Long Island 7, Staten Island 4

(Staten Island, N.Y., Sept. 3, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks 7-4 on Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game Labor Day Weekend series at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park.

 Long Island jumped out in front 3-0 in the top half of the first inning versus Staten Island starting pitcher Augie Sylk courtesy of run-scoring singles produced by L.J. Mazzilli and Carlos Castro and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Lew Ford. Staten Island cut the deficit to 3-2 in the home half of the frame against Ducks starter Chris Cepeda thanks to an RBI base knock by Dilson Herrera and a throwing error committed by catcher Carlos Castro that enabled Angel Aguilar to cross the plate after he was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning.

 The FerryHawks took their first lead of the ballgame at 4-3 in the third as Aguilar laced a run-scoring double and two batters later Herrera tallied a sacrifice fly. The Flock sent nine men to the plate in the fourth and never looked back as they scored three times to open up a 6-4 advantage with the big blow being a booming two-run double to straightaway center field from Joe DeCarlo that scored Jose Sermo who began the rally with a base knock and Castro who followed Sermo’s single with a two-base hit of his own. The visitors added an insurance run in the fifth to give the game its final score of 7-4 when Anfernee Seymour drew a free pass with the bases loaded that enabled Castro to cross the plate.

 Cepeda (5-1) picked up the win, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits in six innings pitched, striking out four. Sylk (5-10) suffered the loss, yielding seven runs (six earned) on eight hits over four and two-thirds innings on the mound, walking six while striking out a pair. Jose Jose erased all three batters he faced in the ninth for his second save of the season, striking out two in the process.

 Castro led the offensive attack for Long Island with three hits, including a double, while also collecting an RBI and two runs scored.

Kelsie Whitmore started in left field for the FerryHawks. In the fourth inning, facing Cepeda, she lined a single to left for her first base hit as a professional.

The Ducks and FerryHawks wrap up their three-game series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park. 

Southern Maryland 7, Lancaster 0

It was Daryl Thompson’s night.

 The Charles County, Maryland native, pitching in his 10th season with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs was honored with a bobblehead giveaway at the gate.

 Working on just three days rest, Thompson (14-3) responded with a two-hit shutout pitching the Blue Crabs to a 7-0 victory over the Lancaster Barnstormers in the middle game of a three-game series.

 The loss cut the ‘Stormers’ lead over Southern Maryland in the North race to four with 14 games remaining on the schedule.

 Thompson retired the first 13 batters of the game before Anderson Feliz yanked a double past right fielder Braxton Lee.  Anthony Peroni and Chris Proctor both flied to center to complete the inning.  Trace Loehr drew the only walk allowed by the right-hander after a lengthy, one-out at bat in the sixth.  Andretty Cordero opened the seventh with a single to left center, but Thompson retired the final nine he faced.

 Nile Ball (9-5) matched Thompson for a good portion of the night.  The Lancaster right-hander dealt a shutout for 4 1/3 innings before yielding a one-out solo homer to Joe DeLuca in the fifth.    Ball retired six straight after the home run to keep the Barnstormers close, but faded in the seventh.

 With one out, Alex Crosby ripped a single into center.  Zach Collier followed with a triple to the warning track in deep right center.  DeLuca walked, and Collier was able to score when Ball made a wild pickoff throw to first.  Jared Walker belted a two-run homer to left center, and Ian Yetsko chased the Lancaster starter with a single.

 Chase Johnson came in and got a double play with his first pitch before yielding two runs of his own in the bottom of the eighth.

 Lancaster will send Cameron Gann (6-8) to the hill on Sunday against right-hander Eddie Butler (12-3) in the series finale on Sunday.  Fans may tune into the YouTube broadcast at 2:00.

 NOTES:  Lancaster is now 5-3 on the 15-game road trip…It was the first time Lancaster had been held to fewer than three runs since July 22 at York and the first time Lancaster had been shut out since May 20 against Wild Health in Lexington…Andretty Cordero’s single was his 165th hit of the season, moving him to within nine of the franchise record.

Gastonia 5, Kentucky 3

Gastonia used some late inning heroics and a steady hand from the bullpen to claim a 5-3 win on Saturday night at Caromont Health Park against the Wild Health Genomes.

Max Povse and Dakota Chalmers went opposite one another in the second weekend tilt, as Wild Health came back late to win the opener 3-2 on Friday night.

Tonight, the action took on a similar narrative to last night; big moments in a tightly contested game.

Gastonia got on the board in the second inning, as Luis Castro hit his 10th bomb of the year, a deep shot out to left, giving Gastonia(79-40,34-19) a 1-0 advantage.

Austin Rei would respond for Wild Health, lifting a three-run shot to left that turned the lead over to the Genomes at 3-1.

In the bottom half of the fourth, Gastonia closed to within one, as Luis Roman singled home Emmanuel Tapia on a single to left centerfield, making it a 3-2 game, in favor of Wild Health.

In the fifth, Jack Reinheimer drove his 11th homer of the season over the wall in left field, tying the contest up at 3-3.

Dakota Chalmers would pitch 5.2 innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine batters before handing the ball over to Onas Farfan.

With Farfan on the bump, Gastonia faced a tenuous circumstance, as Wild Health put two runners on, with Clayton Mehlbauer at the plate. Mehlbauer drove a ball to the wall in right, appearing destined to put the Genomes on top.

Enter Reece Hampton!

Hampton races full speed to the corner, picking the ball off the wall before bounding toward the turf in right to close out the sixth inning. The catch by Hampton kept Gastonia even with Wild Health, and sent the 3,314 fans at Caromont Health Park awestruck with the most scintillating defensive play made at the ballpark this season.

Tim Naughton and Sam Bordner kept Wild Health(61-57,26-26) off the board in the seventh and eighth innings, setting up a satisfying finish for the black and gold.

With one down in the frame, Luis Roman collected his third knock of the contest, a double to right, giving life to a Gastonia club seeking to move the club´s second half magic number inside the nine games it currently stands.

With two outs in the inning, Reece Hampton would place some pressure on the Genomes defense with a long fly ball to the deepest part of Caromont Health Park. As Demetrius Moorer efforted to cut off the drive to left center, he was unable to come away with an equally incredible catch, losing the baseball on the track as Roman scored easily. Hampton slid in with a triple to retake the lead for Gastonia at 4-3.

A Stuart Levy single to left scored Hampton and offered another opportunity for Jesus Balaguer to close out the Genomes.

In the ninth, Balaguer would claim his 24th of the year, coaxing a fly ball from last night´s hero, Jimmy Paredes, to end the game.

Sam Bordner picked up his 11th win of the season for Gastonia, while Jack Weinberger absorbed the loss for Wild Health, falling to 2-4.

Roman led the 10-attack with a trifecta of base hits, scoring once and driving home a run in the game.

Gastonia plays game three of the weekend set against Wild Health on Sunday at 4:15pm, as Matt Solter faces off against Dustin Beggs on Sunday.

High Point 5, York 4

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to score a 5-4 walk-off win over the York Revolution on Saturday night at Truist Point. The win was the fourth straight for the Rockers as they continue to battle for the Atlantic League’s Wild Card playoff berth.

Trailing 4-3 entering their final at-bat, the Rockers’ Zander Wiel lined a single to right to start the inning before Michael Martinez blooped a single into shallow center field. Jay Gonzalez’s sacrifice bunt was fielded by York pitcher Jim Fuller (L, 4-6) but his throw to third was wide of the bag, allowing Wiel to score the tying run and putting Martinez at third and Gonzalez at second. Fuller struck out Giovanny Alfonzo for the first out of the inning before Mike Gulino hit a high chopper towards third. York third baseman Josue Herrera fielded the ball cleanly but was unable to get off a throw to first as Martinez streaked home with the winning run in the 5-4 victory.

The ninth inning heroics gave High Point closer Ryan Dull (W, 6-1) the win after he came on and set the Revolution down in order in the top of the ninth.

York had built an early 4-0 lead that the Rockers worked for eight innings to overcome. Yefri Perez singled and stole second in the first inning and scored on an RBI single by Nellie Rodriguez. In the second, the Revs scored three runs off High Point starter Liam O’Sullivan. Jhon Nunez singled and Troy Stokes, Jr. grounded to third and Michael Russell’s throw to first was high, putting runners on first and second. Josue Herrera delivered an RBI single and Perez plated two more with a double to put York on top 4-0.

Wiel led off the bottom of the second with a solo homer, his 29^th of the season to cut the deficit to 4-1. The Rockers got two more runs back in the fifth when Alfonzo singled and scored on a double by Gulino. Gulino took third on a single by Russell then scored on an infield out by Ben Aklinski to close the gap to 4-3.

The Rockers improved to 64-55 on the year and 25-28 in the second half of the Atlantic League season. High Point’s win combined with Kentucky’s loss to Gastonia gives the Rockers a 2.5-game lead in the ALPB’s Wild Card race.

High Point and York will conclude the series on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. The Rockers will send Craig Stem to the mound to face York’s Courtney Mack.

Charleston 5, Lexington 4

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Yovan Gonzaez doubled to score Miles Williams in the top of the 12^th inning as the Charleston Dirty Birds took a 5-4 win from the Lexington Legends at Wild Health Field.

Charleston trailed 1-0 entering the ninth inning before scoring twice to take a 2-1 lead. Nick Heath brought home a run when he drew a bases-loaded walk and Scot Burcham singled to score Tyler Blaum.

But the Legends tied the game in the bottom of the ninth when Jesus Tavarez brought home Montrell Marshall with a double. Charleston went up 4-2 in the 11^th on Heath’s sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Cosimo Cannella.

The Legends answered in the bottom of the 11tgh, scoring on an Isaias Tejeda RBI single and a run-scoring double from Marshall.

The game was tied 4-4 entering the 12^th before Gonzalez delivered the go-ahead RBI double.

David Sanchez (L, 0-1) took the loss for the Legends while Joe Testa (W, 2-5) claimed the win with two innings of late relief.