brent Teller in the fourth, a two-run single up the middle to tie the game at 2-2.  The Charleston third baseman delivered again, snapping the tie with a solo homer to right center in the sixth.

Teller worked seven, allowing eight hits and three runs.  He walked only one and struck out a season-high nine.

The Barnstormers will visit the Dirty Birds again on Sunday.  Dominic DiSabatino (3-4) will make the start against lefty Derrick Adams (3-3).  Fans may tune into the game on FloBaseball, starting at 4:00.

NOTES:  Garcia’s double in the tenth extended his hitting streak to 13, the longest by a Barnstormer this season…Carpenter’s homer was his first hit in 12 at bats since coming off the injured list…Robinson’s homer was his first since May 29…Cordero boosted his average to .306 with a three-hit game…Sandoval dropped to .398, going 1-for-4.

Southern Maryland 7, Gastonia 6
Gastonia 8, Southern Maryland 7 (8)

Braxton Davidson stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth with the winning run on second.

That run was represented by Luis Curbelo, who had just tied the game at 7 with a double down the left-field line.

The lefty Davidson was facing the southpaw Jim Fuller, who just came into the game.

Davidson got ahead of the count 3-0 before grounding the pitch up the middle and into center field, plating Curbelo and giving Gastonia its 40th win of the year.

The Honey Hunters came back to beat the Blue Crabs, splitting the Saturday doubleader and winning 8-7.

Saturday featured competitive, back-and-forth action between the two teams.

In Game 1, Curtis Terry and Pedro Gonzalez each hit three-run home runs to left field off Southern Maryland pitching.

Gonzalez’s shot came in the fifth, and Gastonia held a 6-5 lead into the seventh inning. Since the clubs played two games, each contest consisted of seven frames.

Bryan Blanton came on to try shutting the door on the Blue Crabs. The right-hander had been 3-for-3 in save opportunities.

Blanton issued a single and a pair of walks, which brought up Alex Crosby with the bases loaded and one out.

Crosby hit a two-run single, which gave Southern Maryland a 7-6 lead. Crosby’s knock was the eventual game winner, as that remained the final score.

The Blue Crabs got off to a hot start in the second game, scoring five runs in two innings off Gastonia starter Ryan Williamson.

Scott Manea hit a two-run shot in the first inning, so Southern Maryland led 5-2 after two.

Gastonia battled back for three straight, the last two coming on a throwing error by third baseman Jose Rosario. Steven Sensley was up with the bases loaded and one out. He hit a routine grounder to third. Instead of turning the inning-ending double play and preserving a 5-3 lead, Rosario threw the ball into right field and helped the Honey Hunters tie the game at 5.

It stayed that way through seven, so free baseball was played at CaroMont Health Park.

Jaime Schultz came on for the eighth, with the ghost runner starting on second. Schultz struck out the first two batters before Ryan Haug laced a go-ahead RBI single into center.

A passed ball by Gastonia catcher Alexis Olmeda allowed Haug to score and make it 7-5 Blue Crabs.

James Dykstra, who had already pitched in Game 1 as well as the seventh inning of Game 2, was on for Southern Maryland in the eighth frame.

Dykstra walked two straight batters before he faced Curbelo, who hit a two-run double down the left-field line. Terry attempted to score what would have been the game-winning run, but he was thrown out at the plate for the first out of the inning.

Dykstra then exited, and Fuller replaced him.

Davidson has swung a hot bat as of late, mostly because of his new approach to choke up on the bat.

The lefty choked up, swung 3-0, and grounded it right up the middle to end the ball game. He then did the “griddy” dance right into his teammates, who mobbed him and started celebrating.

Davidson might be hitting .230, but don’t let that fool you.

After going 2-for-4 in the game, Davidson now has a .420 on-base with a .574 slugging percentage. That equals a .994 OPS. If Davidson played enough games to be qualified, he would have the seventh highest OPS in the Atlantic League.

His production over the past couple weeks has been crucial for Gastonia, and he’s helped the Honey Hunters get to 40 wins faster than any other club this season.

Gastonia remains a game and a half up on High Point with five games left in the first half.

The Honey Hunters will go for the series win on Sunday. First pitch is at 3:35 p.m.

Lexington 5, Spire City 4