Lancaster 7, Long Island 1

Dominic DiSabatino fanned 10 in seven innings, and Joseph Carpenter homered for the third straight day as the “Lebanon Ironmasters” completed a three-game sweep of the Long Island Ducks with a 7-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

It was the sixth straight win for the Lancaster Barnstormers, wearing the Ironmasters jerseys to honor the neighbors to the north, over the last two seasons.

DiSabatino (2-1) yielded three singles and three walks in dealing shutout baseball in the series finale.  The right-hander did not allow a runner to advance beyond first base until, with two outs in the seventh, Brian Goodwin plunked a soft single into center, and Joe DeCarlo drew a walk.  DiSabatino finished his day fanning Mike Wilson to become the first Barnstormer this season to record 10 punchouts in a game.

Lebanon scored a run in the first on a double by Melvin Mercedes who worked his way home on outs.  From there, it was wildness out of starter Chris Pike (0-1) that proved costly to the Ducks.  Pike yielded a pair of runs in the second without an Ironmasters hit.  In the third, the Long Island native missed with 12 of his first 13 pitches before exiting the game.  Trayvon Robinson got one run home on a ground ball to first.  Reliever Chris Cepeda fanned Chris Proctor, but Lebanon native Joseph Carpenter lined a three-run homer onto the right field deck for the 7-0 lead

Lancaster’s bullpen kept the shutout working until two outs in the ninth when Alex Dickerson cracked a solo homer to right on an 0-1 pitch from Cole Aker.

The Barnstormers will take on the Lexington Counter Clocks Tuesday evening at 6:30.  Nile Ball (1-1) will make the start for the Barnstormers.  Fans may watch the game on Blue Ridge 11 or FloBaseball.

NOTES:  Carpenter homered for the third straight game and batted safely for the sixth straight…Lancaster tied a season high with nine walks total…The Barnstormers won their fourth straight for the first time this season…Tyler LaPorte threw scoreless baseball for the fourth time in his last five appearances…DiSabatino has gone back-to-back starts without allowing an earned run.

So. Maryland 4, Staten Island 2

The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks 4-2 on Sunday afternoon to complete the series sweep here in Staten Island. The FerryHawks had the Crabs on the ropes late in the game, but in the end Southern Maryland was able to take care of business in this one.

The 1:00 PM game was coasting along thanks to shutdown pitching by starters on both sides. Through the first five innings, the two teams combined for only five hits and zero runs.

Southern Maryland broke the game open in the 6^th when they plated two runs to make it 2-0 in their favor. Following that half inning, FerryHawks starter Ivan Pineyro (1-1) exited the game with a final line of 6 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, and 8 strikeouts.

The FerryHawks pushed back quickly as a Jack Elliott double drove in Kevin Krause to cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the 6^th. The Blue Crabs again tacked on two runs in the 7^th thanks to a solo homerun to right and a costly FerryHawks fielding error later in the inning, extending their lead to 4-1. The FerryHawks tried to rally in the 8^th and that’s where things got interesting.

Speedster Mitch Piatnik walked to start the inning. He was then brought home by an Angel Aguilar single to left field. Trailing 4-2 the FerryHawks managed to load the bases with only one out in the inning. However, a grounder to second led to a crushing double play that helped Southern Maryland escape the jam and ultimately close out the game in the next inning.  

The FerryHawks go on the road this week to visit the York Revolution before returning home this upcoming weekend to face the Lancaster Barnstormers. The FerryHawks have a full slate of fun promotions planned including FDNY Night (June 9^th at 7:00 PM), Mozzarella Madness Day (June 10^th at 4:00 PM), and Marvel Super Hero™ Day (June 11^th at 1:00 PM)!

Gastonia 4, Lexington 1

Curtis Terry came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, facing Lexington closer Garrett Schilling.

It was a tie game, with the winning run on second.

Terry drilled the first pitch he saw way past the 304-foot sign in left field, and when it landed the Gastonia Honey Hunters won 4-1 and swept the Lexington Counter Clocks.

Schilling threw a first-pitch curveball that hung up in the zone, and Terry took advantage of it to end the game.

“If [Schilling] threw anything over the plate, I was gonna swing,” Terry said about his approach to start the at-bat. “He threw a ball over the plate, it had some spin to it, and I saw it up a bit and swung.”

After Terry rounded the bases and was about to touch home, he channeled his inner Vince Carter and pretended to do a windmill slam dunk while being mobbed by his teammates at the plate.

The slam dunk isn’t something Terry practiced or thought about before Sunday afternoon.

“Heat of the moment,” Terry said about his walkoff celebration. “And NBA finals [are] going on.”

If you’re wondering, Terry thinks the Nuggets are winning in five or six games.

Gastonia’s player/coach Ian McKinney was sensational on the mound against the Counter Clocks.

ew seven innings of one-run ball, going six perfect innings to start things off.

That’s right – McKinney retired the first 18 Lexington batters he faced.

The southpaw struck out 11, which is the most any Gastonia pitcher has fanned in 2023. He broke his own game high for this year, striking out 10 on May 25.

McKinney used four different pitches for his 11 Ks: fastball (seven), slider (two), curveball (one) and changeup (one).

While some pitchers may try to be alone with their thoughts and separate themselves from teammates when throwing a perfect game, McKinney has the exact same routine no matter how his outing is going.

“I honestly try to just look at my little girl in the stands,” McKinney said. “I love watching her smile, so every inning I pretty much go up there and make her smile.”

McKinney became a father 10 months ago, and he loves interacting with his baby Eloise during Gastonia games.

“Priceless times,” McKinney said. “And I’m glad that her and my wife are able to be here right now. It’s definitely great.”

Gastonia manager Goose Gozzo has certainly noticed how McKinney’s changed since becoming a dad, and he loves the exchanges the father and daughter share during games.

“It’s beautiful,” Gozzo said. “I gotta be honest with you, it’s beautiful. He’s got a whole different perspective I’m sure… I could just tell you the difference between Ian last year and this year. He’s just at ease with himself. His focus and concentration is way up there.”

After retiring the first 18 batters of the game, McKinney allowed a solo home run to Ronnie Dawson to lead off the seventh.

At this point, Lexington starter Steven Colon was scoreless through six innings, so the homer gave the Counter Clocks a 1-0 lead.

McKinney went from being perfect to being in line for the loss.

But after Joey Steele came on in relief of Colon after the stretch, Scott Manea hit a game-tying solo shot into left.

The game remained 1-1 into the bottom of the ninth.

Zach Jarrett and Carlos Franco both worked walks, and that led to Lexington manager Barry Lyons deciding to bring in Schilling to face Terry.

One pitch later, Gastonia improved to 24-9 on the year while Lexington fell to 16-18.

Gastonia has a five-game winning streak after sweeping Lexington.

The Honey Hunters will now go on a six-game road trip, starting with the Charleston Dirty Birds on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.

The Counter Clocks will travel to Lancaster to take on the Barnstormers for three games. The first game of the series is on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

High Point 6, Charleston 3 (Game 1)

Charleston 6, High Point 1 (Game 2)

HIGH POINT, N.C - The High Point Rockers split a doubleheader with the Charleston Dirty Birds on Sunday afternoon at Truist Point. In game one, High Point starter Mickey Jannis threw 5.2 innings of perfect baseball to lead the Rockers to a 6-3 victory. In game two, Charleston starter Troy Bacon allowed only three hits in five innings to secure the 6-1 win and the doubleheader split.

The Rockers are now 24-10 on the year and a half-game behind South Division leader Gastonia which improved to 24-9 with a win on Sunday.

Jannis (W, 5-0) secured the opening win while throwing 5.2 perfect innings. He allowed three hits and one walk, while striking out seven.

In the opener, the Rockers scored all their runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The rally started with a lead off walk to Michael Martinez followed by a single from Brian Parreira. Michael Russell then drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single to right field. John Daly produced a pinch hit sacrifice bunt which resulted in an error by Charleston third baseman Diego Goris to load the bases. A walk to Shed Long, Jr. extended the lead to 2-0, followed by a two-run single from John Nowgowski to give the Rockers a 4-0 lead. Back-to-back RBI doubles from Ben Aklinski and Ryan Grotjohn gave the Rockers a 6-0 advantage at the end of five innings.

Kit Scheetz (L, 2-4) took the loss for the Dirty Birds, allowing three hits, five walks, and four strikeouts.

Jannis didn’t allow a baserunner until the sixth inning, retiring the first 17 batters he faced until Charleston’s Yefri Perez hit a two-out single to right. Charleston would score three times in the inning but could get no closer.

In the nightcap, the Dirty Birds took a 3-0 in the third inning against Rockers starting pitcher, Neil Uskali (L, 1-1). The two out rally started with a bunt base hit by Yefri Perez who then stole  second to move into scoring position. Jalen Miller drove in Perez with an RBI double to put the Dirty Birds up 1-0. Luis Roman then hit an RBI double to score Jalen Miller, followed by a base hit from Telvin Nash.

Charleston continued to play small ball to plate three more runs in the top of the fifth. Jose Bermudez started the inning with a bunt base hit before Perez singled to move Bermudez into scoring position. Following a sac bunt from Jalen Miller, the Rockers issued an intentional walk to Telvin Nash to load the bases. Uskali induced a ground ball to first from Bobby Bradley that first baseman John Nogowski fielded cleanly. But his toss to Uskali covering first was dropped, allowing two more runs to score. After Diego Goris followed with an RBI single, Charleston had a 6-0 lead.

The Rockers scored their lone run of the game in the bottom of the sixth off a home run by Zander Wiel, his eighth of the year.

High Point will have Monday off and then will start a three-game series against Southern Maryland at Truist Point Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.

York 4, Frederick 3