Lancaster 2, Charleston 0

The Lancaster Barnstormers are on the verge of clinching the second half.

 Cameron Gann fired two-hit shutout baseball for six innings, and his batterymate, Chris Proctor provided the offensive thrust with a homer and double as the Barnstormers defeated the Charleston Dirty Birds in a shortened, seven-inning game Saturday evening at Appalachian Power Park.

 With Southern Maryland dropping a 5-4 decision to York, the Barnstormers’ magic number for clinching a playoff berth dropped to two.  A Lancaster win and Southern Maryland loss on Sunday would seal the Barnstormers into the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

 Gann (8-8) yielded a two-out single to Cosimo Cannella in the second and picked him off first.  Yovan Gonzalez drilled a one-out double to deep right in the fourth, but Gann struck out Liam Scafariello and retired Devon Torrence on a grounder to first to quell the threat.  Scafariello reached on a one-out walk in the sixth.  Gann fanned six in his performance.

 Gray Fenter finished the shutout, striking out the side around a single by Edwin Espinal in the seventh, for his second save.

 Lancaster struggled against Charleston starter Alec Kisena, picking up only two hits in six innings.  One of those hits, however, was a towering homer to right by Proctor in the fourth that gave Gann all he needed.

 The Barnstormers would pick up an insurance run in the seventh against lefty ace Kevin Siegrist.  Again, it was Proctor with the big hit, a double sliced inside the left field line with one out.  Anthony Peroni grounded a single behind second base, sending Proctor to third.  Jake Hoover got the run home with a force play grounder.

 Brooks Hall (4-1) will start for the Barnstormers on Sunday against right-hander Steven Chamblee (1-5).  Fans may tune into the YouTube Channel, starting at 5:00.

 NOTES:  The game was delayed over 90 minutes by rain…The two managers and Dirty Birds management agreed to shorten the game…Gann has thrown 11 straight shutout innings…He is two short of John Anderson’s franchise strikeout record of 140…Lancaster is 9-5 on the current road trip…All three of Proctor’s homers have come with Lancaster.

High Point 14, Kentucky 2

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The High Point Rockers moved one step closer to clinching an Atlantic League playoff spot with a 14-2 win over the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes on Saturday night at Wild Health Field.

The Rockers have a magic number of one to eliminate the Genomes from Wild Card contention. The Rockers still need Gastonia to clinch the second half South Division title in order to necessitate the entry of a Wild Card team into the playoffs. First half champions Gastonia and Southern Maryland have already clinched playoff berths. Lancaster leads Southern Maryland by three games in the second half North Division. Gastonia’s magic number to win the South is one and if the Honey Hunters win either game of their home doubleheader with Lexington on Sunday, the Honey Hunters would repeat as South Champion.

The Rockers moved to within one game of a playoff berth with another raucous offensive performance on Saturday night. The Rockers hit five homers and collected 17 base hits. Jerry Downs and Quincy Latimore started the scoring with RBI singles in the first and the Rockers were never challenged after that.

High Point added four runs in the third on a pair of two-run homers from Roldani Baldwin and Giovanny Alfonzo. The Rockers scored four more in the fourth on RBI singles by Latimore and Tyler Ladendorf and a two-run double from Baldwin. Ben Aklinski would add a two-run blast in the seventh before Ladendorf and Baldwin each hit solo shots in the eighth.

Craig Stem (W, 7-6) started and went six innings and struck out four. And while he allowed 10 hits, Stem held the Genomes to just two runs in earning his 13^th career win as a Rocker. Joe Johnson tossed two scoreless innings in relief while Cam Cotter held the Genomes scoreless in the ninth.

Baldwin finished the game with three hits, a double and two homers and five RBI. Aklinski, Latimore, Alonzo and Ladendorf each had a pair of RBI. Latimore finished with four hits including a pair of doubles.

High Point is now 69-56 on the season and crossed the .500 mark for the second half at 30-29.

The Rockers finish the series at Kentucky on Sunday at 2:05 before returning home for a three-game series with Gastonia starting on Tuesday night at Truist Point.

Staten Island 16, Long Island 6

(Central Islip, N.Y., Sept. 10, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Staten Island FerryHawks 16-6 on Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game series before a past-capacity crowd of 7,054 at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 Four of Long Island’s six runs in the ballgame came via the longball. Phil Caulfield led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run to right field. Dustin Woodcock launched a two-run homer to right in the fourth, while Jose Sermo added a massive solo homer to right in the fifth. Woodcock finished the night with two hits, two RBIs, two runs and a walk, while Deibinson Romero drove in a run with a groundout.

 Staten Island’s offense was led by a two-run third inning, an eight-run fourth and a four-run sixth. Mariel Bautista led the way with four hits, including a pair of home runs, driving in four runs and scoring four times. Angel Aguilar also went deep in the game with a two-run homer to left, scoring two runs and walking twice in the game. Ricardo Cespedes got into the action as well with three hits, three RBIs and two runs.

 Dylan Castaneda (2-0) picked up the win for the FerryHawks, tossing six innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits and five walks while striking out seven. James Varela (1-2) suffered the loss for the Ducks, surrendering nine runs on nine hits and a walk over three and one-third innings with two strikeouts.

 The Ducks and FerryHawks wrap up their three-game set on Sunday afternoon. Game time is slated for 1:35 p.m., with the Fairfield Properties Ballpark gates opening at 12:35 (12:20 for full season ticket holders). The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive Ducks Koozies, courtesy of Hagerty Insurance. There will also be a pregame Classic Car Show on the plaza of Fairfield Properties Ballpark and Court House Drive for fans to enjoy. It’s a Sunday Family Funday as well, presented by Bethpage Federal Credit Union, featuring a pregame Catch on the Field from 12:40 to 1:00 and postgame Kids Run the Bases. Right-hander Akeel Morris (6-9, 5.51) toes the rubber for the Ducks against a FerryHawks starter to be determined.

York 5, Southern Maryland 4

(9/10/2022, York, PA) Southern Maryland took the lead early on Saturday night, but could not hold on against the York Revolution. The Blue Crabs led the game 2-0, and 4-3, but struggled with runners in scoring position in the loss.

Eddie Butler (L, 12-5) went six innings, allowing five runs in the 5-4 loss to the Revolution.  Butler also surrendered eight hits and three walks in the loss. 

The Blue Crabs got the offense started in the second inning.  With David Harris on first base, Jared Walker roped a line drive down the right field line, scoring Harris to give the Blue Crabs a 1-0 lead.  Jack Sundberg doubled the lead in the third inning on a solo home run to right field, giving Southern Maryland a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Revs took the lead with three runs.  With Connor Lien on third, he scored on a wild pitch, while Troy Stokes Jr. walked.  With Stokes on third and Jhon Nunez on second, Nellie Rodriguez drove a single off the upper part of the wall in left, giving the Revs a 3-2 edge.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Blue Crabs quickly responded.  With Jared Walker on third and Mike Falsetti on first, Michael Baca hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Jared Walker to tie the game.  Three batters later, Braxton Lee punched a single into right field, scoring Falsetti to take a 4-3 lead.

That lead would hold until the bottom of the fifth inning.  Stokes tied the game on the first pitch of the inning, hitting a home run over the wall in left field. With Jhon Nunez on second base, Melky Mesa drove a single down the line in right field, giving the Revs a 5-4 lead.

The Revs held that lead the rest of the way.  In the fifth and sixth, Kyle Zurak (W, 1-1) held the Blue Crabs' bats at bay.  

The Blue Crabs' offense failed to drive in runs in the latter half of the game. The Blue Crabs had a runner on third with one out in the seventh and runners on first and second in the eighth with no outs, but could not score a run.

Jim Fuller (Sv, 19) entered the game in the ninth inning.  Fuller recorded a flyout before surrendering a single to Zach Collier.  Then, Joe DeLuca walked, putting runners on first and second with one out.  Jared Walker then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

The Blue Crabs look to avoid the sweep tomorrow, as they take on the Revs for game three of the three-game set.

Lexington at Gastonia, postponed

The Legends and Honey Hunters will play a double header on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 2:15.