Spire City 3, Long Island 2

FREDERICK, MD – The Ghost Hounds avoided the sweep on Thursday night, knocking off the Long Island Ducks by a 3-2 score. Zac Rosscup earned his second win with six shutout innings, and Dovydas Neverauskas earned his first save with the Ghost Hounds in the win.

After Rosscup struck out two in the first inning, the Ghost Hounds got on the board in the bottom half. With runners on the corners and two outs, Kole Cottam legged out an infield single to make it 1-0 Ghost Hounds.

The Ducks loaded the bases in the second inning with one out, but Rosscup rolled up a 5-4-3 double play to get out of the inning scoreless.

The bases were again loaded in the third with nobody out, but Rosscup struck out the next three batters to again strand the bases loaded. The Ducks stranded seven baserunners through the first three innings.

After Steven Brault singled with one out in the fourth, he moved to third on a single by a debuting Eddy Diaz. Later in the inning on an attempt to pick off Diaz, Brault was able to score on a dropped throw by first baseman Sam Travis. After four innings, the Ghost Hounds led 3-0.

The Ducks would break through to get on the board in the seventh inning when Sam Travis singled home Ruben Tejada. Donald Goodson was able to strike out the next two batters to end the frame. Goodson would also strike out the side in the eighth, ending his night with five strikeouts. He did, however, allow a solo home run to Joe DeCarlo which cut the Ghost Hounds lead to 3-2.

Spire City turned to Dovydas Neverauskas in the ninth inning, looking for his first Ghost Hound save. He retired the side in order, locking down the 3-2 win for the Hounds.

Notes:

-      Zac Rosscup earned his second win in his third start. He threw six shutout frames, allowing just four hits. He struck out seven but walked six.

-      Steven Brault reached in all three trips to the plate, with two hits and a walk

Southern Maryland 5, Lexington 2

(Thursday, August 3^rd, Waldorf,MD) It was early in the day when the Blue Crabs got ready to finish up a three-game series with the Lexington Counter Clocks. Going into the final game, the series was not decided just yet, the Crabs had won four-straight series, and Liam O’Sullivan was looking to make it five.   

The early half of the third frame was when the first tally was added to the board. Andrew Moritz singled to left to drive in Zach Davis, giving the Clocks the early lead over the Crabs.     

Yeudy Garcia, who started the game for Lexington, had worked around some danger, stranding a runner in all five innings he spun through. Lexington took him out of the game and brought in Raymells Rosa.    

Rosa gave up a walk and a single to get a couple runners on base. With a payoff pitch coming up and two outs, Braxton Lee nailed a ball 364 feet into right-center to plate Matt Hibbert and Philip Caulfield. The Crabs finally broke through to take a 2-1 lead.     

The Blue Crabs added three more insurance runs from a Jack Sundberg two-bagger, a Braxton Lee sacrifice fly, and a Khalil Lee single ripped into left field. Liam O’Sullivan did give up one more run, but he sealed his 11th career complete game with a slow rolling ground ball played to perfection by the shortstop, Ian Yetsko. 

The final to wrap up this series was 5-2 for the Blue Crabs, winning five-straight series and six of their last seven. Their record is 46-40 in the 2023 season, and they have won 15 of their first 23 in the second half. Going into the weekend trifecta with the Charleston Dirty Birds, the Crabs are only half a game out of first place in the North Division in the second half.   

Tickets can be bought by clicking the link, the Blue Crabs will have a livestream on  FloBaseball.  

Lancaster 14, Charleston 4

After scoring only 22 runs in the previous seven games, the Lancaster Barnstormers busted loose with a six-homer attack on Thursday evening, routing the Charleston Dirty Birds, 14-4.

The win moved Lancaster (14-9) to within 1 ½ games of York in the second half race.

Andretty Cordero started the salvo with a fly ball onto the right field deck off Kit Scheetz (5-9) in the bottom of the first inning.  Shawon Dunston, Jr. connected with two men aboard in the bottom of the second as Lancaster took the lead for good at 4-2.  Anthony Peroni immediately followed with his first homer of the season for a 5-2 edge.

The assault continued into the third inning when Joseph Carpenter and Wilson Garcia produced the second pair of back-to-back long balls in the game.

In the fourth, Garcia connected again with the fifth of six consecutive hits off reliever Wilson Lopez.

Overall, the Barnstormers picked up 18 hits with Cordero, Carpenter and Garcia collecting three apiece.  Cordero, Dunston and Garcia had three-RBI games.

All of the runs came in support of Jared Lakind (6-3), who allowed four runs on six hits over five innings.  Diego Goris and Tillman Pugh delivered consecutive two-out RBI hits for Charleston in the second as the Dirty Birds took their only lead of the night.  Jalen Miller slugged a two-run homer in the top of the fifth.

Three Lancaster relievers combined to throw no-hit baseball over the final four innings.

Lancaster will head to Staten Island to open a three-game series against the FerryHawks on Friday evening.  Nile Ball (6-4) will make the start for Lancaster against lefty Jesse Remington (3-4) in a rematch of last Saturday’s DH opener.  Fans may tune into FloBaseball at 6:55.

NOTES:  Lancaster also hit six homers in a 17-6 drubbing of Spire City on July 8 in the second half opener…Prior to the game, the Barnstormers had had only one pair of back-to-back home runs all season (July 13 at Long Island)…Garcia had the first multi-homer game since Kelly Dugan hit a pair against Lexington on June 6…Nolan Long, the tallest player in franchise history at 6’10”, made his debut…After hitting Bobby Bradley and walking Juan Perez, the right-hander struck out the side in order.

High Point at Gastonia, PPD (rain)

Staten Island 6, York 4

August 3, 2023 – Staten Island, NY):  The York Revolution were denied a series sweep and saw a four-game winning streak halted, falling to the Staten Island FerryHawks 6-4 on Thursday morning at Northwell Health Community Park. The Revs close out a 6-4 road trip and return home to open a six-game homestand at WellSpan Park on Friday evening.

Staten Island drew first blood in the bottom of the third inning as a pair of two-out singles set up Yoshi Tsutsugo who launched a three-run homer to right center, spotting the hosts a 3-0 lead. It marked the first deficit for the Revs since Saturday night and the first time in five games they had not scored first.

The Revs got on the board in the fourth when Hawks starter Christian Capuano was assessed a balk, and pulled within one run in the fifth when Nellie Rodriguez and Alejandro Rivero ripped back-to-back line drive doubles to left, making it a 3-2 game.

Staten Island again used the long ball as Mike Wilson cracked a two-run homer to right center in the bottom of the fifth, expanding the FerryHawks lead to 5-2.

The Revs continued to battle as Ryan January crushed a home run to center field leading off the seventh, as his seventh of the year brought York within 5-3.

Troy Stokes Jr. doubled in the top of the eighth and stole third, prompting a throwing error by catcher Roldani Baldwin which brought him home to make it a one-run game at 5-4.

Staten Island added an unearned insurance run in the bottom of the eighth as Garrett Kueber drove a two-out RBI double to deep left center, closing the scoring.

Notes: Rodriguez increased his hitting streak to 10 consecutive games, his longest since the 2021 season. The Revs’ four-game winning streak comes within one of matching a season-high on the road. They enjoyed their second six-win road trip of the year, coming within one victory of tying a club record for most wins on a single road trip. The Revs finish the season series 9-3 against the FerryHawks. York’s first place lead in the second half shrinks to half a game over Southern Maryland. The Revs are now 15-7 in the half and 52-33 overall. Trey Martin saw his 27-game on-base streak snapped; it was tied for the league’s fifth longest this year and second-longest active. York struck out a season-high 14 times while Revs pitchers nearly matched that total, whiffing 12 FerryHawk batters. Revs starter Tom Sutera (7-4) lost a four-game winning streak but tied his career-high with seven strikeouts for the fourth time (third time this season). Capuano (7-3) was forced to exit after 6.2 innings when the FerryHawks were charged a second mound visit in the top of the seventh inning; Staten Island pitching coach Daulton Barry was ejected after arguing the sequence of events. Tomo Otosaka stole his league-leading 34th base, now tied for fourth-most in a season in Revs history with Travis Witherspoon and Welington Dotel. Stokes Jr. stole his 22nd bag and 53rd of his Revs career, moving ahead of Eric Patterson for seventh on the Revs’ career list. York righty Pedro Vasquez (5-1, 6.45) faces Spire City right hander Matt Reitz (1-0, 3.33) in Friday’s opener at 6:30 p.m. Promos include DownTown’s Sweet 16 Party presented by Give Local York, DownTown Grape Bobblehead Giveaway presented by WellSpan Health, and WellSpan Wellness Weekend: Back to School/Pediatrics. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.