Spire City 8, Lancaster 4
Spire City 4, Lancaster 3

The Spire City Ghost Hounds never lost control of a lead they established on Sunday, then slipped past the Barnstormers for a second win on Friday.

Leading, 3-0, before rains halted play Sunday afternoon, the Ghost Hounds pulled away for an 8-4 win in that game’s completion Sunday afternoon, and, later, Barnstormers nemesis David Kubiak pitched the Ghost Hounds to a 4-3 victory in a seven-inning contest.

Lancaster’s second half record dropped to 4-2.

Luke Becker singled home a fourth Spire City win as play resumed in the suspended game that restarted at 3:00 PM.  Leobaldo Cabrera, who had singled home the first run off Bret Clarke (0-5) on Sunday, doubled home a pair of runs in the sixth and launched a solo homer in the eighth as the Ghost Hounds continued to pull away.  Jimmy Paredes added a home run to lead off the sixth.

Jake Fisher (1-1, 1-3) remained in the game through the eighth inning for Spire City.  The left-hander ultimately yielded eight hits and four runs.  Jack Conley drove home the first run with a sacrifice fly.  Ariel Sandoval singled home Lancaster’s second run.  Wilson Garcia launched a two-run homer in the eighth to close out the scoring.

In the nightcap, the Ghost Hounds reached Spencer Johnston (1-2) for three runs in the top of the second.  Jimmy Paredes walked to lead off the inning.  Steve Brault hit a bouncer on the right side that deflected off the glove of first baseman Wilson Garcia, putting a second runner on base.  Moises Sierra lined a base hit to left to drive home a run, and the other two advanced a base on the throw.  Scott Kelly grounded a single up the middle to knock both runners home.

Andretty Cordero singled to left center with the bases loaded off David Kubiak (5-3) in the third.  Garcia tied the game with a leadoff homer in the fourth, but the Ghost Hounds retook the lead quickly.

With one out in the fifth, Leobaldo Cabrera singled into center.  Becker popped to short for the second out, but Starlin Castro reached the wall in right center for the decisive double.

Jack Weinberger retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth, and Zac Rosscup survived a leadoff walk to Trayvon Robinson in the seventh to earn his seventh save.

Dominic DiSabatino (3-5) will make his first start since July 2 on Saturday at 6:30.  Spire City has yet to announce its starter for the game.  Fireworks will follow.  Fans may tune into FloBaseball at 6:25.

NOTES:  Garcia’s homers were his first since June 24…Cordero has 28 hits in his last 67 at bats (.418)…He has 45 RBI in 41 games…He is now tied for third in the league in RBI and has 177 RBI in 198 games as a Barnstormer…He has 270 hits in that span…The Barnstormers will add RHP Jeff Cain for Saturday…He was recently released by the Arizona Diamondbacks from Class AA Amarillo…The club released IF Jake Hoover after the game.

York 9, Long Island 6

(Central Islip, N.Y., July 14, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the York Revolution 9-6 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

Richard Urena gave the Revolution a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a solo home run to right field off Ducks starter Matt Solter. A four-run third, highlighted by Troy Stokes Jr.’s three-run homer to center, extended York’s lead to five. 

The Ducks cracked the scoreboard in the fifth when Alex Dickerson tripled to right off Revolution starter Carlos Espinal and scored on Wilson Ramos’ groundout to third. York got the run back though in the sixth on Trent Giambrone’s RBI single. Alejandro De Aza’s sac fly to left in the sixth closed the gap to 6-2. 

Three runs for the Revs in the eighth on Stokes Jr.’s two-run single and an error made it 9-2. Long Island answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the frame on Jonathan Guzman’s RBI double to right and Ruben Tejada’s two-run homer to left. Tzu-Wei Lin launched a solo homer to left-center in the ninth to make it a 9-6 ballgame, but the Ducks were unable to even the score. 

Espinal (5-2) earned the win, tossing five and one-third innings of one-run ball, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out four. Solter (4-3) took the loss, surrendering six runs on 11 hits and three walks over six innings with four strikeouts. 

Tejada led the Ducks offensively with two hits, two RBIs, a run and a walk. Lin added two hits, an RBI and two runs, while Dickerson chipped in with two hits and a run. 

The Ducks and Revolution continue their three-game series on Saturday 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 Amazon. It’s also a Lucky Seat Saturday, presented by Long Island MacArthur Airport. During the game, the Ducks will be selecting a lucky fan in the ballpark, who will win two roundtrips on Breeze Airways to any of their six non-stop destinations from MacArthur Airport. Left-hander Kyle Lobstein (1-1, 4.45) takes the mound for the Ducks against Revolution righty Tom Sutera (5-3, 7.35).

High Point 10, Lexington 6
 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The High Point Rockers overcame an early 3-0 deficit, answering with a seven-run fifth inning before going on to take a 10-6 win from the Lexington Counter Clocks on Friday night at Counter Clocks Field.

Daikan Yoh banged out three hits and drove in a pair of runs for High Point while Zander Wiel and Ben Aklinski each had two hits.

Mitch Atkins made his first start of the season for the Rockers after a long recovery from an elbow injury. The 37-year-old is in his seventh season in the Atlantic League and has been playing professionally since 2004. Atkins allowed the Counter Clocks a single run in the second when Hector Roa homered to give Lexington an early lead. The ‘Clocks made it a 3-0 game in the fourth when Logan Brown reached first on a third strike wild pitch. Roa doubled to put runners on second and third before Brandt Broussard delivered a two-run ground-run double.

Lexington lefty Mike Kickham (L, 1-3) retired the first 10 Rockers he faced as the game moved into the fifth and the Rockers offense came to life with a seven-run outburst. High Point sent 12 men to the plate, starting with Beau Taylor who led off the inning with a homer. Yoh, Brian Parreira and Joe Johnson each stroked consecutive singles to load the bases. Michael Martinez plated two with a double and Ryan Grotjohn picked up an RBI with a single that scored Johnson. Wiel beat out an infield single that allowed Martinez to score before Aklinski hit his 10^th homer of the year, a two-run shot that also scored Wiel and left the Rockers with a 7-3 edge.

Kentucky scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to cut High Point’s lead to one at 7-6 with Logan Brown’s two-run homer causing the most damage.

High Point struck for three more runs in the top of the seventh to jump out to a 10-6 lead. The Rockers touched Lexington reliever Jack Maynard for a single by Grotjohn, a double by Wiel and a walk to Aklinski to load the bases. A walk to Emmanuel Tapia scored one and then Yoh singled to center to bring home Wiel and Aklinski.

Atkins went 4.2 innings, one out shy of securing the win. Bryce Hensley (W, 4-1) bailed out Atkins in the fifth by striking out Roa for the final out and then kept the Counter Clocks off the scoreboard in the sixth while allowing one hit and striking out two before giving way to Jeremy Rhoades in the seventh. Rhoades surrendered a single hit during his one shutout inning and Austin Ross put the ‘Clocks down in order in the eighth and finished off Lexington with a scoreless ninth, recording four strikeouts over his two innings of work.

The win gives the Rockers a 4-2 mark in the second half of the Atlantic League season, a half-game behind 4-1 Gastonia. Both clubs won their 45^th overall game of the season on Friday, the most of any ALPB club.

Game two of the series is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. on Saturday at Counter Clocks Field in Lexington. The game will be streamed live by FLO baseball and also available on the Mixlr app.

Gastonia 7, Staten Island 3

Eric De La Rosa capped off a five-run sixth inning for the Honey Hunters with a three-run homer, as Gastonia capitalized on a Staten Island error and won 7-3 on Friday night.

De La Rosa hit his second homer and now has nine RBIs in just six games with Gastonia.

And it would’ve been gone in any baseball stadium in the nation.

The right-handed hitter pulled the ball a whopping 463 feet to straight away left field, giving the Honey Hunters a 5-3 lead.

But that home run doesn’t happen if not for the big FerryHawks blunder.

After recording just three hits and not scoring through five frames, the Gastonia bats came alive in the sixth.

Johnni Turbo hit a leadoff double, and Zach Jarrett’s single brought Turbo home to put the Honey Hunters on the board.

After Braxton Davidson fouled out, there were two down with one on for Scott Manea in a 3-1 game.

Manea hit a routine grounder to short.

Staten Island shortstop Garrett Kueber flipped the ball to second baseman Angel Aguilar, even though Aguilar wasn’t in a great position to make the catch at the bag. Aguilar couldn’t handle the toss, and the inning was kept alive because of the error.

If Keuber just threw to first and made the easy play, the frame would have ended with Gastonia still trailing by a couple runs.

Instead, De La Rosa came to the plate a couple batters later and sent a missile into the parking lot.

Gastonia manager Goose Gozzo has been impressed with De La Rosa’s talent so far, having been with the team for a week now.

“He’s definitely a tools guy. He’s got all the tools,” Gozzo said. “He’s got power, he’s got speed, obviously a good outfielder too. He’s a guy that checks a lot of boxes when it comes to being an all-around good player. He’s gonna get many chances here, so I’m glad that he did get off to a good start.”

The Gastonia bullpen was great on Friday, going a combined 4.1 scoreless innings.

Sal Romano, Ryan Williamson, Gabe Klobosits and Sam Freeman were the relievers used by the Honey Hunters, with Freeman closing the door on Staten Island.

Freeman was sensational, with his fastball having a lot of life on it and the southpaw dealing 11 strikes out of the 13 pitches he threw. He struck out the side in the ninth to end the game.

The Honey Hunters will look to take the series against the FerryHawks on Saturday, with first pitch being at 6:35 p.m.