Southern Maryland 6, High Point 3
(7/2/2022, High Point, NC) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs picked up the victory in the win over the High Point Rockers.  The Blue Crabs fell behind in the second, but battled back in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring six runs as part of a 6-3 victory. 

 Eddie Butler (W, 5-2) pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the first, but the Rockers’ bats got to him in the second. Zander Wiel led off the inning by belting a fly ball over the wall in right-center field.  The next batter, Logan Morrison, drove a line drive over the wall in left-center field, giving the Rockers a 2-0 lead.  

 High Point’s starting pitcher, Jonah Scolaro (L, 2-2), did not allow a hit until the fifth inning.  With the Blue Crabs still trailing 2-0, Joe DeLuca worked a one-out walk before Braxton Lee slapped a double down the left-field line.  The left fielder, Zander Wiel, had trouble handling it, allowing DeLuca to score and advancing Lee to third.  Lee came around to score on a fielder’s choice from Ryan Haug, tying the score at 2-2. 

 The scoring continued in the sixth. Jack Sundberg punched a line drive to left to start the sixth inning.  The next batter, Michael Wielansky shot one into the right-center field gap, scoring Sundberg to put the Blue Crabs up 3-2.  Michael Wielansky scored on a wild pitch, giving the Blue Crabs a 4-2 edge.  The Blue Crabs continued to rally.  David Harris singled up the middle before Alex Crosby launched a double to deep center, scoring Harris.  Crosby came around to score later in the inning, extending Southern Maryland’s advantage to 6-2.  

 Eddie Butler rebounded from a slow start, pitching seven innings, allowing only two runs on seven hits.  High Point picked up a run against Nick Wells, but Endrys Briceno closed the door in the eighth.  Mat Latos (SV, 18) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the 6-3 victory. 

 The Blue Crabs move to 46-18 with the victory.  The Blue Crabs have two games remaining in the first half.  Southern Maryland can have the best first-half winning percentage in Atlantic League History if they win the final two games of the half.  Southern Maryland is back in action tomorrow night at 6 pm in High Point, North Carolina. 

Lancaster 7, Staten Island 6

LANCASTER, Pa. - Shawon Dunston, Jr. caught up to an Angel Aguilar drive to the fence in center to keep the tying run from scoring in the top of the ninth as the Lebanon Ironmasters prevailed over the Staten Island Ferryhawks, 7-6, in the middle game of a three-game weekend series at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

 Lebanon entered the ninth with a 7-3 lead.  Right-hander Chase Johnson hit Andres Noriega with his first pitch, triggering an argument with Staten Island manager Edgardo Alfonzo since warnings had been issued earlier in the game.  Johnson stayed in and allowed an ensuing single to right field from Javier Betancourt.  Joseph Monge flied to right for the first out, but Alfredo Reyes grounded a seeing eye single into right to score Noriega to cut the lead to 7-4.  Trayvon Robinson made a wild throw to the plate, enabling runners to move to second and third.  Antoine Duplantis’ grounder to second scored another.  Dilson Herrera also singled to right to bring the Ferryhawks within one.

 West Tunnell came on, and Aguilar stroked his 2-1 pitch to the fence in center where it was flagged by Dunston for the game’s final out.

 Dunston had dropped a shallow fly ball by Ricardo Cespedes in the previous inning to get Staten Island a run closer.

 Following a 45-minute rain delay, Duplantis opened the game with a homer to right off Oscar De La Cruz (3-1).  The Ironmasters (Lancaster Barnstormers) answered on Kelly Dugan’s 23rd homer of the season, a two-run blast to the right field tents to take their first lead. 

 Monge singled up the middle to score Noriega, who was also hit by a pitch in the second.  Again, Lancaster struck off Hector Guance Pena (1-2).  Colton Shaver picked up a leadoff walk and went to second on a wild pitch.  Trace Loehr also walked.  Jake Hoover lined a double to the warning track in right, putting Lancaster ahead, and Melvin Mercedes contributed a bases loaded sacrifice fly for a 4-2 lead.

 LeDarious Clark belted a two-run homer to right center in the third before the game quieted down through the middle innings.

 De LaCruz went six, allowing four hits and two runs while walking two and striking out four in giving Lancaster his third quality start.

 The Ironmasters will conclude the three-game series on Sunday at 1:00.  Nile Ball (3-3) will take the hill against David Martinez (0-0).  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube channel or Froggy Valley 100.1, beginning at 12:55.

 NOTES:  Dugan climbed back into a tie with Lexington’s Courtney Hawkins for the league home run lead…Josh Graham pitched for the first time in 23 days, tossing a perfect seventh inning…Andretty Cordero had his 24th multi-hit game…Dunston has reached base in 19 of 20 games, scored 17 runs and stolen 12 bases since joining Lancaster on June 9…Clark has scored in 13 of his last 17 games.

Long Island 7, York 4

(Central Islip, N.Y., July 2, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the York Revolution 7-4 on Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 Josue Herrera’s RBI single to right field in the second inning off Ducks starter Joe Iorio gave the Revolution a 1-0 lead. Long Island tied the game in the third on Austin Rei’s sacrifice fly to center field off Revolution starter Alex Sanabia, which scored Joe DeCarlo.

 The Ducks jumped in front 3-1 in the fourth on Alejandro De Aza’s two-run home run to right. However, an RBI ground-rule double from Elmer Reyes and a two-run homer to right by Nellie Rodriguez in the fifth put the Revs back on top 4-3.

 Long Island took the lead back in the sixth on a wild pitch that scored Vladimir Frias and a sac fly to left off the bat of Deibinson Romero. Another two-spot in the seventh on Rei’s RBI double to left and Frias’ RBI single to right extended the advantage to 7-4.

 Iorio did not factor into the decision but lasted five innings, allowing four runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four. Chad Hockin (2-1) picked up the win after tossing a scoreless inning in the sixth. Sanabia (3-2) took the loss, conceding seven runs on eight hits and a walk over six and one-third innings with four strikeouts. Nick Goody collected his fifth save after striking out the final two batters and leaving the tying runs on base.

 De Aza led the Flock offensively with two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Frias added two hits, an RBI, two runs and a walk, while Romero finished with two hits and an RBI.

 The Ducks and Revolution wrap up their three-game set on Sunday night. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m., with the ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (12:20 for full season ticket holders). Following the game, all fans in attendance will be treated to a Fireworks Spectacular, presented by Catholic Health. It’s also Skin Cancer Awareness Night, presented by Good Samaritan Hospital, and the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive Ducks Beach Balls. Good Samaritan Hospital will also be providing screenings for blood pressure and body mass index. Left-hander Stephen Tarpley (3-3, 2.76) toes the rubber against Revolution righty Nick Travieso (2-4, 5.02).

Gastonia 10, Lexington 6

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Gastonia Honey Hunters raced out to a 9-0 lead before hanging on to defeat the Lexington Legends by a 10-6 score at Wild Health Field on Saturday night.

The Honey Hunters jumped out to a quick lead, scoring three times in the second inning.

Emmanuel Tapia led off the inning with a double to right center field to put immediate pressure on Legends starter David Lebron. Rayder Ascanio followed Tapia with a single to center, scoring the Gastonia designated hitter.

Jake Skole would drive home Ascanio with a towering homer to right field, giving Gastonia(43-20) a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth, Gastonia took advantage of a trifecta of walks, as Reece Hampton, Jack Reinheimer and Joseph Rosa, loaded the bases with two outs in the inning. Zach Jarrett took advantage, driving a ball to left center, clearing the bases, giving the Honey Hunters a 6-0 lead.

Tapia singled home Jarrett, stretching the lead to 7-0.

A Reinheimer RBI single and a bases-loaded walk to Reece Jarrett gave Gastonia and starting pitcher John Anderson a seemingly insurmountable 9-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth.

However, Lexington(23-39) made things interesting with a six run outburst, drawing the game to within three runs. Isaias Tejeda homered in the inning to put Lexington on the board, while Montrell Marshall singled, scoring a pair of runs, closing out the six run inning.

Euclides Leyer pitched two innings of solid relief, getting Gastonia to the ninth, maintaining the three run buffer.

In the ninth, Gastonia got on the board one final time as Reece Hampton scored on a fielding error by TK Koontz off the bat of Zach Jarrett.

In the bottom half of the ninth, Quintin Torres-Costa came in to seal the series win for Gastonia. He would close out the frame, striking out the side, allowing only a two-out walk to Pete Yorgen.

John Anderson recorded his sixth win of the season, going 5.2 frames in the outing. Lebron was tonight's losing pitcher, falling to 0-2 on the year.  

Gastonia goes for the three game sweep against Lexington at 2:05pm

Kentucky 7, Charleston 5