Long Island 7, Staten Island 1

(Staten Island, N.Y., Aug. 25, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks 7-1 on Friday evening in the opener of a three-game weekend series at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park.

Long Island took a 3-0 lead in the top half of the second inning versus Staten Island starting pitcher Ryan Hartman as Carlos Castro drove home Alejandro De Aza with an RBI single after De Aza began the rally with a double, a run-scoring two-base hit by Joe DeCarlo that enabled Brantley Bell to cross the plate, and an RBI safety squeeze bunt from Scott Kelly that scored De Carlo. The visitors made it 5-0 in their favor in the fifth on a run-scoring base knock by Bell that plated Castro and a sacrifice fly produced by Kelly that drove in Bell. The Ducks went out in front 7-1 in the ninth on back-to-back RBI base hits from Alex Dickerson and Sam Travis that scored Kelly and RubenTejada as Tejada drew a walk in his final plate appearance of the night to extend his on-base streak to a team-high 31 consecutive games overall.

Long Island starting pitcher Kyle Lobstein (3-4) collected his third quality start of the season en route to the victory after allowing just one run on six hits in six and two-thirds innings pitched, walking two while striking out seven. Hartman (4-6) was tagged with the loss, surrendering five runs (four earned) on eight hits in five innings on the mound, walking and striking out a pair of batters.

Castro led the way offensively for the Flock with three hits, including two doubles, along with an RBI, run scored, and stolen base, while DeCarlo tallied a single, double, RBI and run scored as he has now reached base safely in 17 straight contests.

The Ducks and FerryHawks continue their three-game set on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at SIUH Community Park. Fans can follow the action live on Flo Baseball by CLICKING HERE. Right-hander Joe Iorio (3-8, 7.13) gets the start for Long Island against Staten Island righty Ethan Skujia (0-0, 4.22).

High Point 10, Spire City 6

FREDERICK, Md. – The High Point Rockers used a 14-hit attack including a six-run fifth inning to subdue the Spire City Ghost Hounds 10-6 on Friday night at Nymeo Field. Mickey Jannis earned the victory to improve to 11-4 on the season, tying the club record for the most wins in a season.

High Point lit up the scoreboard first as Shed Long, Jr. led off the game with a walk and moved to second on a balk. D.J. Burt then singled to right, sending Long, Jr. to third and paving the way for Ben Aklinski to drive in Long, Jr. with a sac fly. The base hit marked the 57^th consecutive game in which Burt has reached base safely.

Spire City took a 3-1 lead in the second when Steven Brault homered to score Kole Cottam who had singled, and Osvaldo Abreu who was hit by a pitch from Jannis (W, 11-4).

High Point cut the deficit to 3-2 in the fourth when Ryan Grotjohn and Daikan Yoh singled. Grotjohn scored when Brian Parreira grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

In the bottom of the fourth, Abreu hit a solo homer to extend Spire City’s lead to 4-2.

The Rockers sent 10 men to the plate in the fifth and scored six times to surge ahead 8-4. Long, Jr. hit a two-run homer, Grotjohn and Parreira had RBI singles and Michael Martinez had a two-run single.

The scoring continued with two more runs in the sixth to give High Point a 10-4 lead. Aklinski reached on an error by pitcher Nate Peden just before Zander Wiel unloaded his 25^th home run of the year.

Jannis (W, 11-4) left in the sixth after allowing a double to Jimmy Paredes and issuing walks to Kole Cottam and Chris Shaw. Austin Ross came in from the bullpen with the bases loaded and one out and retired Abreu on a called strike three and induced a fly ball to get out of the inning unscathed.

Jannis finished the night going 5.1 innings and allowing five hits and four runs with three walks and four strikeouts. Spire City starter Dustin Beggs (L, 3-10) was saddled with the loss, allowing 11 hits and eight runs over five innings though four of the runs were unearned.

Bryce Hensley came on in the seventh and allowed a double to Brault. Craig Dedelow singled up the middle but Burt overran the ball for an error, allowing Brault to score. Dedelow moved to third on a ground out and scored on another ground out to pull the Ghost Hounds to within 10-6. Jameson McGrane shut out the Ghost Hounds in the eighth and Ryan Dull retired the side in order in the ninth to preserve the win.

The Rockers improved to 67-35 for the full season and 26-13 in the second half. The Rockers have a half-game lead over Gastonia (26-14) in the race for the South Division second half pennant.

Game two of the series is slated for a 6:00 p.m. start Saturday at Frederick’s Nymeo Field. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app.

NOTES: D.J. Burt reached base for the 57^th consecutive game. That stands as a Rockers club record and is believed to be an Atlantic League record. The only other streak of similar length was a 50-game streak by York’s Carlos Franco in 2022… Mickey Jannis won his 11^th game, tying the club record for wins in a season. Tommy Lawrence went 11-4 during the 2021 season. Jannis is one of three Atlantic League pitchers to win 11 games this year, joining Gastonia’s Zach Mort with 12 wins and York’s Nick Raquet with 11… High Point’s six-run fifth inning marked the most runs in an inning since the Rockers plated 14 runs in the ninth of a July 29 game at Spire City.

Gastonia 4, Lancaster 1

It is not easy to shut down the Lancaster Barnstormers offense.  Friday evening, Brett Daniels and the Gastonia bullpen found a way.

Daniels combined with three relievers on a two-hitter as the Honey Hunters defeated the Lancaster Barnstormers, 4-1, in the opener of a three-game series at Clipper Magazine Stadium. 

The loss dropped the Barnstormers back into a first place tie with Southern Maryland in the North while Gastonia remained within one-half game of High Point in the South.

Daniels (4-1) walked Melvin Mercedes to start the night before retiring 11 consecutive Lancaster batters.  Ariel Sandoval picked up a two-out walk in the fourth, but Daniels, who struck out eight on the night, fanned the next four.

The right-hander’s bid for a no-hitter was snapped by Chris Proctor’s leadoff double in the sixth.  Lancaster worked Proctor around on ground balls for the club’s only run of the night.

Bryan Blanton and Nick Wells each pitched a perfect inning.  Andretty Cordero produced Lancaster’s second hit of the night with a two-out single into left off Graham Spraker in the ninth.  Sandoval flied out to the wall to end the game as Spraker earned his first save.

Gastonia reached Brent Teller (10-5) for a run in the second.  A walk to Steven Moya, hit batter and Braxton Davidson’s ground single into right loaded the bases with nobody out.  David Washington chased the first run home with a sacrifice fly to right.  Scott Manea was doubled off second on the play, helping Teller out of the inning.  Kevin Santa singled off Teller’s leg with the bases loaded in the fourth for a 2-0 lead.

The other two Honey Hunters runs scored in the seventh off Bret Clarke as Luis Curbelo doubled, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Zach Jarrett’s single into right.  Jarrett advanced on a passed ball and came home for the 4-1 lead on Moya’s double whistled into right center.

Lancaster will send Jared Lakind (8-3) to the hill against fellow lefty Gunnar Kines (10-3) on Saturday evening.  Fireworks will follow the game.  Fans may tune into FloBaseball at 6:25.

NOTES:  The two-hits matched a season low for the Barnstormers that had occurred twice previously…Lancaster struck out 13 times in the game, the most since 17 batters fanned in an 11-game at Gastonia on May 26…Teller lost a six-game winning streak…The loss was his first since July 6 against Long Island…Proctor’s double was his fifth extra base hit in his last five starts…Cordero has hit safely in 36 of his last 40 games.

Southern Maryland 3, Lexington 2

K.C. Hobson singled to right to score Khalil Lee and give Southern Maryland a 3-2 walk-off win over Lexington on Friday night at Regency Furniture Stadium.

Daryl Thompson made his first start since June 30 and went six innings, allowing four hits and one run. Bruce Rondon (W, 2-1) earned the win as he put down the Counter Clocks in order in the top of the ninth, striking out one. Joey Steele (L, 0-4) allowed three hits and two runs in his 1.1 innings of work.

York 6, Charleston 3

(August 25th, 2023 – York, Pa.):  J.T. Hintzen stifled the Charleston Dirty Birds over 7.2 innings as the York Revolution nabbed an important series opening victory, 6-3 on Friday night in front of 3,849 fans at WellSpan Park. The Revs pull back within 3.5 games of first place with 22 to play in the regular season with the win.

York plated the game’s first run in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with no outs via three walks from Birds starter Derrick Adams. Alejandro Rivero ripped a line drive to center for a sac fly RBI as the Revs led 1-0.

Charleston answered in the top of the third, getting a swinging bunt hit by Yefri Perez who stole second and prompted an errant throw that went into center field allowing Perez to take third with none out. Dwight Smith Jr. provided a sac fly of his own on a drive to center field, tying it at 1-1.

The Revs got some more offense in the third to take the lead for good. After a Drew Mendoza double and a Trey Martin single, the Revs had first and third with one out when Nellie Rodriguez bounced one softly to third base. Juan Perez tried to throw home to get the lead runner but threw it away as Mendoza scored to give York the lead. Richard Urena singled to right on the first pitch from Adams, bringing home Martin as the Revs led it 3-1.

Trent Giambrone led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo home run to left center to make it 4-1 York on his 21st of the season.

The Birds cut the Revs’ lead to 4-2 with two doubles off Hintzen in the sixth. Isaias Tejeda sliced an RBI double down the first base line to plate one, but a potential second run was thrown out at home on a relay from Urena at second base.

York added two insurance runs in the seventh off reliever Edison Suriel, using back-to-back two-out doubles by Urena and Jhon Nunez (RBI) both to left field. Giambrone added an infield single to plate Nunez who had stolen third base for his first steal since 2019, increasing the lead to 6-2.

Hintzen recorded the first two outs of the eighth inning but gave up a two-out double to Jalen Miller who scored on a soft single to right field by Bobby Bradley, cutting the lead to 6-3. Nelvin Correa came in and disposed of Telvin Nash via a pop up behind the pitchers’ mound to end the inning.

Hintzen (8-6) finished with 7.2 innings, one out shy of matching a career-high set two starts earlier, allowing eight hits, two earned runs, two walks and eight strikeouts which came within one of matching a career-best.

Ben Dum came in for the ninth and recorded the first two outs around a pair of walks. Will Carter put the finishing touches on the victory, inducing a soft grounder back to the mound to end the ballgame and secure the 6-3 victory.

Notes: The Revs have won two of their last three and snap a losing streak of six straight series openers, claiming their first opening game victory since August 1 at Staten Island. Hintzen threw 114 pitches (76 strikes) in the strong effort. Urena reached base all four times with two walks, an RBI single, a double, and a stolen base. Mendoza doubled twice for his fifth multi-hit game in the last six contests (13-for-24); his .346 average leads the league by nine points and his 35 doubles are within one of the league-lead.

Roster Moves: Prior to Friday’s game, the Revs released RHP Cody Brittain and placed C Ryan January on the temporary inactive list, opening a roster spot for backup catcher Alfonso Reda who was signed and activated.

Up Next: The Revs will go for the series win on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. as Tom Sutera (7-6, 6.73) squares off with lefty Danny Wirchansky (5-4, 3.20). The night features Inside-the-Park Fireworks presented by York College of Pennsylvania. It is York College of Pennsylvania Night with the return of Cannonball Charlie, Drone Night presented by Pennsylvania Drone Association, and the evening includes a game-worn Hat Auction presented by & to benefit the York Revolution Fan Club. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.