Long Island 6, Spire City 5

(Central Islip, N.Y., July 27, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Spire City Ghost Hounds 6-5 in waddle-off fashion on Thursday night in the final game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

Neither side dented home plate until a five-run fifth inning gave the Ghost Hounds the lead. RBI doubles by Leobaldo Cabrera and Jose Marmolejos, an RBI single by Jimmy Paredes and a two-run double by Kole Cottam did the damage. Long Island closed the gap to 5-2 when Carlos Castro scored from third on a simultaneous caught stealing in the fifth and Castro drew a bases loaded walk in the sixth. 

Long Island rallied to tie the game at five with three two-out runs in the ninth. Alejandro De Aza’s RBI single to center and Alex Dickerson’s two-run single to left pulled the Flock even. The Ducks then won the game in the bottom of the 10th when Wilson Ramos scored from third on a wild pitch. 

Neither starter factored into the decision. Ghost Hounds starter Dustin Beggs tossed five and two-thirds innings of two-run ball, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out two. Ducks starter Kyle Lobstein conceded five runs on eight hits and four walks over four and one-third innings with three strikeouts. Al Alburquerque (4-0) collected the win after tossing a scoreless 10th inning, striking out two. Jack Weinberger (1-5) took the loss after giving up the winning run in the 10th. 

Castro led the Flock offensively with three hits, an RBI, a run and a walk. Dickerson added two hits, two RBIs and a walk. 

The Ducks continue their homestand on Friday night when they open a three-game series against the Gastonia Honey Hunters. 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). It’s Hispanic Heritage Night, and the Ducks will be rebranded to be known as Papas Playas. The team will be wearing special jerseys and hats for the game, with the jerseys being auctioned off on the LiveSource Mobile App. It’s also a Tap Room Friday and Grand Slam Friday at the ballpark. Right-hander Robert Stock (5-2, 5.44) gets the start for the Ducks against Honey Hunters righty Orlando Rodriguez (1-0, 8.00).

Lancaster 4, High Point 1

Brent Teller gave the Lancaster Barnstormers 6 1/3 innings in a strong start on Thursday as the Barnstormers captured the rubber game of a series against the High Point Rockers, 4-1, at Truist Point.

The win left the Barnstormers as one of three clubs five games over .500 in the North in the second half race, joining York and Southern Maryland.

Teller (7-4) yielded four hits and one run over his evening.  The right-hander walked on and struck out four.  High Point’s only run came on a single behind second base by Dai-Kan Yoh that scored D.J. Burt from third in the fourth inning.

Manager Ross Peeples used Zach Warren, Nick Duron and Mike Adams to pick up the final eight outs with Adams earning his fourth save.

Scheduled High Point starter Ryan Weiss was scratched, and the Rockers went with Major League veteran Neil Ramirez (1-1) who is working his way back from injury with his second short appearance.  Ramirez went the first two innings but allowed a leadoff homer by Chad Sedio in the second.

The Barnstormers would add two runs in the third off Jeremy Rhoades.  Trace Loehr was hit by a pitch to open the inning and headed toward third on a single by Melvin Mercedes.  John Daly’s throw from right field rolled through the infield enabling Loehr to score and Mercedes to go to second.  Mercedes eventually scored on a single into center by Andretty Cordero.

Sedio doubled into the right field corner with two outs in the eighth.  He would score an insurance tally on Wilson Garcia’s single to center.

The Barnstormers will entertain the Staten Island FerryHawks at 6:30 on Friday as the club opens a six-game homestand at Clipper Magazine Stadium.  Fans not in attendance can follow the action on FloBaseball beginning at 6:25.

NOTES:  Cordero extended his hitting streak to 15 games, tying Joseph Carpenter for the longest on the club this season…It was the lowest scoring game for the Barnstormers in the second half…The Barnstormers still managed 30 hits in the series…Yeison Coca stole two more bases and is now 18-for-18 on the year…Teller’s quality start was his club-leading sixth.

Gastonia 17, Staten Island 5

The FerryHawks fell to the Gastonia Honey Hunters by a score of 17-5 on Thursday night in Staten Island. With the series tied, this one was for all the marbles as both teams look to make their mark in the second half. 

The FerryHawks took a strong lead early in this contest as they left the 3^rd inning leading 5-2. Jack Elliott returned to the lineup in a big way picking up an RBI single in the 2^nd inning, followed by and 2-RBI single in the 3^rd. Bobby Sparling and Brandon Pugh also tacked on RBIs to help bring the FerryHawks total to 5. 

Come the 6^th inning however, the Honey Hunters kicked it into high gear as the script flipped on the hometown FerryHawks. Gastonia piled on 15 unanswered runs as they ran through the FerryHawks pitching staff. Starter Christian Capuano did as much as he can to help hold the opposing Honey Hunters in check as he exited with a final line of 6 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, and 7 strikeouts. He was relieved by Ofelky Peralta, William Kirwan, and Ryan Mitschele, and Kelsie Whitmore who did not fair as well against the Gastonia lineup. 

The FerryHawks will hit the road before returning home next week with some can’t miss promotions lined up including Italian Heritage Night on August 5^th and Marvel Super Hero Day on August 6^th with an appearance by Captain America!

Charleston 11, York 5

(July 27, 2023 – Charleston, WV):  The York Revolution closed the first leg of a 10-game road stretch with an 11-5 loss to the Charleston Dirty Birds on Thursday night at GoMart Ballpark. With the loss in the rubber match of the series, York falls into a three-way tie for first place at 10-5 in the second half.

The Dirty Birds jumped to a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, scoring on a two-out RBI single to center by Bobby Bradley and a two-run homer to left center off the bat of Juan Perez.

Richard Urena ripped a two-out RBI single to right in the top of the second to get the Revs on the board and brought York within a run two innings later when his grounder caromed off the third base bag for an RBI infield hit, slashing the deficit to 3-2.

Charleston responded as Diego Goris came home on a two-out wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth which capitalized on a leadoff walk and a pair of stolen bases to make it 4-2.

York again inched closer as Troy Stokes Jr. drove an RBI double to the fence in right center in the top of the fifth, cutting the margin to 4-3.

The Dirty Birds took a stranglehold on the game, erupting for five runs in the bottom of the fifth with RBI singles from Perez and Goris, and a three-run homer to right center by Clayton Mehlbauer, ballooning the hosts’ lead to 9-3. Those five runs came against reliever Denson Hull, who had replaced starter Carlos Espinal in the previous inning after Espinal departed the game with an apparent blister on his pitching hand.

The Revs again drew closer with a pair of runs in the seventh as Trent Giambrone collected an RBI on a double that landed along the right field line after being lost in the twilight and a sac fly to right by Tomo Otosaka, bringing the Revs within 9-5.

Charleston closed the scoring in the eighth when Dwight Smith Jr. connected on a two-run homer to right center, the Dirty Birds’ third long ball of the night.

Espinal (6-3) was forced to depart due to the apparent blister after a shaky 3.2 innings, charged with four runs on three hits and five walks. He struck out five and struggled with a high pitch count of 95 total pitches.

Birds starter Joe Testa (7-2) won his sixth straight, limiting York to three runs over six innings to improve to 5-0 in July.

Revs rookie right-hander Nick Parker shined out of the York bullpen, striking out four and allowing just an infield hit in two innings in his second pro appearance. Parker struck out three-hole hitter Telvin Nash looking for his first career punch out, and struck out the side in the seventh.

The Revs close their season series at GoMart Ballpark with a 5-7 record, having dropped six of the final eight in Charleston. The Revs suffered just their second series loss in the last nine series with both occurring in Charleston over the last two weeks.

The road trip continues to Lexington on Friday night at 6:45 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 6:25 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.

Southern Maryland 11, Lexington 7

(Thursday, July 27th,Lexington, KY) It had been over a month since the Blue Crabs captured a sweep over a club. That was against Staten Island in the first series of June; Southern Maryland was taking on the Counter Clocks after dramatically winning the first two games.