York 12, Lancaster 7

The Lancaster Barnstormers have run into a one-person juggernaut known as Troy Stokes, Jr.

After a four-RBI night on Friday, Stokes slammed two homers and a double, driving in six on Saturday evening as the York Revolution defeated the ‘Stormers, 12-7, in the middle game of a three-game series at WellSpan Park.

York jumped ahead of the Barnstormers in the second half race with an 8-3 mark.  The Barnstormers drop to 9-4.

Stokes gave the Revs a 2-0 lead with a home run in the first, tied the game with a three-run homer in the fifth, then capped the scoring with an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth.

The eighth inning decided the game.  Lancaster had clawed back to tie the score twice.  Andretty Cordero knotted the game at 6-6 with a leadoff homer in the seventh, then, following Trent Giambrone’s shot in the bottom of the seventh, tied the game on an unearned run off Zach Neff (1-0) in the top of the eighth.

Zach Warren (1-1) got the final two outs in the seventh and opened the eighth with a strikeout of Richard Urena.  He walked two straight Revs batters before fanning Jhon Nunez for the second out.  York went to right-handed pinch hitter Alejandro Rivero, and the Barnstormers countered with Nick Duron.  On a 3-2 pitch to Rivero, a wild pitch skipped past Anthony Peroni, and Nellie Rodriguez scored from second.  Trent Giambrone doubled home two with a close play at the plate on Rivero.  Tomo Otosaka singled home one more, again with a scramble at the plate.  Stokes then doubled inside the third base bag for the 12-7 edge.

Joseph Carpenter went 3-for-5 in the loss as did Ariel Sandoval.  Yeison Coca, Wilson Garcia and Cordero each contributed two hits to the 14-hit Lancaster attack.

The Barnstormers will send Jared Lakind (5-2) to the mound on Sunday at 2:00 against Pedro Vasquez (4-1).  Fans may tune into FloBaseball at 1:55.

NOTES:  Carpenter extended his hitting streak to 13 games, tying the longest by a Barnstormer in 2023…He is 23-for-39 in his last 10 games…Cordero has hit safely in 11 in a row…Stokes became the eighth opposing playing with a multi-HR game in the last 19 days and the seventh player this month to drive home five or more runs in a game…Stokes and Drew Mendoza became the third pair with consecutive homers against the Barnstormers.

High Point 6, Long Island 0
 

HIGH POINT, N.C. –High Point’s Justin Nicolino allowed just three hits over seven innings as the Rockers shutout out the Long Island Ducks 6-0 on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 2,374 at Truist Point.

Nicolino (W, 3-0) allowed a one out double to Brantley Bell in the first inning followed by a walk to Alejandro De Aza but left both runners stranded. Nicolino then set down the next 16 batters until Bell beat out an infield single with two outs in the sixth. After Bell stole second, De Aza laced a sharp single to right. Ben Aklinski picked the ball up and fired a strike to the plate where catcher Brian Parreira tagged the sliding Bell for the third out of the inning. It marked Aklinski’s seventh outfield assist of the season.

“Nicolino pitched beautifully,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “That’s one heckuva a lineup over there, they’ve got a lot of hitters with big league time. He controlled the zone from the first hitter and throughout his seven innings. He was loving it and having fun and he is really fun to play behind because he’s throwing strikes and getting ahead of hitters. Our defense was really outstanding tonight.”

Nicolino went seven innings and allowed three hits while walking one and striking out six. Jameson McGrane retired the Ducks in order in the eighth and Ryan Dull tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Long Island starter Joe Iorio (L, 3-6) retired Shed Long, Jr. on strikes to start the first but then gave up a single to D.J. Burt. Daikan Yoh grounded to Long Island third baseman Joe DeCarlo who mishandled the ball leaving runners at first and second. Aklinski then unloaded his 12^th homer of the year to give the Rockers a 3-0 lead.

In the eighth, the Rockers tallied three more runs. A single by D.J. Burt and a walk to Yoh set the stage for a two-run double from Ryan Grotjohn. Parreira then brought Grotjohn around to score on a single for a 6-0 advantage.

Game three of the series is slated for a 4:05 p.m. first pitch on Sunday at Truist Point. The Rockers will celebrate the birthday of their mascot, HYPE. The game will be streamed live on Flo Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app.

NOTES: The Rockers’ shutout was their first since beating Charleston 16-0 on May 2… It was the first time the Ducks have been shutout since suffering a 4-0 defeat at Staten Island on May 14…Sunday’s starters will feature knuckleballer Mickey Jannis (8-3, 3.21 ERA) against Robert Stock (5-1, 4.08). In his last outing, Stock no-hit Southern Maryland 4-0 on July 18. It was just the sixth no-hitter in Atlantic League history. Both Jannis and Stock have previously pitched at the Major League level.

Spire City 8, Charleston 7

FREDERICK, MD – The Ghost Hounds delivered yet another incredible comeback win on Saturday night, as Leobaldo Cabrera delivered a two run blast to right field to win the game in dramatic fashion once again, an 8-7 final to set up a Sunday rubber match with Charleston. 

 After the Dirty Birds opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the top of the first, the Ghost Hounds answered quickly when Jose Marmolejos took starter Kit Scheetz deep to right field for a two-run homer. The home run followed a Luke Becker double. 

In the second inning, Scott Kelly added another run with an RBI single, scoring Moises Sierra who led off the inning with a double. 

The back and forth continued in the top of the third when Jalen Miller homered to right center field, cutting the Ghost Hound lead to 3-2.  

Things got interesting in the bottom half of the third with two outs when Sierra hit a high chopper to third base. The throw across popped out of the glove of first baseman Telvin Nash, but Sierra was still called out. After the call was overruled, Scott Kelly used the new life to the club’s advantage, knocking in two more runs with a single and putting Spire City up 6-2. 

The Ghost Hounds offense went rather quiet until the ninth, but the Dirty Birds would continue to chip away. A Tillman Pugh single in the fourth, and back-to-back singles from Bobby Bradley and Juan Perez in the fifth cut the game to just a run. 

In the seventh inning, Bradley singled in the tying run, and Diego Goris hit a sacrifice fly to put the Birds ahead, 7-6. 

Jeff Johnson pitched the top of the ninth inning, and with a runner in scoring position, Johnson was able to pick off Juan Perez to escape without any added insurance.  

After the first two in the ninth inning were retired, Scott Kelly blooped a base hit into shallow left field to keep the game alive for Leobaldo Cabrera. On a 1-2 pitch, Cabrera drove his 26^th home run of the season over the right field wall to walk off the Dirty Birds, and cap off another remarkable Ghost Hound walk off win.  

Staten Island 2, Lexington 0

The FerryHawks defeated the Lexington Counter Clocks by a score of 2-0 on Saturday night in Staten Island. Pitching was the name of the game for the second night in a row between these two clubs in this tightly contested matchup.

The FerryHawks posted their first run in the 5th inning when Brandon Pugh rocketed one over the center field wall for a solo shot. In the 8^th, Chris Brito tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single to make it 2-0. The Rutgers baseball product who holds multiple university records has been an offense anchor in the few games he’s played thus far.

FerryHawks starter Ryan Hartman was dealing tonight as he posted a final line of 6 innings, 3 hits, and 5 strikeouts. He was relieved by Ofelky Peralta and Andrew Gross who combined for 3 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, and 1 strikeout. 

The two teams will close out the series tomorrow as the FerryHawks host their “Veterans Salute” game presented by the Tunnel To Towers Foundation. The first 1,000 fans will receive a Patriotic Frankie Bobblehead courtesy of Tunnel to Towers!

Gastonia 8, Southern Maryland 6

WALDORF, Md. – Gastonia’s David Washington went 4-for-4 including a home run and Eric De La Rosa drove in four runs to lead the Honey Hunters to an 8-6 win at Southern Maryland on Saturday night.

Orlando Rodriguez (W, 1-0) made his second start for Gastonia and went five innings, allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out five. Bryan Blanton earned his sixth save of the year by pitching a scoreless ninth inning. So. Maryland’s Liam O’Sullivan (L, 6-3) went five innings and allowed seven runs on 11 hits.

Washington homered leading off the fourth and later that inning, Johnni Turbo slapped an RBI single. Gastonia added two more runs in the fifth when De La Rosa hit an RBI single and Luis Curbelo contributed a sac fly.