Lancaster 9, Long Island 6

Zach Warren struck out five in two innings of relief on Wednesday evening to aid Lancaster to a 9-6 victory over the Long Island Ducks at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip.

Warren entered the game in the seventh with the tying run at the plate and nobody out after Long Island reached Brandyn Sittinger for four consecutive hits.

The lefty walked Alex Dickerson to load the bases, then struck out Wilson Ramos looking.  He got Brantley Bell swinging for the second out.  Tzu-Wei Lin grounded into a force out at second to close the inning.

In the eighth, Warren struck out the side to maintain the lead.  Mike Adams took it off the sheet in the ninth for his third save.

Andretty Cordero staked Lancaster and Jared Lakind (4-2) to a 2-0 lead in the third, but the Ducks surged ahead in the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk to Ruben Tejada and their first chain of four consecutive hits.  A wild pitch by Lakind allowed the fourth run to score before he could escape the inning.

Lancaster responded by reaching McKenzie Mills (1-2) for a six-run fifth inning.  Anthony Peroni and Trace Loehr opened the inning with singles, and Loehr stole second.  One out later, Melvin Mercedes lined a two-run single into left center to tie the game.  Mercedes would score on a two-out double to left by Ariel Sandoval, who, in turn, came home on a single to left by Wilson Garcia.  Trayvon Robinson capped the inning with a two-run homer to left.

Sandoval produced Lancaster’s ninth run with a solo homer in the seventh.

Nile Ball (3-4) will make the start in the series finale on Thursday at 11:05, squaring off against Stephen Tarpley (3-3).  Fans may follow the game on FloBaseball, starting at 11:00 AM.

NOTES:  The Barnstormers have scored 36 runs on 52 hits in the three official games of the second half…Yeison Coca lost a streak of 11 games; he was the lone Barnstormer in the lineup without a hit in the game…Ariel Sandoval took the league batting lead back with two doubles and a homer…Cordero is batting .400 (38-for-95) since June 17 with 26 RBI…Robinson’s last three homers have been from the right side of the plate…Lakind won against the Ducks for the first time in his career…He had been 0-3 with a 2.52 ERA entering the night.

Gastonia 2, Charleston 1

Charleston first baseman Telvin Nash hit a two-out single in the first inning.

The next Dirty Birds batter to reach came in the eighth.

Gastonia starter Gunnar Kines retired 20 straight hitters and threw eight scoreless frames in his team’s 2-1 victory on Wednesday night.

Kines was coming off a rough outing against Spire City, where the lefty allowed six runs in five innings and got the loss.

The southpaw was spectacular against the Dirty Birds.

He allowed just two baserunners through the eight frames, not walking a batter and striking out seven.

Kines was locked into a pitchers’ duel with Charleston starter Troy Bacon for the entire contest.

Both starters had surrendered just one baserunner through five innings, with Bacon retiring the first 12 Honey Hunters he faced.

Gastonia struck first in the top of the sixth.

With one out, Pedro Gonzalez hit a double and then advanced to third on Johnni Turbo’s fly ball to right field.

Kevin Santa then lined a two-out single into right-center to give the Honey Hunters a 1-0 advantage.

Turbo tacked onto the lead an inning later by hitting a gapper into left-center that got to the wall. His double plated Luis Curbelo and made it 2-0.

Turbo’s RBI two-bagger was his 500th career hit in the Atlantic League. He started playing in the ALPB in 2016 with Southern Maryland and has been on five teams in six years. On Wednesday, he hit No. 500.

After retiring 20 straight, Kines allowed his second baserunner with one out in the eighth. The lefty then got a couple flyouts to end the frame, throwing his 100th pitch in the process.

Kines is now 8-2 with a 3.88 ERA in 12 games this year, with eight of those being starts. He’s tied for the most wins in the league.

Bryan Blanton came on to try to get his second save in as many nights.

He gave up an RBI single to Nash, which put the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate.

The winning run was the dangerous Bobby Bradley, who hit his 20th homer of the year the game prior.

Blanton got Bradley to strike out swinging to end the ball game, as Blanton recorded his fifth save of the year.

Gastonia improved to 44-23 overall and 3-1 in the second half.

The Honey Hunters will try to sweep the Dirty Birds on Thursday. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

Staten Island 5, High Point 1

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers dropped the middle game of their three-game series with Staten Island by a 5-1 score on Wednesday afternoon at Truist Point.

High Point lead-off hitter Trent Taylor started the first inning in a positive fashion, nursing a walk from Staten Island starting pitcher Nick Beardsley (W, 2-0). After another walk to Ben Aklinski, Taylor scored on an RBI single from Daikan Yoh.

But that was all the scoring the Rockers would muster against Beardsley and three FerryHawk relievers. High Point was held to six hits on the afternoon while also receiving six walks. But Staten Island helped its cause by turning two double plays, stranding eight Rockers runners and limiting High Point to just one hit with runners in scoring position over eight at-bats.

“That was ugly,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe following the game. “It was one of those days where we were off-balance all day. Their pitcher, Beardsley, did a heckuva job. We lined out a lot but we had our opportunities early and didn’t take advantage of them. We need to put it behind us and come out and win the series tomorrow.”

High Point starter Mickey Jannis (L, 8-3) leads the league in wins and allowed four runs on seven hits over his six innings while walking two and striking out five. Jeremy Rhoades and Taylor Guerrieri threw scoreless innings in relief though lefty Sam Selman was touched for a run in the ninth on a walk to Justin Williams, a sac bunt, and a run-scoring single from Kevin Krause.

“Mickey threw the ball well, should have given up two runs at the most but we made some mistakes in the field,” said Keefe. “We’ve played good baseball up to this point and this was probably our ugliest game of the year. We were flat the whole day. We just didn’t get it done.”

The FerryHawks grabbed hold of the lead with two runs in the second off Jannis. Roldani Baldwin singled to center and Jack Elliott followed with an infield single. A walk to Luis Castro loaded the bases before Mike Wilson delivered an RBI single. Garrett Kueber then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play that allowed Elliott to score for a 2-1 Staten Island lead.  The ‘Hawks increased the lead to 3-1 in the third on a walk to Brandon Pugh who took on a single by Ricardo Cespedes and scored on a groundout by Angel Aguilar. Aguilar added a solo homer in the sixth off Jannis to complete the scoring.

The Rockers were held hitless after a lead-off single from D.J. Burt leading off the seventh. Staten Island finished off the game by retiring the final nine Rockers batters in order, seven on strikeouts. Yoh was the lone Rocker with a pair of hits.

The Rockers are now 2-2 in the second half of the Atlantic League season.

The third and final game of the Rockers-FerryHawks series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on Thursday at Truist Point. It will be a Thirsty Thursday with specials on all drinks. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and on the Mixlr app.

Southern Maryland 13, Lexington 8

Spire 18, York 12

(July 12th, 2023 – York, Pa.):  The York Revolution got out-bashed by the Spire City Ghost Hounds, dropping game two of their series, 18-12 at WellSpan Park on Wednesday night. The slugfest saw both teams put up seven-run innings and both offenses tally four home runs in what tied the second-highest scoring game (combined) in franchise history.

York struck first as Drew Mendoza ripped an opposite field double to start the bottom of the second inning, and Trey Martin traded places with him on an RBI double to left center for the game’s first run. Martin stole third base, tying Tomo Otosaka for the league lead with 26 steals, and was brought home by a Nellie Rodriguez RBI groundout making it 2-0 Revs after two.

Spire City cut the York lead in half as Leobaldo Cabrera tagged a solo homer to left in the third, slicing it to 2-1.

York starter Pedro Vasquez and Spire City’s John Witkowski both settled down until the fifth inning, when both teams erupted for football scores.

In the top of the fifth, Spire City took a 7-2 lead after scoring six runs on seven hits. Starlin Castro gave the Hounds the lead with a two-run double to right center. That broke the dam as RBI hits followed by Raudy Read and Kole Cottam (double) before Craig Dedelow smacked a two-run double to cap the outburst.

The Revs answered with a bundle, scoring seven times to claim a 9-7 lead. Jhon Nunez launched a home run to right field, making it 7-3. Trent Giambrone laced a single off the leg of  Witkowski who was pulled from the game due to injury after 4.1 innings. He was replaced by Brendan Medoro who failed to get an out. Otosaka greeted the reliever by bunting for a hit with the ball thrown away by third baseman Jimmy Paredes putting runners at second and third with only one out. Troy Stokes Jr. ripped a two-run double to left field to bring home two, and Mendoza legged out a hustle double to right center, plating Stokes Jr. Richard Urena came up with two on and blasted a three-run bomb to right-center field giving the Revs the lead back and capping the seven-run frame.

Castro cracked his first home run of the year, a solo shot to left center in the top of the sixth off reliever Tasker Strobel to make it a 9-8 game. Will McAffer entered and got two big outs, leaving the bases loaded.

York had two in scoring position with no outs in the bottom of the sixth after a Giambrone double, but Otosaka hit a screamer to Castro that was caught at second base with the infield in, and the Revs failed to add to the lead.

York went to Victor Capellan who only got two outs in the top of the seventh. Castro tied the game with a two-out single up the middle, and after a pair of walks loaded the bases, Paredes legged out a go-ahead infield single off Nelvin Correa to cap a nine-pitch battle, giving the Ghost Hounds a 10-9 lead.

Urena tied the game with his second homer of the night, a solo shot off the right field tents to square things at 10-10 in the bottom of the seventh on his second multi-homer game of the year and third of his career.

Correa (2-2) struggled in the eighth as Spire City took the lead on a ground ball and got a three-run homer to left from Cabrera, his second long ball of the night as the Hounds leapt in front 14-10. Paredes added a three-run shot of his own on a homer to right center greeting righty Andrew Gross as Spire City completed its seven-spot, building a commanding 17-10 lead.

Spire City got a pinch-hit RBI single from pitcher Dustin Beggs in the top of the ninth, coming against Revs infielder Alexis Pantoja who was brought in to pitch the final inning.

Rodriguez added a two-run homer to right center for the Revs in the bottom of the ninth, capping the scoring on his 12th of the year.

York lefty Nick Raquet (7-5, 3.41) squares off with southpaw Winston Lavendier (2-3, 6.65) on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. It’s Camp Day presented by Papa Johns 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.