Lebanon Ironmaster 5, Long Island 4

The Lebanon Ironmasters may not wish to revert to their Lancaster identities following this weekend.

Kelly Dugan slugged a tiebreaking home run in the bottom of the eighth inning on Saturday evening, leading the Ironmasters to a 5-4 win over the Long Island Ducks at Clipper Magazine Stadium.  It was the third straight win for the Barnstormers/Ironmasters, the longest streak of the season.  The victory was also the fifth straight for the locals when wearing the orange and grey representing Lebanon County.

Dugan connected with one out off Jose Jose (3-1) for his fifth homer of the season, a drive well over the boards in right center field.  It was the first baseman’s first home run in two weeks.

Lebanon County resident Joseph Carpenter homered for the second consecutive night, slamming a two-run blast to left in the second for a 2-0 Ironmasters lead.  Jared Lakind held the lead until the fifth when the Ducks utilized three walks and their first two hits of the night to tie the game.  Boog Powell knocked home the first run with a single to left; Sam Travis picked up a bases loaded walk to tie the score.

Long Island forged ahead briefly in the top of the sixth as Brian Goodwin greeted Bret Clarke with a leadoff home run down the right field line.  In the bottom of the inning, Lebanon returned to the lead on a bizarre sequence of events. 

With one out in the Lebanon sixth, Andretty Cordero punched a double off the right field wall.  Kelly Dugan reached on catcher’s interference with an 0-2 count, and Trayvon Robinson loaded the bases on a walk where ball four was the result of a pitch clock violation.  Ian Clarkin was replaced by fellow lefty Kyle Lobstein, and the latter uncorked a wild pitch, enabling Cordero to race home with the tying run.  Chris Proctor followed with a sacrifice fly to center for the 4-3 lead.

The Ducks again recovered to tie.  Adeiny Hechevarria and Travis picked up walks from left-hander Brian Marconi.  Alex Dickerson tied the game with a soft line drive single to left.  Lancaster barely missed a double play on a grounder to third by Goodwin, leaving runners at second and third with two outs.  The Ironmasters summoned Mike Adams (1-1) from the bullpen to face hot hitting Joe DeCarlo.  The Long Island third baseman stroked a line drive to center on which Melvin Mercedes made a diving catch for the final out.

Adams allowed a leadoff single in the eighth but did not allow the runner to advance beyond first.  Andrew Lee retired the side in order in the ninth for his fourth save of the season.

Lebanon will try for the sweep on Sunday afternoon with Dominic DiDabatino (1-1) locking horns with right-hander Chris Pike, who will make his first start of the season.  Fans may tune into FloBaseball, Blue Ridge 11 or Froggy 101.3 at 1:00 for all the action.

NOTES:  Carpenter has hit safely in five straight and has homered in each of the last two…Proctor picked up his fifth tying or go ahead RBI in the late innings…Robinson has reached on six of eight plate appearances in the series…Adams went his 11^th straight appearance without allowing a walk…Lee notched a save for the third consecutive game as the club has won its last four one-run contests after dropping the first nine.

So. Maryland 5, Staten Island 1

(Saturday, June 3^rd, Staten Island) Mitch Lambson set the bar high for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs starting pitchers after he went 8.1 innings on Friday and only allowed one run against the FerryHawks as his team won 2-1. Daryl Thompson was looking to have his own strong performance, and the offense looked to bounce back.  

With Fox Semones standing at second, Braxton Lee hit one down the third base line that barely stayed fair and turned into an RBI double to give the Crabs a 1-0 lead in the first. A few frames later, Angel Aguilar lifted a fly ball into left field to give the Hawks their first run of the game and tie it. 

The top of the fourth was eventful; a pitch hit David Harris, he stole second and scored after two wild pitches. With Ian Yetsko at third base and two away, Ryan Haug hit a hard grounder through the left side that was gloved by the shortstop Jeff Wehler, he tossed it across the diamond, and Haug slid headfirst to ensure that he got a hit and an RBI. The Blue Crabs had recaptured the lead.     

K.C. Hobson led off the top of the sixth for the Crabs and sent it deep over the right field wall as it traveled 417 feet, close to making it into the Harbor. Michael Baca added a second run with a frozen rope into center field to drive in Ryan Haug from second. That would be the final run scored as the Blue Crabs took the win, 5-1.   

Daryl Thompson was electric in his start; he went 7.2 innings, allowing just one run, and struck out three. The win has him at 95 career wins, and the three strikeouts move him to 994 career strikeouts. Isaac Mattson was the pitcher to shut the door, finishing off the game with a strikeout of Roldani Baldwin.    

The Warriors of Waldorf have now won 18 of their first 30 games, still sitting in second place, just a half-game back of the York Revolution. Tomorrow’s game starts at 1:00; the left-hander Sandro Cabrera will try and pull the trifecta of strong starts in this series and get the sweep of Staten Island. Crustacean Nation can tune into FloSports and not miss any of the action.  

Gastonia 10, Lexington 1

The Gastonia Honey Hunters defeated the Lexington Counter Clocks on Saturday night, winning 10-1 and recording double-digit hits for the fifth time in their past seven games.

The Honey Hunters scored 10 runs on 14 hits in yet another game where the Gastonia offense lights up opponent pitching.

Three of the 14 came off the bat of Zach Jarrett, the biggest one being a two-run home run in the fourth inning.

Jarrett’s 13th homer, which is tied for the most in the Atlantic League, capped off an eight-run performance by the Honey Hunters against Lexington starter Pat Ledet.

Ledet allowed the eight runs on 10 hits in just 3.2 innings of work.

While it has usually been the top of the order running the show for Gastonia in 2023, the entire batting order contributed against Ledet and the Counter Clocks pitching staff on Saturday.

Pedro Gonzalez, who was hitting eighth, hit his second homer of the season on a line drive that hooked inside the left-field foul pole.

The left fielder also hit a ball off the left-center field wall, and after the carom, ended up at third base while plating Luis Curbelo.

He went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk in the contest.

Curbelo also had a great night at the plate, hitting right in front of Gonzalez.

He knocked in runs in each of his first two at-bats, hitting an RBI two-bagger in the second and a two-run single in the third.

The Gastonia offense scored in five of the first six frames of the ball game, the biggest inning being a four-run third where the Honey Hunters totaled five hits.

As for the pitching, Zach Godley had by far his best outing of the season.

The right hander has had a trend of pitching really well until allowing a big inning.

Godley threw seven innings of one-run ball, striking out nine. He now has recorded 50 strikeouts, which is 10 more than anyone else has in the league.

All of Godley’s strikeouts were swinging, with seven of the put-away pitches being his knuckle curve.

Kelvin Gonzalez made his Gastonia pitching debut in relief of Godley, throwing a scoreless eighth inning after getting off to a bit of trouble.

After back-to-back base hits to start the frame, Gonzalez got Jesus Tavarez to ground into a 1-6-3 double play.

He grounded it off Gonzalez’s bare right hand, and the ball went to Jack Reinheimer at shortstop who stepped on second and threw it onto first.

Gonzalez then struck out Pete Yorgen to end the threat.

Ryan Williamson pitched a scoreless ninth and shut the door on Lexington.

Gastonia has now recorded at least 10 hits in five games over the past week, as the offense continues to roll.

Honey Hunters hitting coach Chuck Stewart credits the entire lineup, but points out how valuable the top four of Reinheimer, J.C. Escarra, Jarrett and Carlos Franco have been to this team.

“We got three or four guys that have been on fire, and I think that relaxes a lot of the other guys,” Stewart said. “And they’re putting the bat on the ball. I couldn’t be happier.”

Gastonia is now tied with High Point for first place in the South Division, with both teams owning a 23-9 record.

The Honey Hunters look to sweep the Counter Clocks, with Sunday’s game starting at 3:35 p.m.

Charleston at High Point, PPD (DH Sunday at 3:05 pm)

York 9, Frederick 7

(June 3rd, 2023 – York, Pa.):  The York Revolution surged back in the late innings for a wild, 9-7 come-from-behind victory over Frederick Baseball Club on Saturday night in front of 5,371 fans at WellSpan Park. Trailing most of the night, York grabbed the lead on a dramatic go-ahead grand slam home run by Jacob Rhinesmith in the seventh. After Frederick drew even, Tomo Otosaka’s bases loaded double in the bottom of the eighth provided the difference. The Revs (20-13) maintain a half game lead for first place in the North Division, having won seven consecutive games, one shy of matching a franchise record.

The Club got started with an early two-run lead as they did the night before. Revs starter Jorge Martinez gave up two solo home runs in the second inning to Raudy Read and Wilson Garcia, making it 2-0, Club.

Jose Marmolejos doubled and scored on a Read bloop single, making it a 3-0 score in the third.

The Revs battled back, getting a leadoff double down the third base line from Trey Martin. Alexis Pantoja traded places with him on an RBI double to right center to get York on the board, and with one out, Trent Giambrone singled to right field driving in Pantoja as York drew within 3-2.

The Club responded as Luke Becker launched a two-run home run to left over the Arch Nemesis in the fourth as it was back to a three-run deficit for the Revs at 5-2.

Martinez finished five innings but was charged with five runs on 10 hits.

J.T. Hintzen settled things down for York, pitching two scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh while striking out two.

York pulled a run closer in the sixth, scoring on an RBI single by Drew Mendoza (eight-game hitting streak) to climb within 5-3.

The Revs stormed back in the seventh, loading the bases with no outs against reliever Edgar Garcia. Lefty Brady Feigl was brought in and retired Otosaka on a fielder’s choice grounder to third with Jimmy Paredes throwing home for the force out. The bases remained loaded for Rhinesmith who hit a towering grand slam that cleared the wall in left center, electrifying the crowd at WellSpan Park as the Revs came all the way back to take a 7-5 lead.

Derek Holland entered from the Revs bullpen in the eighth and was charged with his first run allowed on a two-out single to left by Starlin Castro before being lifted due to an apparent injury. Tasker Strobel came on with two outs and was greeted with a double down the left field line by Paredes. The ball was juggled, and the error allowed Castro to come around to score, tying the game at 7-7.

The Revs went right back to work in the bottom of the eighth as Mendoza smoked one the other way down the left field line for a leadoff double and was bunted to third by Martin. Pantoja and Ryan January walked to load the bases against reliever Jack Weinberger, but Arnaldo Hernandez was brought in and struck out Giambrone looking. With two outs and the bases loaded, Otosaka was the hero, delivering a two-run double to right center, giving the resilient Revs a dramatic 9-7 lead going to the ninth.

Victor Capellan came on for the save, and with the tying run at the plate, struck out pinch-hitter Craig Dedelow to end the ballgame and secure the Revs’ seventh straight win.

Notes: The seven-game winning streak is one shy of matching a franchise record, last tied in 2019. It is also one shy of matching the Atlantic League’s longest streak this season. Rhinesmith’s grand slam is the second by a Revs hitter this season (Nellie Rodriguez, May 17 at Long Island) and the first of his pro career. The homer is his third of the season, all in the past week. Rhinesmith has an RBI in four straight games, totaling nine RBI in that span. Mendoza is now 17-for-36 (.472) with eight extra-base hits and 10 RBI on his eight-game streak. Martin enjoyed his third straight multi-hit game and saved two runs on a great running catch in right center to end the top of the seventh; he also stole two bases, tying Otosaka for second in the league with 14 on the year. York set a season-high with six doubles. Capellan’s save is his fifth of the year and first since May 12. York is 11-2 in games decided by two runs or fewer. The comeback victory is the Revs’ 11th and the last at-bat victory is their fourth of the year and third in the past 10 games. The Revs go for their second straight sweep on Sunday with Tom Sutera (2-2, 5.34) taking on Dustin Beggs (2-3, 4.59) at 2 p.m.  Promotions include Cancer Survivor Celebration presented by Visiting Angels, Crab Feast catered by Captain Bob’s Crabs, Sunday Funday presented by Weis Markets, and WellSpan Wellness Weekend: Stronger than Cancer. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.