High Point 7, York 2
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers won their fourth straight game with a 7-2 victory over the York Revolution Friday night in front of a crowd of 2,675 at Truist Point.

With the game tied 3-3 after five innings, the Rockers used a pair of walks and an RBI single from Ryan Grotjohn to take a 4-3 lead. The Rockers outscored the Revs 4-0 over the final six innings.

High Point’s bullpen again played a huge role, retiring the final 11 batters of the game.

The Rockers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when D.J. Burt reached on a fielder’s choice, move to second when Ben Aklinski was hit by a pitch by York starter Nick Raquet (L, 11-7). Burt then stole third and scored on a wild pitch.

A solo homer by York’s Nellie Rodriguez in the top of the second tied the game at 1-1. Emmanuel Tapia then hit a 440-foot solo homer in the bottom of the second to put the Rockers back on top 2-1.

The Revs scored twice in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. Drew Mendoza led off the inning with a triple and scored on a homer by Richard Urena.  High Point then tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth as Ryan Grotjohn drew a walk, moved to second on a balk, and scored on a single by Ben Aklinski.

High Point starter Jheyson Manzueta went five innings and allowed three runs while walking one and striking out six.

He left the game after five as Jeremy Rhoades (W, 6-2) pitched the sixth and seventh innings, allowing just a single hit while striking out three.

The Rockers went on top for good in the bottom of the seventh when Burt knocked a lead-off double and stole second. Aklinski grounded back to the pitcher and Burt was caught in a rundown but stayed alive long enough for Aklinski to take second. Beau Taylor then blooped a single to right that allowed Aklinski to score from second and give High Point a 5-4 lead.

Burt’s double in the seventh extended his streak to 52 consecutive games reaching base, the longest in the Atlantic League in the last four years and believed to be a league record.

High Point added a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth when Parreira was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a double by Emmanuel Tapia. Shed Long, Jr. brought home a run with a ground out before Burt hit a sac fly to right to score Joe Johnson who had pinch-run for Tapia.

Ryan Dull struck out the side in the ninth to seal the win.

The Rockers held the Revs to just five hits on the night. High Point was led by Tapia and Grotjohn who each had a pair of hits.

The Rockers improved to 63-34 and set a new club record for the most games over .500 at 29 games. High Point continues to lead the Atlantic League’s South Division with a second half record of 22-12. Gastonia is a game back at 21-13 in the second half.

The Rockers and Revolution will play game two of the three-game series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. It will be “Jamie Keefe Bobblehead Night” with the first 1,000 fans receiving a free Jamie Keefe Bobblehead. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app. The Rockers will send RHP Mickey Jannis to the mound to face York’s J.T. Hintzen.

Charleston 11, Long Island 6

(Central Islip, N.Y., Aug. 18, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Charleston Dirty Birds 11-6 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

Charleston opened the game with a seven-run first inning against Ducks starter Joe Iorio. Jalen Miller’s solo homer, Bobby Bradley’s two-run homer, Yovan Gonzalez’s two-run single and Yefri Perez’s RBI single did the damage. The Ducks answered with a run in the bottom of the frame on Alejandro De Aza’s RBI groundout to first base.

Two more runs in the second for the Dirty Birds on an error that plated Dwight Smith Jr. and an RBI single by Diego Goris make it 9-1. Joe DeCarlo’s RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the second off Dirty Birds starter Derrick Adams closed the gap to seven, but Charleston got the run back in the third on Bradley’s RBI single. 

A four-run sixth inning for the Flock, highlighted by Carlos Castro’s two-run homer to left-center, a wild pitch that plated DeCarlo and Boog Powell’s RBI bunt single, brought the Ducks to within 10-6. A ninth inning solo homer by Goris rounded out the scoring. 

Adams (5-7) earned the win, tossing five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out two. Iorio (3-8) suffered the loss, surrendering 10 runs (eight earned) on 15 hits and a walk in four and two-thirds innings with four strikeouts. 

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

The Ducks and Dirty Birds continue their three-game set on Saturday night. 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). Following the game, all fans in attendance will be treated to a Fireworks Spectacular, presented by PSEG Long Island. It’s also a Lucky Seat Saturday, presented by Long Island MacArthur Airport. During the game, the Ducks will be selecting a lucky fan in the ballpark, who will win two roundtrips on Breeze Airways to any of their six non-stop destinations from MacArthur Airport. Right-hander Justin Alintoff (2-1, 3.93) takes the mound for the Ducks against Dirty Birds lefty Danny Wirchansky (5-4, 3.33).

Gastonia 12, Lexington 8

Braxton Davidson hit a pair of three-run homers to lead Gastonia to 12-8 win at home over Lexington on Friday night. David Washington added a two-run homer and Jake Hoover hit a solo shot to lead the Honey Hunters 14 hit attack. Sam Roman (W, 4-4) went six innings for Gastonia in earning the win. Daniel Corcino (L, 0-4) allowed eight hits and eight runs over the first three innings of work. Connor Owings hit a two-run homer for the Counter Clocks.

Lancaster 6, Southern Maryland 4

The Lancaster Barnstormers picked up two unearned runs on a dropped pop up in the top of the ninth inning to defeat the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, 6-4, in the opener of a three-game series at Regency Furniture Stadium.

With the win, the Barnstormers guaranteed themselves at least to remain in a first place tie with the Staten Island FerryHawks in the wild North second half race.

Thirteen Lancaster batters had been retired when Shawon Dunston, Jr. picked up a two-out walk off Andre Scrubb (1-2) in the ninth.  Jack Conley dropped a single into left center, chasing Dunston to third.  Conley stole second as Trace Loehr worked ahead in the count.  Then, the Lancaster third baseman lofted a towering pop fly over the right side of the infield.

Instead of the third out of the inning, and the Blue Crabs working to walk off, K.C. Hobson mysteriously had the ball squirt out of his glove.  Dunston and Conley scored easily to give Lancaster the two-run lead.

Mike Adams, pitching for the third straight night, closed out the game with a perfect bottom of the ninth for his ninth save.

Joseph Carpenter and Yeison Coca each belted a two-run homer off Southern Maryland starter, and one-time Barnstormer, Spencer Johnston for a 4-1 lead.

Matt Swarmer held that lead through six, allowing only four hits and a run in a quality start, but the Blue Crabs put together a two-out surge against the Lancaster pen in the seventh.  With two outs and a runner at first, Khalil Lee blasted a two-run homer to right center off Brian Marconi, cutting the deficit to one.  Jimmy Kerrigan greeted Bret Clarke with a double inside the left field line and scored on Alex Crosby’s single up the middle.  Conley made a picked attempt at first and misconnected with Andretty Cordero, sending Crosby to third.  Hobson walked, but Clarke was able to pick up the final out on a deep fly ball by Philip Caulfield.

Nick Duron (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the Barnstormers to earn the win.

Lancaster will send Brent Teller (10-4) to the mound on Saturday evening against lefty McKenzie Mills (3-2, 4-3).  Fans may tune in on FloBaseball, beginning at 6:30.

NOTES:  The game was Lancaster’s seventh win in the final turn at the plate this season…All have come on the road…Melvin Mercedes opened the game with a single to extend his hitting streak to 14…He has reached base in 35 of his last 36…Coca’s homer was his third in seven games…Carpenter took the team lead with his 12^th of the season…Duron has 20 strikeouts in his last 9 2/3 innings…Swarmer gave Lancaster its fourth quality start in the last seven games.

Staten Island 2, Spire City 0

FREDERICK, MD – Henry Sosa and Jesse Remington tossed a phenomenal pitcher’s duel on Friday night, but a pair of timely Ferryhawk homers were enough to push Staten Island to a 2-0 win in the series opener.

Henry Sosa, in his Nymeo Field debut, cruised for the Ghost Hounds through the first six innings. This included stranding the bases loaded in the sixth inning by striking out Jack Elliot. 

But after Sosa retired the first two of the seventh inning, Noah Fisher hit a solo home run that put Staten Island up 1-0. After a 13-pitch battle, Sosa got Ricardo Cespedes swinging to end the seventh, and end his night with seven strikeouts.  

Angel Aguilar led off the eighth with a solo home run off of new pitcher Max Povse. Povse retired the next three in order, and Victor Capellan pitched a scoreless ninth. 

The Ghost Hounds, however, stranded nine on base for the night, and were hitless with runners in scoring position. 

They will look to rebound on Saturday when righty Dustin Beggs takes the mound for a 6 PM start.