KELSIE WHITMORE: Staten Island’s Kelsie Whitmore became the first woman to start a game in the Atlantic League on 5/1… She started in left field and recorded the first putout of the game, catching a fly ball off the bat of Gastonia lead-off hitter Johnny Davis… She was hit by a pitch in the fifth to reach base for the first time.

 

WALK-OFFS: High Point’s Quincy Latimore singled home a run as High Point defeated Lancaster 5-4 in 10 innings on 4/26… Courtney Hawkins homered twice including a walk-off two-run shot to lead the Legends to a 13-12 win over York in 10 innings on 4/27.

 

RECORD-SETTERS:  High Point’s 14-0 win over Lancaster on April 27 set a Rockers’ record for the largest margin of victory… The Rockers then set a franchise record the next night with a nine-run third inning vs. Lancaster (4/28)… High Point also set club records with nine consecutive hitters reaching base and knocking five extra base hits in an inning… Lancaster shattered a franchise record by scoring 23 runs in a 23-7 win over visiting York on 4/29… LeDarious Clark became the first Barnstormer to take advantage of the passed ball rule when an Austin Nicely pitch got past catcher Paul Mondesi on 4/29… Gastonia drew a record crowd of 2,425 for their 6-5 win against Staten Island on 4/30… Southern Maryland’s eight-straight wins are a franchise record as are Gastonia’s nine in a row.

 

STREAKERS: Southern Maryland has won eight straight games after dropping a 5-4 decision at Lexington on Opening Day… The Blue Crabs took three of four from Lexington, two from Staten Island and swept a three-game set with Kentucky… Gastonia dropped its Opening Day game at home to Lancaster on April 21 but has won nine straight since then… In their inaugural year in 2021, the Honey Hunters’ longest winning streak was four… Sam Travis of Long Island owns the league’s longest active hitting streak at nine games followed by Rubi Silva of Southern Maryland at eight straight… High Point’s Michael Russell and Gastonia’s Joseph Rosa are the only players in the league to reach base in all 10 games this season. 

 

LEAGUE LEADERS: Long Island continues to lead the league in hitting with a .315 batting average while High Point owns the early ERA lead at 2.54… Kentucky’s Riley Mahan has the early ALPB lead in slugging percentage (.795), OPS (1.295), total bases (31) and base hits with 17… Lexington’s Courntey Hawkins, who was third in the Atlantic League in home runs in 2021, is tied for the lead after two weeks as he and Jared Walker of Southern Maryland each have five . . . In addition, Hawkins owns the total base lead at 31 along with Mahan... Joe DeCarlo is the individual batting leader with a .467 average.

 

TOTAL BASES: Southern Maryland set the pace in Week 1 for the most total bases in a game with 39 vs. Lexington… In Week 2, it was Lancaster with 32 total bases on 4/29 vs. York… The Legends also tallied 31 total bases vs. Long Island on 5/1. 

 

STAYING ALIVE: York’s Yefri Perez joined Charleston’s Angel Garced (4/24 vs. SI) as having the longest at-bats of the season at 11 pitches. . . On 4/28, Perez walked with the bases loaded vs. Lexington after seeing 11 pitches from Brett Schneider.

 

DOUBLE HOOK DH RULE RETURNS: Tuesday night’s games will mark the start of the use of the Double Hook DH Rule in the Atlantic League. This year, if the starting pitcher completes five innings, the club gets to keep the DH for the remainder of the game.