Charleston 3, York 2
York 3, Charleston 2

(July 19, 2023 – Charleston, WV):  After dropping a walk-off decision in the opener 3-2, the York Revolution rebounded to beat the Charleston Dirty Birds, also by a 3-2 final, in game two of a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at GoMart Ballpark. The Revs improve to 6-2 in the second half and 43-28 overall on the campaign.

York trailed early in game two as Jalen Miller drilled an inside-the-park home run off the fence in right center on the first pitch from starter Pedro Vasquez. Center fielder Trey Martin made a valiant effort and crashed into the wall padding but remained in the game, only to provide the game-winning hit a few innings later.

After leaving the bases loaded in the top of the first, the York offense got on the board in the second as Nellie Rodriguez crushed a long home run to left, his 13th of the year, tying the game at 1-1.

Miller socked a more traditional home run, a solo shot to left in the bottom of the third, as the Dirty Birds led again 2-1 on Miller’s second of the day.

Vasquez (4-1) finished strong, retiring his final eight batters as no other Dirty Birds managed any damage against the Revs righty. He allowed just two runs on three hits in five innings and recorded all three of his strike outs in the second when he struck out the side.

The Revs were held in check by Birds starter Victor Lopez who held his team’s one-run lead through four but was chased in the fifth. York caught a break as Trent Giambrone reached on a leadoff double to left that was lost in the sunlight by left fielder Bobby Bradley. Jacob Rhinesmith battled out a nine-pitch walk, and Troy Stokes Jr. followed with an 11-pitch at-bat that ended in a strike out, but Giambrone and Rhinesmith advanced on a double steal on the third strike as Lopez was lifted after more than doubling his previous high pitch total for the year. Drew Mendoza greeted reliever Wiliams Jerez with a game-tying sac fly to left, and Martin followed with an RBI double down the left field line to give the Revs their first lead of the day at 3-2.

Nelvin Correa worked a scoreless bottom of the sixth, and J.P. Woodward needed just five pitches in a perfect seventh for his fourth career save and third this season, all in the past two weeks.

It was a big bounce back victory for the Revs who lost a heartbreaker in the opener.

The first game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning when Charleston scratched out the game’s first run off Revs starter Andrew Cabezas who was terrific in five innings. Yovan Gonzalez led off the frame with a double to left and moved to third on a bloop single to right by Diego Goris. That put runners at the corners for Yefri Perez who grounded into a double play but pushed home Gonzalez for a 1-0 Dirty Birds lead.

York had a big response against Birds starter Derrick Adams who held the Revs hitless through the first five innings.

Giambrone broke up the no-hitter bid with a double to left and Rhinesmith launched a two-run homer to right to give the Revs a 2-1 lead as they picked up their first two hits of the game in a matter of two pitches to go in front.

Zach Neff fired a perfect sixth in his Revs debut, but the Dirty Birds scratched across two runs in the seventh to walk it off.

Juan Perez led things off with a hustle double up the middle on a ball that knicked off the glove of a diving Giambrone at short. Justin O’Conner followed with a game-tying single to center and after a sacrifice bunt by Gonzalez, Goris sprayed the walk-off single into right, sending the teams into their respective clubhouses in preparation for game two.

Notes: The Revs saw a three-game winning streak snapped in the opener but are now 16-6 in their last 22 games and have won 11 of the last 14 overall. Their 43-28 mark is their best through 71 games in franchise history. Miller’s inside-the-park home run was the sixth against the Revs all-time and first since early last season when Gastonia’s Jack Reinheimer circled the bases on May 5, 2022 at WellSpan Park. York has hit three inside-the-parkers all-time with Martin doing so against the Dirty Birds on July 5 which marked the Revs’ first since the 2018 season. Martin lost a 10-game hitting streak in the opener but has now reached safely in 19 consecutive games. Rodriguez’ homer was the 64th of his Revs career, two shy of matching Andres Perez for third on the franchise’s all-time list. The walk-off decision in the opener was just the third of the season involving the Revs and their second defeat. Adams’ five-inning no-hit bid was the longest against the Revs this season. At one hour and 39 minutes, the opening game came within two minutes of the quickest game in Revs history (a rain-shortened six-inning loss vs. Newark in 2009). York is now 21-10 in games decided by two runs or fewer. York lefty Nick Raquet (8-5, 3.52) starts Thursday’s finale at 6:35 p.m. against Charleston southpaw Danny Wirchansky (2-3, 3.36). 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, Gastonia 5
 

GASTONIA, N.C. – The High Point Rockers overcame an early 2-1 deficit and withstood a bases-loaded situation in the ninth to defeat Gastonia 9-5 on Wednesday night at CaroMont Health Park.

The Rockers are 48-25 overall on the season and 7-3 in the second half. High Point holds a half-game lead over 6-3 Gastonia in the race for the second half pennant in the South Division.

Trailing 2-1 after four innings, the Rockers scored four times in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead. Gastonia starter Gunnar Kines (L, 8-3) had retired eight straight Rockers when Ryan Grotjohn led off the fifth with a walk. Ben Aklinski singled into the left field corner, allowing Grotjohn to move to third but Aklinski was cut down trying to stretch the single into a double. Brian Parreira then flew out to right field, allowing Grotjohn to score on the sac fly and tie the game at 2-2. With two outs, D.J. Burt and Michael Russell each reached on soft singles to left field, bringing Shed Long, Jr. to the plate. Long, Jr. bounced a ground ball to third where Gastonia’s Pedro Gonzalez fielded the ball cleanly but threw it wide of first, allowing both Burt and Russell to score to put High Point ahead 4-2. After Daikan Yoh was hit by a pitch, Quincy Latimore doubled into the left field corner, scoring Long, Jr for a 5-2 Rocker lead.

Gastonia’s Zach Jarrett hit a solo homer off Rocker starter Jheyson Manzueta (W, 3-0) in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 5-3 game. The Rockers answered back in the top of the eighth with Parreira lining his sixth homer of the year over the fence in right field to extend the Rockers’ advantage to 6-3.

Gastonia tallied a pair of runs against reliever Jameson McGrane in the eighth. Braxton Davidson reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second. A walk to Scott Manea put two runners aboard in front of an RBI single by Eric De La Rosa that scored Davidson. David Washington then singled to plate Manea and make it a 6-5 game going to the ninth.

With one out in the ninth, Latimore reached on an infield single to short, his third hit of the game. John Daly was the designated pinch-runner and he scored easily from first when Taylor sent a double to left-center, raising High Point’s lead to 7-5. Aklinski then popped his 11^th homer of the year to left-center, scoring Taylor ahead of him, to give the Rockers a 9-5 advantage.

Gastonia loaded the bases against High Point’s Ryan Dull in the bottom of the ninth on a pair of infield errors and a walk but Dull was able to retire the side on a strikeout and a pair of flyballs to the outfield.

Johnni Turbo homered in the bottom of the first inning, his second of the year, to give the Honey Hunters a 1-0 lead. The Rockers tied it in the second when Latimore singled and took third on a single by Taylor. Grotjohn’s sac fly to left was deep enough to give Latimore time to tag and score.

In the fourth, Gastonia took a 2-1 lead when Eric De La Rosa walked, took second on a balk by High Point starter Jheyson Manzueta, then scored on a double to left by Luis Curbelo.

Latimore finished the night with three hits, including a double and an RBI. Russell, Taylor, Aklinski, Parreira and Burt each had a pair of hits as part of High Point’s 13-hit attack. Jarrett had three of Gastonia’s seven hits on the night.

Game three of the series is scheduled for Thursday at 6:35 p.m. at CaroMont Health Park. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and is also available on the Mixlr app.

Southern Maryland 12, Long Island 7

(Waldorf, Md., July 19, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 12-7 on Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game series at Regency Furniture Stadium.

The Ducks took an immediate 1-0 lead versus Blue Crabs starting pitcher Ian Kahaloa just two batters into the ballgame courtesy of a 400-foot home run over the left field wall produced by Ruben Tejada. Southern Maryland jumped out in front 2-1 in the home half of the second frame against Long Island starter Stephen Tarpley on a run-scoring single by Jack Sundberg and an RBI fielder’s choice from Michael Baca. 

The Blue Crabs scored six more times in the third to take an 8-1 advantage, highlighted by two-run singles from Baca and Fox Semones, an RBI double from K.C. Hobson, and a run-scoring base hit from Ryan Haug. The Flock got to within 8-6 in the sixth thanks to an RBI double to the opposite-field in left by Alex Dickerson and a grand-slam home run to left center from Brantley Bell, the fourth grand slam hit by Long Island in 2023, all coming on the road. Southern Maryland added three runs in the home half of the sixth and one more in the eighth frame, while the visitors plated a run in the ninth on Alejandro De Aza’s base knock that drove in Brian Goodwin after he drew a walk with one away to extend his on-base streak to nine consecutive games overall. 

Kahaloa (5-5) picked up the win, allowing six runs on six hits (two home runs) in seven innings pitched, walking three and striking out three. Tarpley (3-5) was tagged with the loss, surrendering a season-high 11 runs (six earned) on 12 hits (one home run) across five and two-thirds innings of work, walking one while striking out six. 

Tejada reached base safely four times in five plate appearances, registering a single, home run, RBI and run scored while also drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch.

The Ducks and Blue Crabs wrap up three-game series on Thursday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Regency Furniture Stadium. Fans can follow all the action live on Flo Baseball by CLICKING HERE. Right-hander Matt Solter (4-3, 6.18) gets the nod for the Ducks against Blue Crabs righty Neil Uskali (4-4, 6.61).

Lancaster 16, Lexington 7

It was another night of non-stop action with the Lancaster Barnstormers at the plate.  This time, it even included a home run.

Joseph Carpenter was 3-for-3 with a homer and five RBI to lead the scalding hot Lancaster attack to a 16-7 win over the Lexington Counter Clocks in the middle game of a three-game series at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

It was the seventh time in 10 second half games that the Barnstormers scored nine or more runs.  The club has won eight of those 10 games.

The Barnstormers reached Mike Kickham (1-4) on the first two batters of the game.  Melvin Mercedes singled to left and stole second and scored on a single to right by Yeison Coca, who promptly stole second as well.  Kickham retired the next two batters before Wilson Garcia beat out a dribbler toward third baseman Connor Owings.

Carpenter then took a 3-2 pitch onto the left field berm for a 4-0 lead.

Lexington jumped on Nile Ball (5-4) for three runs in the second.  Logan Brown slugged a two-run homer onto the right field deck, and Josue Huma singled up the middle to score Mitch Ghelfi to cut the lead to 4-3.

However, Lancaster went right back to work in the bottom of the second.  Coca walked and was forced at second by Andretty Cordero.  Chad Sedio single to left center, sending Cordero to second, and Garcia picked up a run with a liner into center.  Carpenter walked to fill the bases, and Trayvon Robinson drove home Sedio with a sacrifice fly.  Designated runner Shawon Dunston, Jr. scored on a wild pitch.

By the time the night ended, the Barnstormers had amassed 19 hits.  Everyone in the lineup, plus Dunston, who took over in center late in the game, had at least one hit.  Carpenter, along with his home run, had two doubles, two walks, a stolen base and was hit by a pitch.  Garcia and Loehr also collected three hits apiece on the night.

Ball lasted seven innings, allowing nine hits and seven runs.  Tyler LaPorte and Garrett Granitz tossed a scoreless inning apiece.

The Barnstormers conclude the series on Thursdy at 6:30. Newcomer Jeff Bain will make his first Atlantic League start while squaring off against right-hander Aaron Ochsenbein (5-2).  Fans may tune into Blue Ridge 11 or FloBaseball, beginning at 6:30.

NOTES:  Carpenter has hit safely in 11 straight, batting .512 (22-43) with seven doubles, three homers and 14 RBI…He is 19-for-31 in the last eight games with all of those extra base hits and 13 of the 14 RBI…Lancaster has scored 48 runs in Ball’s last three starts…Lancaster has averaged 9.9 runs per game in the second half…The club is hitting .378 as a team in the second half games…The Barnstormers added five steals on Wednesday evening, three by Mercedes…Lancaster has a one-game lead over York in the second half.

Spire City 12, Staten Island 5