Lancaster 10, York 2

After a frustrating weekend in York, the Lancaster Barnstormers put every facet of the game together on Monday evening.

Lancaster exploded for six runs in the top of the seventh in the completion of a suspended game to defeat the York Revolution, 10-2, in the finale of a three-game series at WellSpan Park.

The win, combined with Southern Maryland’s 14-1 loss to High Point earlier in the day, gives Lancaster a 1 ½ game lead and the tiebreaker over Southern Maryland while York is 2 ½ back and in charge with the tiebreaker with Lancaster.  Lancaster’s magic number stands at five with both clubs and four with the Long Island Ducks, the ‘Stormers’ next opponent.

With the score tied, 2-2, Melvin Mercedes led off the seventh with a walk from Jhon Vargas (0-1).  A wild pitch sent Mercedes to second, and Yeison Coca picked up another walk.  Andretty Cordero singled to left to stake Lancaster to a 3-2 edge.  Vargas got Wilson Garcia to pop out for the first out of the inning then gave way to fellow right-hander Ben Dum.  Ariel Sandoval greeted Dum with a three-run homer, extending the lead to four.  Trayvon Robinson picked up a walk and moved to third on a single by Chris Proctor.  With Proctor on the move, Jack Conley lined a single to the left center field gap, scoring both.

Lancaster would tack on two more runs in the eighth.

York had grabbed a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Richard Urena on Sunday afternoon before a heavy cloudburst broke loose on WellSpan Park, forcing the suspension of the game.  Starters Jared Lakind and J.T. Hintzen returned to the mound on Monday evening, and the score remained, 1-0, until Cordero stroked a two-run single to left in the top of the fifth.  York knotted the score on Alejandro Rivero’s RBI single off eventual winner Garrett Granitz (2-1) in the bottom of the sixth.

The Barnstormers will entertain the Ducks on Tuesday evening at Clipper Magazine Stadium.  Brent Teller (10-6) is on the hill for the Barnstormers and will match up against right-hander Augie Voight (0-0).  Fans may tune into FloBaseball at 6:25.

NOTES:  Cordero now has 111 RBI on the season…Thirty-eight of them have tied the game or put Lancaster into the lead…He trails York’s Drew Mendoza, .348 to .343 in the batting race…Sandoval’s homer was just his second since July 13…Proctor had his fifth multi-hit game in the last seven starts…York won the War of the Roses, 13-8.

High Point 14, Southern Maryland 1

WALDORF, Md. – it was a record-setting day for the High Point Rockers on Monday as they defeated Southern Maryland 14-1 in a makeup game of a Saturday rainout at Regency Furniture Stadium.

Right fielder Ben Aklinski drove in four runs to give him 100 for the season, breaking the club record of 98 RBI set last year by Zander Wiel. Starting pitcher Mickey Jannis extended his club record for wins to 13 this season, more than any previous Rocker hurler, by throwing eight innings of three-hit baseball.

It was an afternoon in which the Rockers’ offense pounded out 18 hits and five home runs, two apiece from Aklinski and Emmanuel Tapia. Each finished with three base hits and four RBI.

The Rockers set a club record for wins in a season with their 76^th victory, eclipsing the 75 wins posted by the inaugural High Point team in 2019. And it was High Point’s 34^th win in the second half, another club record.

Jannie and Southern Maryland starter Daryl Thompson each threw three shutout innings to start the contest. The Rockers broke the ice in the fourth when Quincy Latimore singled and scored on a two-run fielding error by the Blue Crabs and Tapia hit a two-run homer.

So. Maryland got its only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth when Alex Crosby hit a sacrifice fly to score Khalil Lee who had drawn a walk from Jannis.

From that point on, it was all Rockers. Aklinski hit a two-run homer in the fifth and Latimore added a solo shot in the same frame. In the sixth, Tapia singled and scored on a triple by D.J. Burt, who moved into a tie for the league lead with six triples. Daikan Yoh doubled to score Burt and then crossed home on an Aklinski double.

Tapia added a two-run homer in the seventh and Aklinski hit a solo shot, his 24th of the year, in the eighth.

Jannis went eight innings, allowing just three hits while walking two and striking out two. Darrien Ragins allowed two hits in the ninth but no runs while earning one strikeout.

The Rockers will head to York, Pa. and start a three-game series with the York Revolution on Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app.

NOTES: Ben Aklinski hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning and a sixth inning double to give him 99 RBI on the season. He then reached the 100-RBI mark with an eighth inning solo homer. Aklinski has become just the second player in Atlantic League history to post two 100-RBI seasons in his career. He drove in 105 runs with Lexington in 2021. Lancaster’s Andretty Cordero drove in 118 runs last year and has 108 this season… At 34-20 in road games, the Rockers will finish the regular season above .500 away from Truist Point for the first time in club history… Mickey Jannis is now tied with Gastonia’s Zach Mort for the league lead with 13 wins… Jannis is fourth in the Atlantic League in strikeouts with 113, the second-most ever by a High Point pitcher behind Joe Van Meter’s 131 in 2019… Jannis also won his 15^th game as a Rocker, tying Craig Stem for the club career wins record… High Point’s 14 runs were the most it has scored since a 22-2 win over Spire City on July 29.