For a printable version of the ALPB Bullen, click HERE

 

The Week Ahead: The first half is scheduled to end at the conclusion of games on Friday, July 7… Barring rain or other postponements, the South Division race should wrap up on Friday… Lancaster and So. Maryland will play a doubleheader on July 10 and the Blue Crabs remain in the North Division race, trailing York by 4.5 games entering Tuesday’s games… Gastonia leads High Point by two games and the week wraps up with Gastonia at High Point.

 

The Week that Was: York and Long Island each spent time in first place in the North Division last week with York holding as much as a 1.5 game lead… Gastonia managed to hold High Point at bay with a pair of walk-off wins over the weekend.

 

Sustained Success: Gatonia has become just the second team in Atlantic League history to win 40 or more games in three consecutive half seasons. There have been 58 clubs to win 40 or more games in a half, but only two to have done it in three straight. Somerset won 46 in the first half of the 2013 season and 44 in the second half, then followed it up with 47 wins in the first half of 2014. Gastonia won 45 games in the first half of 2022, 43 games in the second half, and have 41 wins in 2023 with four games remaining.

 

Teams of the Month: Gastonia had the best record in June, going 19-8…York hit .322 for the month and scored 200 runs, 23 more than second place Long Island at 177… Gastonia hit 49 homers in 27 games in June… Honey Hunter pitchers whiffed 266 batters in 231.2 innings… No other club had more pitching strikeouts than IP in the month.

 

Walk-offs: Long Island’s Chance Cisco hit a 2-run homer to walk-off Staten Island on 6/30… Lexington’s Thomas Dillard hit a three-run homer to walk-off Spire City 8-6 on 6/30… Gastonia walked off So. Maryland 8-7 in the second game of a DH with three runs in the bottom of the eighth on 7/1… The Honey Hunters took a second straight walk-off win from the Blue Crabs on 7/2 when Pedro Gonzalez singled in the winning run in the 10th… Lexington’s Mitch Ghelfi singled in the bottom of the seventh to walk-off Spire City in the first game of a DH on 7/3. 

 

Midweek Marvels: Lexington’s J.C. Encarnacion had four hits, a pair of homers and six RBI vs. Lancaster 6/29… Recently signed MLB vet Wilson Ramos of Long Island homered and drove in four runs in his third game as a Long Island Duck on 6/29… High Point’s Michael Russell and Ryan Grotjohn each had four hits in a win at Gastonia on 6/29… York hit .322 in four midweek games vs. Staten Island… Charleston’s Bobby Bradley went 5-for-9 in three games vs. Spire City with three homers and six RBI… York’s Tomo Otosaka drew seven walks in four games vs. Staten Island… Spire City’s Jose Marmolejos had four extra base hits vs. Charleston… Lexington’s Garrett Schilling saved a pair of games vs. Lancaster.

 

Weekend Wonders: Charleston’s Clayton Mehlbauer tied the league season high with three doubles vs. Lancaster on 6/30… Lexington’s Logan Brown had four hits vs. Spire City on 6/30, his second four-hit game this season… Lancaster’s Ariel Sandoval singled home the tying and lead runs in the top of the ninth in a 4-3 win over Charleston on 6/30… So. Maryland scored in the top of the ninth on an Alex Crosby two-run single in a 7-6 win at Gastonia on 7/1… Long Island’s Scott Harkin fanned eight in five innings vs. Staten Island on 7/2… York’s Drew Mendoza tied the league season-high with four extra base hits and three doubles at High Point 7/3… Staten Island’s Roldani Baldwin went 8-for-12 in three games at Long Island with seven runs… Charleston’s Luis Roman drove in seven runs vs. Lancaster… York’s Trent Giambrone had six extra base hits vs. High Point.

 

Pitching Plaudits: Long Island’s Stephen Tarpley held So. Maryland to two hits and struck out eight over six innings in an 8-3 win… Gastonia’s bullpen threw six innings of one-hit baseball in a 7-3 win over High Point on 6/28…York’s Jorge Martinez held Staten Island hitless for 4.2 innings on 6/28… Stephen Tarpley tossed six shutout innings and allowed just two hits in a win over So. Maryland 6/27… York’s staff threw 5.1 hitless innings in the nightcap of a DH on 6/27… Charleston’s staff four-hit Lancaster on 7/2 while striking out 12… Staten Island three-hit Long Island on 7/3… Gastonia’s Zack Godley fanned 10 in six innings vs. So. Maryland on 7-2.

 

Long At-Bat of the Week: So. Maryland’s K.C. Hobson doubled on the 11th pitch from Gastonia’s Ryan Williamson on 7/1.