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The Week Ahead: In the North Division, Lancaster enters the final week with a 1.5 game lead over So. Maryland and the Barnstormers will be at home for their final six games… The Blue Crabs will be on the road for their final six… South leader High Point will play its final eight games away from home. 

 

The Week That Was: Lancaster was in first place in the North all week though they did share first with So. Maryland on Saturday… Gastonia started the week with a 3.5 game lead over High Point but the Rockers went 6-1 while the Honey Hunters were 2-6 and High Point enters the final week with a 1/2 -game lead… Gastonia did clinch the league’s Wild Card berth should either High Point or Long Island repeat as second half champion.

 

Streaking: David Washington of Gastonia homered in four straight during the week… So. Maryland closer Bruce Rondon has converted four straight save opportunities.

 

Walk-offs: Chris Proctor singled in the bottom of the ninth as Lancaster walked-off Staten Island on 9/6… Trent Giambrone of York plated the winning run in a 7-6 walk-off win over Lancaster on 9/9… Craig Dedelow hit a solo homer as Spire City walked-off Lexington on 9/10 in game 1 of a DH.

 

Grand Slam: Long Island’s Alex Dickerson vs. Staten Island on 9/10.

 

Milestones: High Point’s Ben Aklinski joined Lancaster’s Andretty Cordero as the only players in league history with multiple 100 RBI seasons… Cordero had 118 last year and has 111 thus far in 2023… Aklinski drove home 105 in 2021 with Lexington and hit the 100 mark on Monday vs. So. Maryland… Long Island’s Lew Ford moved into third on the ALPB hit list with 1,034, surpassing Long Island’s Ray Navarrete who had 1.032.

 

Midweek Marvels: Gastonia’s Jack Reinheimer hit three home runs in a doubleheader at High Point on 9/5… Reinheimer knocked a league-best five extra base hits in the midweek series vs. High Point… Long Island’s Lew Ford went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI from the lead-off spot vs. Spire City 9/5… Long Island’s Carlos Castro banged out five hits, four RBI and four runs scored vs. Spire City on 9/5… Long Island’s Alejandro De Aza hit .625 (5-for-8) in two games against Spire City… So. Maryland’s Bruce Rondon had a pair of saves vs. York.

 

Weekend Wonders: Tomo Otosaka hit his first home run of the year vs. Lancaster on 9/8… J.C. Perez had a double, homer and five RBI vs. Gastonia on 9/8… Long Island’s Lew Ford was 3-for-3 vs. Staten Island on 9/10… High Point’s Quincy Latimore went five-for-8 (.625) in three weekend games at So. Maryland… Gastonia’s David Washington had three homers and seven RBI vs. Charleston… Charleston’s Arnaldo Hernandez recorded a pair of saves vs. Gastonia.

 

Team Efforts: Long Island matched the league season-high with 23 hits vs. Spire City on 9/5… Charleston tied a team season- high with 19 hits in a 19-8 win over Gastonia on 9/8… High Point held So. Maryland to three hits on 9/8… Staten Island fanned 15 Long Island batters on 9/9… Barnstormer pitchers collected 16 Ks vs. York on 9/9.

 

Pitching Plaudits: Mickey Jannis of High Point allowed three hits in a seven inning CG win over Gastonia on 9/5… Brett Daniels and two relievers tossed a two-hitter at High Point on 9/5 (game 2)… So. Maryland’s Daryl Thompson tossed a complete game with seven strikeouts in improving to 6-2 and winning his 97th ALPB game… High Point’s Craig Stem and Charleston’s Ricardo Gomez each won his 32nd career ALPB game last week… York’s Andrew Cabezas fanned 10 in seven innings vs. Lancaster on 9/8… Gastonia’s Zach Mort won his 13th game of the year with a complete game four-hitter vs. Charleston on 9/9… Lancaster’s Matt Swarmer struck out 11 in 5.2 innings vs. York on 9/9.

 

Homer Happy: Prior to 2023, only one team in league history had hit 200 or more homers… That was Lexington in 2021 with 205… This year, Gastonia has set the league mark with 213 while Spire City is sitting at 199 homers… The Atlantic League has raced past its record for homers in a season… ALPB clubs have hit 1,481 homers this year, surpassing last year’s mark of 1,354.

 

Team Efforts: Charleston’s and Staten Island’s pitching staffs combined to strike out 30 hitters on 9/1… Long Island posted its sixth shutout of the year on 8/29, beating York 2-0 on five hits… In the second game of a DH on 9/3, Charleston won 1-0 in eight innings as the Dirty Bird pitchers held the Ferry Hawks to four hits but Staten Island’s staff only allowed two hits… Lancaster and Long Island combined for 34 hits in LI’s 12-11 win on 9/4... Lancaster hit .331 in 4 games vs. Staten Island over the weekend.

 

Longest At-Bat of the Week: Derrick Adams of Charleston struck out Lexington’s J.C. Encarnacion on 12 pitches on 9/6.