Lancaster 9, Long Island 6

The Lancaster Barnstormers used their baserunning game to speed past the Long Island Ducks, 9-6, Thursday evening at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

With the win, the Barnstormers remained in a first place tie in the Atlantic League North, matching Staten Island and Southern Maryland with 20-15 records.

Heading into the home half of the sixth inning in a 5-5 tie, the Barnstormers got a leadoff walk from Chris Proctor.  Jack Conley forced Proctor at second and advanced to second on a wild throw.  Melvin Mercedes broke the tie with a single to center off Sam Kessler (0-1) and took second on the throw home.  Mercedes was allowed to take third on a passed ball.  Yeison Coca walked, and the pair executed a double steal for a 7-5 lead.

The Barnstormers would score twice in the bottom of the seventh as well.  They stayed out of a double play be sending Trayvon Robinson on a one-out ground ball by Proctor.  Conley singled home Robinson, stole second and scored when Mercedes grounded a single inside the third base bag.

Long Island had grabbed the early lead off Jeff Bain (4-2), scoring twice in the first inning.  Sam Travis knocked home one run with a force play grounder, and the second scored when Alex Dickerson thundered a double off the batter’s eye.  Ariel Sandoval answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning.

The Ducks took their second two-run lead of the night on an unearned run in the second.  Lancaster pulled even on solo homers by Yeison Coca and Wilson Garcia in the third.  Again, the Ducks went ahead by two as the result of consecutive RBI singles by Jonathan Guzman and Trent Taylor in the fourth.

Lancaster erased that lead quickly also.  Proctor tripled to left center and scored on a single by Conley in the bottom of the inning.  Mercedes walked, and Coca beat out an infield single to load the bases.  Andretty Cordero picked up the tying run with a sacrifice fly to center.

Boog Powell hit a seventh-inning homer off Brandyn Sittinger, but Sittinger and Mike Adams combined to retire the final seven Ducks to hold the win.  Adams earned his eighth save.

Lancaster will head to Southern Maryland for a critical three-game weekend series.  Matt Swarmer (0-1) will make the Friday start against right-hander Spencer Johnston (1-2, 3-4).  Fans may tune into FloBaseball beginning at 6:30.

NOTES:  Mercedes went 3-for-4 with a walk to extend his hitting streak to 13 games…Over the last 35 games, Mercedes has earned his way on base on 86 of 166 plate appearances (.518 OBP)…Four of Lancaster’s 20-plus base stealers grabbed a bag on Thursday night…The fifth, Shawon Dunston, Jr., was thrown out stealing…For the third time in six starts, Bain did not walk a batter…Garcia tied for the team lead with his 11^th homer, joining Andretty Cordero and Joseph Carpenter.

High Point 7, Lexington 2

LEXINGTON, Ky. – High Point lefty Brandon Leibrandt threw seven innings of three-hit baseball and the Rockers tied a season-high with five home runs as they completed a sweep of Lexington with a 7-2 win Thursday night at Counter Clocks Field.

Leibrandt (W, 2-2) scattered three hits while walking one and striking out six. He left after seven innings with the Rockers holding a 7-2 lead. The Rockers’ bullpen was outstanding, with Cam Bedrosian in the eighth and Bryce Hensley in the ninth, each striking out the side.

The Rockers are 62-34 on the season and have reached 28 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history. High Point is 21-12 in the second half and the Rockers hold a one game lead over 20-13 Gastonia.

Brian Parreira staked the Rockers to a 1-0 lead with a solo homer in the second inning. It was Parreira’s fourth homer in the last five games. Lexington catcher Logan Brown tied the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the second.

A solo shot from Shed Long, Jr. in the third put the Rockers up 2-1 and Joe Johnson hit his second homer of the year in the fifth to give High Point a 3-1 lead. A fourth solo homer, this one from Zander Wiel, his 23^rd of the year, put the Rockers on top 4-1 in the sixth.

Lexington tallied one run off Leibrandt in the bottom of the sixth when Brandt Broussard tripled and scored on a ground out by Zach Watson to make it 4-2.

Lexington starter Mike Kickham (L, 1-6) exited after six innings, allowing six hits and four home runs. Joe Dougherty came in from the bullpen and went two-thirds of an inning, allowing two hits and two runs.

High Point’s lead grew to 7-2 in the seventh when Johnson legged out an infield chopper. Long, Jr. singled to center to move Johnson to third and D.J. Burt’s grounder to third brought Johnson home. The Counter Clocks summoned Raymells Rosa from the bullpen and Ben Aklinski sent his first pitch out of the park, scoring Long, Jr. ahead of him, for a five-run lead.

Johnson finished the night with two hits while Long reached safely three times. Lexington was led by Brown with two hits.

The Rockers will return home and begin a six-game homestand on Friday night against the York Revolution. Game is set for 6:35 p.m. and the game will be live streamed on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app. It will be “Pink at the Point” with the Rockers wearing specialty jerseys that will be auctioned off following the game. There will be a fireworks show following the game as well.

NOTES: D.J. Burt singled in the fifth inning to extend his streak to 51 consecutive games in reaching base… It is believed to be an Atlantic League record, just ahead of a 50 game streak by Carlos Franco of York in 2022… Joe Johnson’s fifth inning homer traveled 419 feet… Parreira’s homer went 403 feet, Wiel’s was 390 feet, and Long, Jr.’s homer was measured at 375 feet as was Aklinski’s.

Staten Island 9, Charleston 4

Christian Capuano improved to 9-3, throwing six innings in a 9-4 win at home vs. Charleston. Luis Castro had three hits for the Ferryhawks including a pair of doubles and two RBI. At 20-15 in the second half, Staten Island is part of a three-way tie for first in the North.

Gastonia 5, York 2

(August 17, 2023 – Gastonia, NC):  The York Revolution offense suffered through a season-high 15-strikeout night, falling to the Gastonia Honey Hunters, 5-2 in their series rubber match at CaroMont Health Park on Thursday evening. The Revs slip to 1.5 games back of first place with the defeat.

Gastonia starter Zach Mort (11-2) struck out 14 batters in seven innings while tying Revs lefty Nick Raquet for the league lead in victories with his 11th. The strikeout total marked the most in a game in the Atlantic League this season and the most ever by an opposing pitcher against the Revs in a single game.

Mort struck out his first four batters of the game, one of two streaks of four consecutive strikeouts that he enjoyed on the night. He walked just one and allowed only one run on five hits with a very efficient pitch count of just 91 pitches in his seven frames.

York starter Andrew Cabezas (1-3) matched Mort with zeroes through the first three innings and did not allow a hit during that stretch.

After a leadoff walk to start the first, Cabezas retired his next nine-in-a-row before a walk to Luis Curbelo sparked a rally for the Honey Hunters in the fourth. Zach Jarrett followed with a single up the middle, and Scott Manea drove an RBI double to right for the game’s first run. David Washington reached on what was scored an RBI single on a pop up that plopped in shallow center when center fielder Tomo Otosaka collided with shortstop Alexis Pantoja who was attempting to make the catch. Braxton Davidson later doubled to left center to drive in another, and Pedro Gonzalez capped the four-run rally with a sac fly to center as Gastonia took a 4-0 lead.

Cabezas rebounded to work scoreless ball over the next two innings, finishing a season high-tying six frames while tying a season-high with seven strikeouts in the loss.

York got on the board in the sixth when Trent Giambrone led off with a double to left and scored on a bouncing single up the middle by Otosaka to bring the Revs within 4-1.

York righty Nick Parker worked out of a bases loaded two-out spot to handle a scoreless seventh, but Gastonia added an insurance run without a hit in the eighth, as a pair of walks and a wild pitch set up an RBI ground out by Kevin Santa against Revs reliever Will Carter to make it a 5-1 game.

Trey Martin nailed a one-out double in the top of the ninth, setting the table for an RBI ground out by Drew Mendoza but Honey Hunters lefty Sam Freeman allowed nothing further, closing out the game.

The Revs will look to rebound when they open the final leg of their three-series road trip on Friday night at High Point. Raquet (11-6, 3.83) faces Rockers righty Jheyson Manzueta (5-1, 4.50) at 6:35 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 6:15 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.

Southern Maryland 12, Spire City 1