Lancaster 3, Long Island 1

The 26-year old out of the MLB Draft League threw seven strong innings, allowing five singles while pitching the Lancaster Barnstormers to a 3-1 victory over the Long Island Ducks for the ‘Stormers’ eighth consecutive home win.

As a result of the win, the magic number for the Barnstormers has been reduced to one with only York remaining alive to catch the Barnstormers.  The next Lancaster win or York loss will send the defending champion Barnstormers back to the playoffs and a first round meeting with the Ducks.

Tedesco (1-1) walked two and struck out three and had more than one man reach base in an inning only twice.  Only a two-out single to right by first baseman Sam Travis picked up a run in the lefty’s seven-inning stretch.

Lancaster grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second off Ian Clarkin (3-5).  Wilson Garcia led off with a single up the middle.  Designated runner Chris Proctor stole second and was eventually pushed to third on walks to Trayvon Robinson and Joseph Carpenter.  Clarkin picked up two called third strikes before walking Melvin Mercedes to force home a run.

The 1-1 tie was busted in the bottom of the sixth.  Clarkin allowed a leadoff single to Ariel Sandoval that slipped past second baseman Jonathan Guzman in the sixth.  Clarkin, after throwing a strike to Garcia, left the game with an injury, and the Lancaster first baseman lashed a double into the left field corner off Yaya Chentouf to knock in the lead run.  Trayvon Robinson tapped out in front of the plate to send Garcia to third, and Carpenter snuck a grounder into left field for insurance.

Ofreidy Gomez survived two-out singles by Alex Dickerson and Travis in the top of the eighth, retiring Alejandro de Aza on a routine fly to center.  Nick Duron worked the ninth, yielding a walk to Joe DeCarlo, for his second save.

Lancaster will send right-hander Matt Swarmer (3-1) to the hill against Staten Island and right-hander Ethan Skuija (0-2) at Clipper Magazine Stadium on Friday.  Fans may tune into FloBaseball, beginning at 6:35.

NOTES:  Tedesco threw Lancaster’s 37^th quality start…He has allowed three runs in 12 innings over two starts…Duron has allowed one earned run in his last 20 innings while fanning 34…Robinson walked for the eighth straight game…Mercedes, the league leader in OBP to open the night, reached on three of four plate appearances…Garcia was 8-for-14 in the series with seven RBI…Lancaster won 13 of 22 regular season meetings against Long Island.

York 17, High Point 8

YORK, Pa. – The High Point Rockers closed out their next-to-last regular season series with a 17-8 loss at York on Thursday night at WellSpan Park.

The Rockers held a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the sixth before the Revs put up 11 runs over the next three innings, helped in large part by three Rockers errors. Only two of the final 11 runs scored were earned runs.

The Rockers are now 35-23 in the second half and tied for first place with Gastonia (36-24) which posted a 5-4 win over Southern Maryland on Thursday.

High Point and York each scored four runs in the second. High Point’s runs came on a Brian Parreira solo homer, a Shed Long, Jr. two-run single and a wild pitch that allowed Quincy Latimore to score from third. York’s half of the inning resulted in an RBI single from Alexis Pantoja and a three-run Trey Martin homer off Rocker starter Justin Nicolino.

The Rockers took a 5-4 lead in the top of the fourth as Michael Martinez singled, moved to second on a wild pitch by York starter Cody Brittain and then scored on a double by Long, Jr.

Nicolino exited after 3.1 innings as he hit his designated pitch count. Bryce Hensley came on and allowed two runs in the fifth. Drew Mendoza drew a walk and moved to second on a single by Jhon Nunez. A walk to Alejandro Rivero loaded the bases and Mendoza scored on a wild pitch. Richard Urena then singled home Nunez to put the Revs ahead 6-5.

The Rockers went on top 7-6 in the sixth as Martinez doubled with one out in the inning. D.J. Burt was then hit in the head by a pitch from Brittain and forced to exit the game. Nilo Rijo replaced Burt as Long, Jr. delivered another RBI single that plated Martinez. Joe Johnson pinch-hit and slapped a single to right scoring Rijo to give the Rockers the lead.

York tallied six times in sixth off Mitch Atkins as the Revs went ahead 12-7. They added four more runs in the seventh. All three of High Point’s errors were throwing errors with one in the sixth and two in the seventh.

Long, Jr. finished with three hits and four RBI for the Rockers. TMartin and Nunez each drove in three runs for York with Ryan January collecting three hits and four RBI. Urena led all players with four hits on the night.

Atkins (L, 1-4) took the loss though only one of the 10 runs he allowed was earned. Nelvin Correa (W, 5-4) earned the win for the Revs.

The Rockers will continue their season-ending road trip with a three-game series at Long Island over the weekend. The first game of the series is slated for a 6:35 p.m. start on Friday night at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

NOTES: An August 6 Long Island at High Point game that was suspended, will not be made up and becomes a “no contest.”

Gastonia 5, So. Maryland 4

Gastonia’s Zach Jarrett and Braxton Davidson each hit two-run homers during a four-run sixth inning to lead the Honey Hunters to a 5-4 win over Southern Maryland Thursday night at Caromont Health Park.

Lexington 15, Charleston 4

Lexington’s Connor Owings and Logan Brown each drove in four runs to lead the Counter Clocks to a 15-4 win over Charleston on Thursday.

Spire City 5, Staten Island 4

Spire City’s Leobaldo Cabrera stole third base and scored on a throwing error in the top of the 10^th to lead the Ghost Hounds to a 5-4 win in 10 innings over Staten Island.