Gastonia 8, High Point 3

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The Gastonia Honey Hunters earned a series win tonight against the High Point Rockers by an 8-3 score at Truist Point on Saturday night. 

Gastonia Honey Hunters put together a 13 hit attack in support of Jerry Keel who earned his fourth win of the season. 

Keel got the start tonight against former Honey Hunters pitcher Austin Glorius.  Keel was seeking his second consecutive win, after going five innings against Long Island on Memorial Day.  In that start, Keel scattered seven hits, allowing one earned run. 

Tonight, Keel was even more effective, going six innings, allowing five safeties and one earned run.  Keel allowed only one walk while striking out five Rockers hitters.

Keel´s effort was rewarded by a relentless offensive attack from the Honey Hunters.  On the night, every Gastonia position player collected a hit, including a pair of multi-hit games from Herlis Rodriguez and Stuart Levy. 

Joseph Rosa garnered three hits for the game, giving him a .650 average (13-20) over the last five games.

Of the 13 hits, five went for extra bases.  Jack Reinheimer, Rodriguez, Jake Skole, and Levy all collected doubles while Emmanuel Tapia hit his second home run of the season. 

The Tapia home run was a majestic shot to the deepest part of Truist Point, going beyond the bleachers in right-center.  The blast served as an exclamation point as the three run fifth inning put the necessary distance between Gastonia (26-13) and the Rockers. 

Glorious suffered the loss for High Point (28-11).  The right-hander´s record now stands at 2-3 on the campaign.

The win for Gastonia narrows the gap between the Honey Hunters and the first-place Rockers to just two games in the Atlantic League´s South Division.  The winner of the first-half earns a berth into the Atlantic League´s playoffs which would begin in late September.

Gastonia will now send Reilly Hovis to the bump on Sunday seeking the road sweep.  Neil Uskali will be the High Point starter in the 4:05 pm matinee. 

Staten Island 3, Long Island 1

Central Islip, N.Y., June 4, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Staten Island FerryHawks 3-1 on Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game series before a past-capacity crowd of 6,362 at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. 

Both teams exchanged zeroes until the fourth when John Nester’s RBI double to left field off Ducks starter Stephen Tarpley gave Staten Island a 1-0 lead. A two-run single up the middle by Joseph Monge in the fifth extended the FerryHawks advantage to three. 

Long Island rallied in the ninth to try and tie the game. Dustin Woodcock scored on a wild pitch, and the Ducks drew four walks in the inning, but they were unable to even the score. 

FerryHawks starter Jordan Simpson did not factor into the decision, lasting two innings and allowing four hits and a walk with one strikeout. Joe Kuzia (1-2) picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief, yielding a hit and three walks while striking out four. Tarpley (0-3) took the loss, conceding three runs on six hits and a walk over five innings with five strikeouts. Victor Capellan collected his third save of the season after recording the game’s final out.

Vladimir Frias and Deven Marrero each had two hits and walk to lead the Ducks offensively. 

The Ducks and FerryHawks wrap up their three-game series 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). It’s a Sunday Family Funday, presented by Bethpage Federal Credit Union! Prior to the game, fans will be invited down for a Catch on the Field from 12:40 to 1:00. After the game, fans of all ages are also invited to take part in Kids Run the Bases. Right-hander Scott Harkin (2-3, 5.21) toes the rubber for the Ducks against FerryHawks lefty Anthony Rodriguez (1-1, 6.83).

Southern Maryland 9, Lancaster 8

LANCASTER, Pa. - The Lancaster Barnstormers ran out of gas just short of the finish line on Saturday evening.

Trailing, 9-2, entering the bottom of the eighth, Lancaster rallied for three that inning and three more in the ninth, only to drop a 9-8 decision to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

In the eighth, Kelly Dugan produced a run with a sacrifice fly.  Colton Shaver doubled home Andretty Cordero with the second run, and Trayvon Robinson doubled inside the first base bag to produce a third run off Dalton Geekie.  Bradley Roney entered and gave up an infield single to Trace Loehr before striking out the next two to hold back the surge.

With one out in the ninth, LeDarious Clark walked and was allowed to advance to second.  Cordero picked him up with a single to center, prompting Blue Crabs manager Stan Cliburn to bring on closer Mat Latos.  Dugan connected for his second homer of the night to cut the lead to one.  Latos then struck out Shaver and got Robinson on a grounder to short to close the night.

The Barnstormers also got off to a flying start as Cordero and Dugan reached McKenzie Mills (5-1) for consecutive homers in the bottom of the first inning for a 2-0 lead.  After Loehr opened the second with a single into right, Mills threw six no-hit innings.  The lefty finished the night with eight strikeouts.

Cameron Gann (3-3), the second straight Barnstormer to pitch on three days rest, maintained the 2-0 lead into the fourth, when he allowed one run on a bases loaded grounder by Joe DeLuca.

The game got away in the fifth.  Michael Baca led off with a single to left and took second on a bobble by Robinson.  Jack Sundberg walked with Baca stealing third in the process.  Both runners scored when Ian Yetsko tripled to right center.  Zach Collier greeted reliever Cole Aker with a single to right, and before Aker could escape the inning, Alex Crosby also singled for a 5-2 lead. 

In the sixth, Yetsko followed a sacrifice fly by Sundberg with a two-run homer to take an 8-2 lead.  De Luca tacked on a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

The two clubs conclude the three-game series on Sunday at 1:00.  Lancaster will send Chase Johnson (1-3) to the hill for a spot start against the league’s all-time leading winner Daryl Thompson (4-2).  Fans may tune into Blue Ridge Cable or the Barnstormers YouTube channel, starting at 1:00.

NOTES:  Dugan has homered in three straight games against Southern Maryland and twice in a row off Latos…He took the league lead with 14 homers and 43 RBI…He has accomplished that in 14 games…Cordero has hit safely in 15 of 18…Clark has hit in 23 of 27…Tyler Suellentrop finished the game for Lancaster, throwing his eighth consecutive scoreless outing…Lancaster is 0-5 against Southern Maryland this season, despite outhitting the Blue Crabs in every game.

York 14, Kentucky 11

(June 4, 2022 – York, Pa.):  The York Revolution used a nine-run third inning to slug their way past the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes, 14-11 in front of 5,532 fans at PeoplesBank Park on Saturday night.  York has won back-to-back games and will go for the series sweep to close the homestand on Sunday afternoon.

The Revs were held scoreless in the first inning for the first time in the homestand as York lefty Austin Nicely and Kentucky right-hander Max Povse traded 1-2-3 innings. 

Nicely ran into trouble in the second as two soft grounders found the outfield grass, and with two on and two out, Cleluis Rondon unloaded over the Arch Nemesis for a three-run blast to put the Genomes up 3-0.

The Revs wouldn’t play behind for long as Jhon Nunez cleared the bases with a double into the left-center field gap in the bottom of the second, tying things up at 3-3.

The slugfest continued to materialize in the top of the third with the Genomes plating another two runs on a Moises Sierra single and a bases loaded walk to catcher Chase Vallot, making it 5-3.

The Revs put up one of the most explosive innings in franchise history in the bottom of the third. After back-to-back one out walks set the table, JC Encarnacion started the barrage with an RBI double down the third base line to score Nellie Rodriguez. After Carlos Franco scored on a wild pitch, Nunez added his fourth RBI of the night on a base hit to right, plating Encarnacion and putting the Revs back on top, 6-5. With a two-strike count, Jack Kenley was hit in the foot by a breaking ball by Povse, prompting warnings to both sides for the second straight night. One batter after the warnings were issued, Troy Stokes Jr was hit by another breaking ball to force in a run, and Povse was tossed along with manager Mark Minicozzi.

York didn’t greet reliever Ryan Kellogg kindly. Elmer Reyes was the first to face him, knocking in two runs on a first-pitch double to left-center, his 13th of the year. Melky Mesa, who was back in the lineup after a day off on Friday, drove a deep fly down the right field line that cleared the fence for his fifth home run of the year as the three-run shot spiked his RBI total to 33 and the lead to 12-5.  The nine-run inning marked the Revs’ second biggest of the season and tied the sixth largest in franchise history, three runs shy of the club record for a single inning.

After a shutout fourth by Nicely, the Revs plated two more on a bases loaded walk from Stokes Jr and a Reyes RBI single to left, going up 14-5.

The Genomes loaded the bases in the top of the fifth with one out, but Nicely rolled a 5-4-3 double play to get York out of the jam untouched. 

Nicely went back out for the sixth inning, but walked the leadoff batter in front of an RBI triple to right-center by Luke Becker, who went on to score on a ground out from Jimmy Paredes.

Nicely was lifted after retiring Paredes, concluding his evening after nine hits, five walks and two strikeouts despite lots of soft contact sans the early long ball.

Eduardo Rivera relieved Nicely and faced Chris Shaw to begin things. Shaw hit a high pop up that was lost above the lights, allowing him to reach on a double. Despite striking out the next hitter, Rivera allowed a two-run moonshot down the right field line to Felix Pie whose two-run home run was the fourth hit for him in as many plate appearances, cutting the lead to 14-9.

Vallot walked to lead off the seventh against Robinson Parra and scored on a fielder’s choice, giving Wild Health double digits and cutting the York lead to 14-10.

Looking for a shutdown inning, the Revs turned to Josh Martin who delivered in the eighth, striking out the side in order.

Martin went back out for the ninth. After a fly out, Vallot tagged him for a solo shot over the Nemesis to cut it to 14-11. Martin bounced back with his fourth strikeout, and retired Anderson Miller on a pop out on one pitch, closing out the high-scoring victory. 

Nicely earned his first win of the season, moving his record to 1-5, and giving the Revs a series win. They will look for the sweep on Sunday when Merandy Gonzalez toes the rubber in York’s final game of the homestand before embarking on a two-week road trip. The day features the Cancer Survivor Celebration presented by Visiting Angels, Sunday Funday presented by Weis Markets, Bark in the Park, and Boomer's Book Club. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.

Notes: The nine-run inning is the season’s second largest to a 10-run third on May 26 at Staten Island. Nicely’s win is the 10th of his Revolution career.  Mesa’s homer is the 63rd of his Revs career, pulling him within three of Andres Perez for second on the franchise’s all-time list.  Franco saw his seven-game hitting streak snapped after batting .567 (17-for-30) on the streak.  Reyes (2-for-5) extended his hitting streak to six games.  The Revs improve to 12-9 since May 13.

Charleston 3, Lexington 0

Lexington, Ky. – Seven Charleston pitchers combined to one-hit the Lexington Legends Saturday night during a 3-0 win at Wild Health Field.

Starter Ryan Lawlor started and threw three hitless innings while striking out three. He was followed by Adonis Uceta, Joe Testa, Max Tannenbaum, Kevin Siegrist, Francisco Carrillo and Tyler Wilson (S, 5) who each threw one inning. Only Uceta (W, 1-0) allowed a hit as Courtney Hawkins singled in the fourth inning.

The Dirty Birds tallied in the first inning when, with two outs, Juan Perez walked and stole second. Alfredo Gonzalez grounded to second base where Manuel Geraldo made a throwing error allowing Perez to score.

In the fifth, Charleston’s Engel Beltre doubled and scored on a single by Nick Longhi. In the seventh, Perez singled, moved to second on a walk to Longhi. Advanced to third on a fly ball by Gonzalez and then scored on a wild pitch by Jalen Miller.

Lexington starter Jeff Thompson allowed just three hits over five innings while walking seven and striking out three.