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Southern Maryland 5, Lancaster 1

(June 5, 2022, Lancaster, PA) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs picked up another victory, as Daryl Thompson (W, 5-2) went eight innings en route to a 5-1 victory over the Lancaster Barnstormers. 

The Blue Crabs' bats got going in the first inning. Chase Johnson (L, 1-4) surrendered a leadoff double to the left-center field gap from Matt Hibbert.  Later in the inning, the Blue Crabs had the bases loaded with two outs.  Braxton Lee then blasted a 3-RBI triple to the left-center field wall, scoring Matt Hibbert, Jared Walker, and Alex Crosby, giving the Blue Crabs a 3-0 lead.  

Lancaster tallied their lone run of the day in the fourth inning.  On the first pitch of the inning, Kelly Dugan launched a solo shot over the wall in right field, cutting the deficit to 3-1. 

Southern Maryland added an insurance run in the seventh.  Joe Deluca led off the inning on a ground ball to center field before stealing second base.  With Deluca on second with one out, Matt Hibbert lifted a double down the right-field line, scoring Deluca to give Southern Maryland a 4-1 lead. 

The Blue Crabs added another run in the ninth inning.  Ryan Haug was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.  Two batters later, Matt Hibbert ripped a line drive up the middle, advancing Haug to second.  The next batter, Ian Yetsko hit a ground ball through the left side for a base hit, loading the bases with one out.  Zach Collier then sent a sacrifice fly into center field, scoring a Haug to take a 5-1 lead 

Meanwhile, Daryl Thompson was very effective on a low pitch count.  Thompson allowed only one run on six hits across eight innings.  Thompson exited the game after the eighth inning, having thrown only 85 pitches.  Endrys Briceno entered in the ninth inning, shutting down the Barnstormers without a hit. 

With the win, the Blue Crabs complete the sweep of the Barnstormers.  The Blue Crabs have also won seven of their last eight games. Southern Maryland remains 10.5 games ahead of the second-place Long Island Ducks.  The Blue Crabs return to Regency Furniture Stadium on Tuesday, June 7, as they take on the Lexington Legends at 6:35 pm. 

Long Island 9, Staten Island 2

(Central Islip, N.Y., June 5, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks 9-2 on Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. 

Sam Travis gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run double to center field off FerryHawks starter Anthony Rodriguez. Long Island doubled their lead to four in the third on Travis’ RBI single to left and Austin Rei’s RBI double down the left field line.

Three more runs came across for the Flock in the fourth to bump the lead up to 7-0. Another RBI single for Travis, an RBI double by Rusney Castillo and a sac fly off the bat of Joe DeCarlo did the damage.

Staten Island got on the scoreboard in the sixth courtesy of an RBI fielder’s choice form Javier Betancourt and a run-scoring throwing error. However, Rei scored on a fielding error in the bottom of the frame, and DeCarlo added an RBI single to left in the seventh, restoring the seven-run cushion at 9-2. 

Ducks starter Scott Harkin (3-3) earned the win, tossing five scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out five. Rodriguez (1-2) suffered the loss, surrendering seven runs on 10 hits and three walks over three and one-third innings.

Travis led the Ducks offensively with four hits, four RBIs, two runs and a walk. Castillo added three hits, an RBI and a walk, while Alejandro De Aza totaled three hits and three runs scored. 

The Ducks continue their homestand on Tuesday night when they open a three-game series against the York Revolution. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m., with the Fairfield Properties Ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (5:20 for full season ticket holders). It’s a Triple Play Tuesday at the ballpark! If the Ducks turn a triple play during the game, one lucky fan will win $25,000. Simply sign up prior to first pitch at the Ticket Kiosk on the main concourse to be eligible. Right-hander Anderson DeLeon (2-1, 3.73) gets the start for the Ducks against Revolution righty Jorge Martinez (2-4, 3.66).

Gastonia 8, High Point 3

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The Gastonia Honey Hunters wrapped up a three game sweep of the High Point Rockers on Sunday afternoon with an 8-3 win at Truist Point.

Reilly Hovis was on the bump for Gastonia, looking for a solid effort against the South Division leaders. Hovis was coming back from a lackluster performance against Long Island on Tuesday night.

Gastonia would offer some early support to the cause in the second inning, as Luis Castro singled to lead off. After a Castro steal of second, Reece Hampton reached on a throwing error from Ben Aklinski at third to put runners on the corners for Luis Roman. Roman ripped a double into the right field corner, scoring Castro and Hampton. Roman would score on a RBI single through the box by Zach Jarrett to open up a 3-0 lead.

After High Point(28-12) responded with a two-spot in the bottom half of the second, Gastonia would be back at it in the fourth, as Reece Hampton scored Castro and Jake Skole with a double to right, extending the lead for 5-2.

In the sixth, Luis Roman put the game out of reach with a towering drive to right, giving Gastonia a 6-3 lead. The homer was Roman´s fifth of the campaign, his first on the road.

Reinheimer would score Jarrett later in the sixth, stretching the advantage to 7-2.

A Logan Morrison RBI single in the sixth would close the book for Hovis, as the right-hander finished with 5.2 innings pitched, allowing three runs on three hits, striking out one Rockers hitter.

Joseph Rosa would walk, steal second and score on a pair of wild pitches to close out the scoring in the seventh.

Gastonia outscored High Point 21-10 in the aggregate, collecting 33 hits in the weekend series.

Reilly Hovis earned the win to advance to 2-2 pn the year, while Neil Uskali fell to 3-2 with the setback.

The sweep for Gastonia (27-13) tightens High Point´s lead to a single game in the first-half race of the Southern Division.

The Honey Hunters get a day off Monday before heading north on I-77 to take on the Charleston Dirty Birds in a three-game set. First pitch for all three nights is set for 6:35pm

Kentucky 8, York 6

(June 5, 2022 – York, Pa.): In yet another game with plenty of offensive firepower, the York Revolution fell short of their effort to sweep the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes on Sunday, falling by a score of 8-6 in front of 3,368 fans at PeoplesBank Park.

The Genomes struck first for the second game in a row. After leadoff man Luke Becker was walked and stole second to start the game, he was driven in on a Moises Sierra one-out single for the game’s first run.  Sierra scored two batters later on a double by Felix Pie in a two-run first.  They got one more in the top of the second when Anderson Miller hit his first homer of the year over the wall in right center field to expand the lead to 3-0.

Troy Stokes Jr got York on the board in the bottom of the second on an infield single, providing his 23rd run driven in on the season.

The third inning saw the Genomes continue to expand their lead with a sac fly by Samir Duenez and an RBI double by Chase Vallot suddenly making it 5-1. 

With Melky Mesa on second following an error to start the bottom of the third inning, potential disaster struck for the Revs when Nellie Rodriguez was hit on the hand by a fastball and forced to leave the game. It was later announced that x-rays on the hand were negative. Josue Herrera provided a bit of payback two batters later, launching a no-doubt three-run home run to the right field tents, cutting the deficit to 5-4. 

The day was done for York starter Merandy Gonzalez after issuing a leadoff walk in the fourth.  Gonzalez was relieved by Jhoendri Herrera who rolled a double play ball to his first batter faced and force a flyout to centerfield to end the inning.

Herrera stayed on for the fifth inning but allowed a long home run ball to Chris Shaw that landed on top of the right field clubhouse. Shaw’s third of the season made it a 6-4 game.

York did not wait long for an answer. Carlos Franco, who replaced the injured Rodriguez on what was intended to be an off day, took a fastball from Genomes starter Elih Villanueva to the deepest part of the ballpark for a home run to center field. It was Franco’s 13th of the year and brought York again within a run at 6-5.

After a 1-2-3 sixth, Alberto Rodriguez went out for his second inning of work. Following a leadoff single by Jimmy Paredes, he was ejected along with manager Mark Mason following a hit by pitch to Sierra, as warnings had been issued when Rodriguez was hit in the third.  Paredes later scored on an RBI ground out by Pie off of reliever Isaac Sanchez to make it 7-5.

Nick Howard made his Revs debut in the eighth, starting things off with a strike out. After a single and a pair of walks, another insurance run scored on a softly hit fielder’s choice grounder off the bat of Paredes. 

The Genomes brought in closer Diego Moreno with an 8-5 lead in the ninth. After a ground out, Moreno allowed three straight hits as the Revs threatened to complete the comeback. Elmer Reyes poked a two-strike single to right field and moved to third on Mesa’s second double of the day. It was Mesa’s 83rd career double with the Revs, as he tied and passed Ramon Castro for third on the Revs’ all-time list.  Franco followed with his third hit of the day, a single that scored Reyes and moved Mesa to third as the Revs pulled within two. Moreno bounced back strongly, however, striking out the next two he faced to close down his fourth save, ending the Genomes’ 8-6 victory.

York will spend the next two weeks away from PeoplesBank Park, beginning their trip on Tuesday at Long Island for their first series with the Ducks since Opening Weekend. Jorge Martinez will start things off on the mound against Anderson DeLeon with first pitch at 6:35 p.m. 

Lexington 4, Charleston 3

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Lexington Legends outlasted the Charleston Dirty Birds 4-3 at Wild Health Field on Sunday.

The Legends built a 2-0 lead behind Courtney Hawkins’ league-leading 14th home run in the first and an unearned run in the second.

Nick Longhi brought the Dirty Birds to within one with his eighth homer of the year in the fourth inning.

Lexington went ahead 4-1 in the fifth on a Hawkins RBI double and an Isaias Tejeda RBI single.

Charleston rallied in the eighth, plating two runs on RBI singles by Scott Burcham and Zack Kone but reliever Daniel Gibson was able to avoid any further damage.