Southern Maryland 9, Lancaster 5

(6/19/2022, Waldorf, MD) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs picked up their eighth consecutive win on Sunday, defeating the Lancaster Barnstormers by a score of 9-5. The win sliced Southern Maryland’s magic number to just two. 

The scoring started early for the Blue Crabs on a beautiful Father's Day afternoon. After Jack Sundberg led off the bottom half of the first with a double, Micheal Wielansky and Jared Walker hit back-to-back home runs to give The Crabs a 3-0 lead. Wielansky also homered in the eighth inning, collecting his first multi-home run game of the year. 

Southern Maryland added three more before forcing Augie Sylk (L, 2-6), Lancaster's starting pitcher, to depart. Raul Shah drove home David Harris with an RBI double in the third before Jared Walker and David Harris picked up RBIs in the fourth. 

Sylk ended up gutting his way through six innings, giving up six earned runs on ten hits. He also allowed two walks. 

On the other side, Mitch Lambson was very good once again for the Blue Crabs. The former American Association Pitcher of the Year struck out nine through seven innings of one-run ball before failing to record an out in his final frame of work. 

Nick Wells came on in immediate relief on Lambson, recording only one out before turning the keys over to Endrys Briceno to clean up the inning. Lancaster ended up scoring four in the top half of the eighth, cutting Southern Maryland’s lead to 8-5. 

Briceno stayed on to end things in the ninth, securing an undefeated homestand for the Crabs. Southern Maryland is now 41-12 on the season. They will clinch a spot in the postseason on Tuesday with a win over Staten Island paired with a loss by the Long Island Ducks.

Charleston 12, High Point 11 (10)
 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Charleston Dirty Birds managed their third walk-off win of the weekend over the High Point Rockers with a 12-11 victory in 10 innings at Appalachian Power Park on Sunday.

The Rockers are now 30-23 on the year and trail South Division-leading Gastonia by 6.5 games.

The game boiled down to a bases-loaded single by Scott Burcham that scored Connor Justus in the bottom of the 10th. But that’s just scratching the surface.

Tied at 9-9 going to the bottom of the ninth, High Point reliever Jonathon Crawford hit Tyler Blaum with a pitch to start the inning and then threw a wild pitch allowing Blaum to move to second. Another wild pitch moved Blaum to third with nobody out. After a walk to Burcham, Crawford hit Scott Kelly with a pitch to load the bases. The Rockers brought in outfielder Ben Aklinski as a fifth infielder. Crawford induced Corey Bird to pop out to Aklinski at second base then struck out Angel Garced. Crawford then threw a pitch to Heath that sailed to the backstop. High Point catcher Dakota Mulcay fielded the ball on the rebound off the backstop and fired to third to pickoff Blaum and send the game into extra innings.

With Jay Gonzalez starting the 10th inning on second, Mulcay sacrifice bunted him to third before Giovanny Alfonzo blasted his first home run of the year to stake the Rockers to an 11-9 lead.

Aklinski then was called to the mound to pitch the bottom of the tenth. With a runner on second, Aklinski walked Nick Heath to start the inning.  Anfernee Seymour grounded a ball to Tyler Ladendorf at second who flipped to Alfonzo for the out at second but Seymour was ruled safe at first, bringing Rockers manager Jamie Keefe out of the dugout. With runners at first and third, Aklinski walked Justus to load the bases. Yovan Gonzalez hit a ground rule double to tie the game and Burcham then lined a single to right to give Charleston a 12-11 win.

Charleston built a 3-0 lead early, scoring twice in the first and adding a run in the second. High Point starter Kyle Mott issued a pair of walks and a hit batter to load the bases with no outs. Yovan Gonzalez forced in a run when he was walked and Burcham plated another run on a sac fly. In the second, Bird singled, moved to second on a ground out and scored on a Heath single.

High Point made it a 3-2 game in the third when Jerry Downs belted a two-run homer, scoring Michael Martinez in front of him after Martinez had doubled. The Rockers then tied the game in the fourth when Ladendorf singled and moved to third on a double by Quincy Latimore. Gonzalez brough home a run with a ground out before Alfonzo singled to score Latimore.

Charleston scored five times in the bottom of the fourth. Mott walked three to load the bases and Seymore brought home a run on a ground out. Justus then punched a two-run single and Blaum brought in another run with a groundout to take an 8-4 lead.

But the Rockers answered right back with five runs of their own in the top of the fifth. Singles by Martinez and Joe Johnson, sandwiched around a walk to Downs, loaded the bases for Latimore who hit a grand slam to tie the game at eight. Gonzalez then doubled  and scored on an Alfonzo double as the Rockers went up 9-8.

The Dirty Birds tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on a Scott Kelly double and an RBI single from Heath.

High Point will head to Long Island and start a three-game series with the Ducks on Tuesday, June 21.

Long Island 7, Kentucky 1

(Central Islip, N.Y., June 19, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Wild Health Genomes 7-1 on Sunday afternoon in the final game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 The Ducks struck first, putting up a four-spot in the first inning for the second consecutive game. Bases loaded walks by Deibinson Romero, Rusney Castillo and Dustin Woodcock, plus an RBI single by Joe DeCarlo, gave the Ducks a 4-0 lead.

 Castillo singled and later scored on an error in the third, extending Long Island’s lead to five. Sam Travis’ RBI single and Romero’s sac fly to right in the fourth made it a 7-0 ballgame. The Genomes broke up the series shutout bid in the ninth on a Chris Shaw leadoff solo homer to right.

 Ducks starter Akeel Morris (3-4) was terrific on the mound, tossing six and two-thirds scoreless innings. He allowed five hits and two walks while striking out six batters. Aaron Blair (0-4) suffered the loss, surrendering four runs on six walks in one-third of an inning.

 Castillo and Travis led the Flock offensively with two hits, an RBI, a run and a walk each. Alejandro De Aza added two hits, two runs and two walks, while Romero chipped in with a hit, two RBIs, a run and a walk.

 The Ducks continue their homestand on Tuesday night when they open a three-game set against the High Point Rockers. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m., with the Fairfield Properties Ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (5:20 for full season ticket holders). It’s Alzheimer’s Awareness Night at the ballpark, presented by Good Samaritan Hospital. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive Ducks Cowbells. Good Samaritan Hospital will also be providing screenings for blood pressure and body mass index at the ballpark. It’s a Triple Play Tuesday as well! If the Ducks turn a triple play during the game, one lucky fan will win $25,000.

Gastonia 4, Lexington 0

The Gastonia Honey Hunters scratched across four runs in the eleventh inning to take the rubber game of a three game set against the Lexington Legends by a 4-0 score at Wild Health Field.

The finale of the series proved to be another pitcher's duel, as Zach Godley tangled with Daniel Corcino on Father´s Day.

Gastonia threatened in the first inning, loading the bases with no one out. However, Corcino wiggled out of the jam with a strike out of Luis Castro and an inning-ending double play of Emmanuel Tapia to foil the initial rally.

The missed opportunities were a bit of a theme for Gastonia, as the Honey Hunters left seven men on through the first four frames.

Godley was up to the challenge, facing one over the minimum through the first three innings against the Legends.

Godley did run into some trouble in the fourth, but Gastonia had the answer, turning the franchise´s second triple play in less than two months.

With Montrell Marshall at the plate, Godley coaxed a ground ball to Rayder Ascanio, who fielded the ball a step off of third, feeding the ball to Joseph Rosa at second, who provided the perfect pivot to Emmanuel Tapia for the turn.

Godley went five innings in the effort, giving up only three walks, taking a no-hitter to the sixth.

Randall Delgado, who tossed five innings of one-hit ball on Thursday, came in relief of Godley. Delgado would give up the first hit to Lexington in the sixth, as TK Koontz singled to center.

Euclides Leyer, Onas Farfan and Quintin Torres-Costa would pitch the next four frames, including a perfect tenth by Torres-Costa, to send a scoreless game to the 11th.

Gastonia would break through in the eleventh, scoring four times on reliever Carlos Ramirez, to give Jesus Balaguer a sizable margin in the bottom half of the inning.

Balaguer would finish the contest, striking out Cesar Cuevas and Koontz before inducing a fly out of Boog Powell to end the game.

What the offense had difficulty doing with considerable success, the pitching handled in spades, surrendering four runs(three earned) in 30 innings on the weekend.

Torres-Costa earned the win for Gastonia, tossing three frames, including three strikeouts. Ramirez took the loss for the Legends(18-31).

The Honey Hunters (36-16) return home for a three-game series Tuesday against the Charleston Dirty Birds. First pitch is set for 6:15 pm.

Staten Island 9, York 6

(June 19, 2022 – Staten Island, NY):  Carlos Franco crushed his league-leading 19th home run and Nellie Rodriguez drove in three runs but the York Revolution dropped the final game of a 12-game road trip, 9-6 to the Staten Island FerryHawks on Sunday evening at Staten Island University Hospital Northwell Health Community Park, denied of a series sweep.  The Revs conclude their road trip with a 7-5 mark, tying a franchise record for most victories on a single road trip.

York jumped ahead in the top of the first as Rodriguez skied a sac fly to right and Franco launched a two-run homer down the right field line for a quick 3-0 lead.

Staten Island answered in its half of the first as Stephen Alemais doubled to right, stole third and scored on a throwing error by catcher Jhon Nunez.  Ricardo Cespedes cracked a two-run homer to right field an inning later as the FerryHawks quickly tied the game at 3-3.

The Revs went back ahead in the top of the third when Rodriguez lined a two-run double to the alley in left-center for a 5-3 lead, giving him three RBI on the day and an even 30 on the season.

Joseph Monge cut the lead to 5-4 on a sac fly in the bottom of the fourth, but that out began a stretch on which Revs starter Alex Sanabia set down eight of nine batters through the end of the sixth.

Staten Island starter Matt Solter settled down to retire 11 straight into the seventh, but Troy Stokes Jr. provided an insurance run with an RBI double to the gap in left-center, giving the Revs a 6-4 lead.

The FerryHawks once again cut the margin to one as Monge reached on an error and came around to score on a passed ball on a dropped third strike, as the Revs’ usually stout defense sprung a leak and shrunk the lead to 6-5.

Disaster struck for the Revs an inning later as the FerryHawks scored four runs on one play with a single and three errors.  Alfredo Reyes reached on an infield single to start the inning and Cespedes singled up the middle on an 0-2 pitch after failing to get down two bunt attempts.  Andres Noriega bunted into a fielder’s choice on which Reyes was safe at third, loading the bases with no outs.  Javier Betancourt smacked a game-tying RBI single to left with the go-ahead run scoring on a bobble by left fielder JC Encarnacion.  A third run came home when center fielder Connor Lien’s throw home bounced away, and Betancourt was awarded home on an interference call as Staten Island took its first lead of the day in stunning fashion.

Former Revs righty Victor Capellan closed it out with a ground ball double play in the top of the ninth, sending the Revs into Monday’s off-day with the 9-6 defeat.

The Revs will host the Lancaster Barnstormers on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to open a six-game homestand.