The Week That Was: Only once before in the 25-year history of the Atlantic League had there been a tie for first in the first half division races… That was in 2002 between Newark and Somerset … Until 2023 when each division race resulted in a dead heat… Long Island earned the playoff berth by virtue of an 8-7 advantage in head-to-head competition with York after each club finished 37-26… High Point and Gastonia tied at 41-22 in the half and 5-5 in face-to-face meetings but the Rockers held a .036 lead in winning percentage among South foes giving High Point the slightest edge. 

 

Off Field: Top July 4 crowds included 6,410 at Lancaster, 5,766 at York, 8,176 at So. Maryland… On July 3, Long Island drew 7,151, High Point had 4,278 and Charleson attracted 4,269 with Lexington hosting 3,051. 

 

Streaking: Spire City’s Jose Marmolejos owns the league’s longest hitting streak at 13 straight… Shed Long, Jr. of High Point has reached base in 31 consecutive games… Gastonia’s Braxton Davidson has homered in four straight and hit a grand slam in two in a row… Long Island’s Al Alburquerque has not allowed an earned run in 24 consecutive appearances.

 

League Leaders: Ariel Sandoval of Lancaster has taken over the batting lead with at .382 after finally reaching the minimum number of plate appearances… Lexington’s Thomas Dillard has 22 home runs while Gastonia’s Carlos Franco has 59 RBI to 58 by Long Island’s Sam Travis and Dillard’s 57… High Point’s Ben Aklinski has a league-best 58 runs scored while York’s Tomo Otosaka has 26 stolen bases… High Point’s Mickey Jannis leads the league with eight wins while Jared Lakind of Lancaster leads all hurlers with a 1.95 ERA… Gastonia’s Zack Godley has 86 strikeouts… High Point’s Ryan Dull and Lexington’s Garrett Schilling share the save lead with 12. 

 

Grand Slams: Gastonia’s Luis Curbelo vs. Spire City on 7/5… Long Island’s Sam Travis vs. Lancaster on 7/6… Staten Island’s Jack Elliott vs. Charleston on 7/7…Gastonia’s Braxton Davidson vs. High Point on 7/8 and 7/9… There were three grand slams in the same game on 7/9 as High Point’s Ben Aklinski hit one while Gastonia’s Davidson hit his second in as many days and Eric De La Rosa also pick up a slam.

 

Milestones: Long Island’s Darian Sandford is already the ALPB’s career stolen base leader, needs one swipe for his 300th... Gastonia’s Johnni Turbo needs two hits for 500 in his career... With 1,595 all-time wins, Long Island is approaching its 1,600th victory. 

 

Midweek Marvels: York’s Trent Giambrone had three hits and 4 RBI vs. Charleston on 7/4…Alex Dickerson of Long Island had a pair of homers and five RBI vs. Lancaster… Former Rockers pitchers Neil Uskali (7/4) and Liam O’Sullivan (7/6) posted wins over their former team on behalf of So. Maryland… York’s Alejandro Rivero hit .600 (6-for-10) in the Charleston series… Long Island’s Brian Goodwin and Alex Dickerson each had three homers vs. Lancaster… Dickerson and York’s Giambrone led the midweekers with seven RBI… Charleston’s Jalen Miller had four extra base hits at York.

 

Weekend Wonders: Staten Island’s Angel Aguilar had six extra base hits, six runs scored and 19 total bases vs. Charleston... In a 14-13 High Point win on 7/9, Gastonia’s Braxton Davidson drove in seven runs and Eric De La Rosa had five RBI while High Point’s Ben Aklinski carded six RBI… De La Rosa, in his first three games as a Honey Hunter, went 5-for-9, a .556 average… Two grand slams helped Davidson drive in 12 runs vs. High Point… He slashed .643/1.455/2.098.

 

Team Efforts: Long Island hammered five homers at Lancaster on 7/5… The Ducks outscored Lancaster 41-7 in taking all three games at Clipper Magazine Stadium… Lancaster tied a club record with six home runs in a 17-4 win over Spire City on 7/8.

 

Pitching Plaudits: York’s Nick Raquet fanned 10 in seven innings vs. Charleston 7/6… York’s pitchers struck out 46 in a four-game sweep of Charleston... Long Island’s Kyle Lobstein made his first start of the year and went four innings, allowed one hit and fanned 10 of the 14 batters he faced…Long Island’s Stephen Tarpley and a pair of reliever two-hit So. Maryland on 7/7… The same with Gastonia’s Zack Godley and the bullpen vs. High Point on 7/8.  

 

Long At-Bat of the Week: York’s Alejandro Rivero flew out after 11 pitches from Charleston’s Victor Lopez on 7/6… It took 11 pitches from York’s Will McAffer to strike out Brandt Broussard of Lexington on 7/8.

 

 

SCHEDULE