York 11, Spire City 7

(July 13th, 2023 – York, Pa.):  The York Revolution won for the eighth time in the last 10 games and capped a 7-2 homestand, winning the rubber match from the Spire City Ghost Hounds, 11-7 on Thursday afternoon at WellSpan Park. Nick Raquet pulled into a tie for the league lead with his eighth victory as the Revs offense enjoyed another big day.

York jumped out to a 5-0 lead off of Spire City starter Winston Lavendier (2-4) in the first inning. Trent Giambrone ignited things with a leadoff double to left and Tomo Otosaka drilled a two-bagger to the gap in left center to put two in scoring position. Drew Mendoza blistered an RBI single to center for the game’s first run and Trey Martin made it 2-0 with an RBI groundout. Nellie Rodriguez ripped an RBI single through the left side of the infield, making it 3-0 York. Alejandro Rivero skied one down the left field line and Steven Brault overran the ball as it dropped for a two-run error with the Revs claiming a 5-0 advantage after the bat-around first inning.

The Revs expanded it 8-0 in the third when Ryan January crushed a towering 444-foot home run to dead center field, a three-run shot for his fourth long ball of the year.

Raquet was rock solid through the first four innings, giving up only two singles.

Spire City got on the board in the fifth, getting to Raquet for two singles and a three-run homer to left center by Luke Becker, making it an 8-3 game.

Raquet (8-5) threw five innings, giving up three runs on six hits while striking out five.

Giambrone launched a two-run homer over the Arch Nemesis to make it a 10-3 game in the bottom of the fifth. It was his team-leading 14th home run of the year, all out of the leadoff spot.

Denson Hull took over in the sixth and induced a pop up to start the inning but it fell in shallow center for a leadoff hit. Jimmy Paredes made it hurt with a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 10-5. 

Otosaka (4-for-5) added an RBI single to left in the bottom of the seventh to make it an 11-5 lead for York. Each of York’s top two hitters in the order went 4-for-5 as Giambrone did the same, coming within a triple of the cycle.

Will McAffer fired a perfect seventh and J.P. Woodward struck out two in a scoreless eighth out of the York bullpen.

Victor Capellan came on to finish it off but gave up two runs on a ground rule double to right center by pinch hitter Craig Dedelow after walking two earlier in the inning.

With the tying run on deck, Will Carter was brought in and got a one pitch foul out for his third straight save as the Revs finished off the 11-7 victory.

Notes: The Revs pounded 17 hits in the win. Giambrone’s four-hit game was his first of the year while Otosaka notched his second, extending his hitting streak to a season-high seven straight games. Otosaka also re-tied Martin for the league lead in steals with his 27th. York is one off the league lead with 105 steals as a team. Mendoza has 39 RBI and 40 runs scored in his last 39 games played. Giambrone’s homer was his team-leading sixth over the Arch Nemesis as he has slugged six of the team’s 13 to clear the big wall. January’s homer was his second of more than 440 feet this season. The 7-2 homestand marks the sixth time the Revs have won at least seven games on a single homestand and the first time since a 7-1 stay in May, 2014. The seven wins came within two of a pair of record 9-win stands as it tied the fourth-most wins on a single homestand in team history. York improves to 14-4 in day games and 3-0 in 11 a.m. starts this season (all at home). The Revs have won eight of the last 10 games and 13 of the last 18 overall, improving to 40-27 overall (3-1 in the second half), matching the 2011 and 2014 squads for best record in club history through 67 games. York’s five-run first inning matched their biggest first inning of the year; the Revs have now scored at least five runs in an inning 20 times while allowing just 11 such innings. The Revs have won 20 of their last 26 at WellSpan Park. Carter had four career saves before notching three saves in the first four games of the second half; he worked his sixth straight scoreless outing. Raquet (8-5) ties two others for the league lead in victories while extending his lead in innings to 92.0. He ranks second in strikeouts with 79. York righty Carlos Espinal (4-2, 3.89) faces Long Island’s Matt Solter (4-2, 5.67) in Friday’s opener of a six-game road trip 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.

High Point 9, Staten Island 3
 

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers picked an unusual way to start their game with Staten Island on Thursday night. Four of High Point’s first five batters were hit by a pitch and that fueled a four-run rally to what would become a 9-3 win over the Ferryhawks in front of 2,040 fans at Truist Point.

After retiring Rockers lead-off hitter D.J. Burt on a grounder to third, Staten Island starting pitcher Anthony Quattrocchi (L, 0-1) hit the next four batters he faced. Michael Russell, Zander Wiel, and Beau Taylor all got plunked and when Quattrocchi hit Ben Aklinski to make it four in a row, Aklinski earned the RBI as Russell scored. Ryan Grotjohn then slapped a two-run single to right and Aklinski scored on an infield groundout by Daikan Yoh to give the Rockers a 4-0 lead after one.

“I’ve never seen that before in my life,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe of the four consecutive hit batters. While there is no known Atlantic League record for consecutive hit batters, it is worth noting that no Major League Baseball pitcher has ever hit more than three batters in a single inning.

Justin Williams blasted a solo homer leading off the third for Staten Island to make it a 4-1 contest.

Quattrocchi put the Rockers down in order in the second but ran into trouble again in the third. He walked Wiel to start the inning before Taylor delivered a run-scoring double. After three more walks to Aklinski, Grotjohn and Yoh, Ferryhawks manager Homer Bush pulled Quattrocchi and brought in Christian Capuano, who was able to pitch the ‘Hawks out of the inning but not before High Point took a 7-1 lead.

Russell gave the Rockers an 8-1 advantage with a homer leading off the fourth, his seventh blast of the year. Yoh doubled with one out in the fifth and scored on a fielding error by Staten Island to put High Point up 9-1. The Ferryhawks scored once in the sixth and then cut the lead to 9-3 on a Roldani Baldwin homer to start the seventh.

High Point starter Jheyson Manzueta (W, 2-0) went six innings and allowed eight hits and two runs while walking one and striking out three.

“Manzueta had another great outing,” said Keefe. “He kept the ball down in the zone and he was effective. When he needed a strikeout, he got it.”

The Rockers were out-hit 12 to five but were aided by seven walks, three Ferryhawk errors and the aforementioned four hit batters, leading to an additional 14 baserunners. No Rocker had more than one hit. Staten Island first baseman Luis Castro led all players with three hits.

The Rockers are now 3-2 in the second half and 44-24 on the season.

High Point will leave Friday morning and head to Lexington where they will start a three-game weekend series with the Counter Clocks. Friday’s first pitch is slated for 6:45 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and available on the Mixlr app.

Lancaster 15, Long Island 8

Playing under prime hitting conditions early Thursday, the Lancaster Barnstormers slugged four home runs and four doubles in an 18-hit attack, defeating the Long Island Ducks, 15-8, at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip.

The win completed a three-game sweep for the Barnstormers and improved the second half record to 4-0.

Joseph Carpenter blasted a two-run homer to right to cap a four-run first inning off Stephen Tarpley, Jr. (3-4), but the Ducks came right back with a two-out, three-run homer by Alex Dickerson off Nile Ball (4-4) in the bottom of the inning.

Tarpley would settle down, and the Ducks inched ahead with Ruben Tejada tying the game on a single to right in the third and newcomer Jonathan Guzman doubling home the lead run in the fourth.

Lancaster picked up a one-out walk to Melvin Mercedes in the fifth.  With two gone, Andretty Cordero took Tarpley over the boards in left to retake the lead.  Ariel Sandoval followed with a solo blast to left center for a 7-5 edge.

Trace Loehr and Yeison Coca doubled, and Cordero drove in his fourth run of the afternoon as the lead ballooned to 10-5 in the sixth inning.  Dickerson continued to be an issue, hitting his second home run off Ball to open the home sixth.  The speed of designated runner Darian Sandford created a seventh run before Brian Marconi cooled off the Ducks for 2 1/3 innings.

A sacrifice fly by Loehr scored Carpenter in the ninth.  Mercedes followed with a three-run homer to right as the Barnstormers sealed the sweep.

Lancaster will complete a suspended game against Spire City (Frederick, MD) on Friday afternoon at 3:00.  Spire City owns a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth.  Bret Clarke and Jake Fisher, the starters on Sunday, will remain in the game on Friday.  A regularly scheduled game against the Ghost Hounds will get underway at 6:30.

NOTES:  Lancaster has scored 51 runs on 70 hits in the four official games of the second half…Cordero and Sandoval hit the first pair of back-to-back homers by the Barnstormers this season…Cordero has jumped into fourth in the league with 57 RBI…He has 43 in the last 39 games…Carpenter has eight homers on the season, four against Long Island…Mercedes reached base five times in the game and scored on four of those…His homer was his first of the year outside Clipper Magazine Stadium.

Lexington 10, So. Maryland 8