atlanticleague.com

Long Island 2, High Point 0

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Long Island’s Stephen Tarpley threw eight innings of one-hit baseball and shut out the High Point Rockers 2-0 on Thursday night at Truist Point.

The Rockers (29-20) were held to a franchise-low one hit. The previous low had come against Southern Maryland when High Point was limited to just two hits in a 2019 contest. For the game, Long Island pitchers faced one over the minimum as High Point sent just 28 batters to the plate.

Tarpley (W, 1-3), who has played in the Major Leagues with the New York Yankees, Miami Marlins and in 2021 with the New York Mets, set the Rockers down in order through the first three innings. The southpaw walked Ben Aklinski with one out in the fourth but then retired Jerry Downs and Zander Wiel to get out of the frame.

Mike Gulino led off the sixth with an infield single to second base but was immediately wiped out on a 4-6-3 double play from Vladimir Frias to Deven Marrero to Sam Travis.

Tarpley retired the Rockers in order in six of his eight innings, striking out the side in the fifth. He finished the night with one walk and seven strikeouts. Nick Goody struck out the side in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.

“Tarpley pitched a helluva game,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “He mixed speeds and he never threw the same pitch in the same spot more than once in any at-bat.”

Rockers starter Craig Stem (L, 0-2), turned in a fine performance as well, scattering five hits over six innings. He allowed a lead-off homer to Dustin Woodcock in the sixth as Long Island took a 1-0 lead. With two outs, he walked Alejandro De Aza who went to second on a single by Travis and scored on an RBI single by Deibinson Romero for a 2-0 Ducks advantage.

“Stem threw the ball well again,” said Keefe. “Offensively, we didn’t do enough to win.”

The Rockers now head to West Virginia for a four-game series with the Dirty Birds. High Point will send Neil Uskali to mound in Friday night’s opener. Saturday’s doubleheader includes a make-up game from a weather postponement back on May 25.

Kentucky 2, Lancaster 1

LANCASTER, Pa. - Fourteen times the Lancaster Barnstormers stepped to the plate early Thursday with the lead runner in scoring position.

Fourteen times that run did not score.

The Wild Health Genomes (Lexington, KY) used a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie and sidle past the host Barnstormers, 2-1, in the rubber game of a three-game series.

Wild Health’s offense was scant.  The Genomes picked up only three hits in seven innings off starter Nile Ball.  One of those, a two-out single by shortstop Clayton Mehlbauer gave Wild Health a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning.

Lancaster managed to balance that in the home half of the frame.  LeDarious Clark singled with one out and went to second on a wild throw.  Colton Shaver followed with a double off the right field wall, just above the reach of Felix Pie, tying the game.  Shaver took third on the throw home, but, as was the theme of the afternoon, got stranded there.

In the eighth, Cleuluis Rondon doubled inside the left field line against Tyler Suellentrop (2-2).  A passed ball on the first pitch to Demetrius Moorer allowed Rondon to scoot to third, and he scored when Moorer took Clark back to the warning track in right.

The remainder of the afternoon was marked by the Barnstormers’ frustrations in scoring runs.  They left the bases loaded in both the first and third innings.  In the fourth, they had runners at second and third with two outs.  Andretty Cordero doubled to start the seventh off Luis Guzman (2-0) and never advanced.

Once again, the Barnstormers loaded the bases in the eighth, only to have Cordero foul out on the first pitch from Diego Moreno.

In the ninth, the Barnstormers kept the game alive with a two-out single by Trayvon Robinson, the eighth Lancaster hit of the day, before Moreno struck out Trace Loehr for the final out and his sixth save.

The Barnstormers play their next 13 games on the road.  That trip will start with a 6:35 matchup against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Friday.  Brooks Hall (0-0) will be on the hill for Lancaster against the Atlantic League’s all-time top winner, Daryl Thompson.  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube Channel at 6:30.

NOTES:  Once again, Lancaster stole four bases in the game…Clark grabbed his 20^th of the year…The 15 left on base set a season high by two…Shaver has six doubles in five games, and 10 in the last 12 to tie for the club lead with 15.

Southern Maryland 7, Staten Island 1

(June 16, 2022, Waldorf, MD) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs picked up their fifth win in a row on Thursday night, defeating the Staten Island Ferryhawks by a score of 7-1. 

The win improved the Blue Crabs' record to 38-12 on the season, including a perfect 6-0 against Staten Island. Southern Maryland maintained their 13-game lead over second-place Long Island, pushing their magic number to just five. 

Starter McKenzie Mills (7-1) was brilliant for the Crabs. The 6-5 lefty tossed 7 ⅓ innings of one-run ball, striking out seven and walking none. The lone blemish on his line was courtesy of a solo home run by Ferryhawks’ third basemen Angel Aguliar. 

Staten Island’s Dakota Freese (1-3) did not fare so well. The 30-year-old Cedar Rapids native came in Thursday night with an impressive 1.91 ERA over 28.1 innings pitched. He lasted only 4 ⅔ against Southern Maryland's stout lineup, giving up six runs on six hits. Freese also walked five.

Micheal Wielansky opened the scoring for The Crabs in the opening frame. The newest member of Crustacean Nation tripled in his first at-bat, scoring leadoff hitter Jack Sundberg. Wielansky came around to score on a wild pitch.

Southern Maryland extended their lead in the third thanks to Jared Walker’s 11th home run of the season. The two-run shot made the score 4-0. David Harris also homered in the contest. 

The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs will look to clinch a first-half Northern Division title at home this weekend as they host the Lancaster Barnstormers for a three-game series. Game one of the series begins Friday at 6:35 at the Reg.

Gastonia 2, Charleston 0

GASTONIA, N.C. - Randall Delgado picked up his first win in a Gastonia uniform, combining with two relievers to toss a one-hitter on Thursday night as Gastonia earned a series win 2-0 over Charleston(20-29) at Caromont Health Park. 

 Delgado, making a spot start for Gastonia, was sensational on the bump. In five innings, Delgado allowed only a single to Connor Justice in the fourth inning. Delgado struck out five batters and walked no one in his best outing of the season.

 The bullpen combination of Quintin Torres-Costa and Jesus Balaguer finished off the seven-inning contest striking out six of the final seven batters faced in the contest. Balaguer earned his tenth save of the season with a flawless frame in the seventh.

 Offensively, Jake Skole stroked a two-run double to right-center, giving Gastonia the margin they needed to earn the win. The double for Skole was the only extra-base hit of the game.

 In total, the teams combined for just four hits in the two hour, nine minute affair.

 Walker Weickel was charged with the tough-luck loss, allowing the one hit while walking four in his effort.

 The win for Gastonia(34-15), as well as a High Point loss against Long Island, gives the Honey Hunters a five-game lead over the Rockers with 17 games remaining in the first half of the Atlantic League´s South Division.

 The Honey Hunters go on the road tomorrow against Lexington to open a three-game weekend set. First pitch is set for 6:35.

Lexington 10, York 8

June 16, 2022 – Lexington, KY):  The York Revolution built an early lead with a seven-run third inning but saw their three-game winning streak come to an end with a 10-8 loss to the Lexington Legends on Thursday night at Wild Health Field.

Lexington scored the game’s first two runs in the first inning on a Courtney Hawkins sac fly and a wild pitch by Revs starter Austin Nicely for an early 2-0 lead.

Carlos Franco clobbered a solo homer to right in the top of the second, getting the Revs on the board as he took the league lead with his 18^th of the season and set a Revs franchise record with his 55^th first half RBI.

The Revs exploded for seven runs in the third, storming in front with an 8-2 lead.  Troy Stokes Jr. set the table with a leadoff walk and scored on a double to the gap in right-center by Elmer Reyes.  Franco later added an RBI double to left, his sixth extra-base hit in seven at-bats, and league-leading 56^th RBI.  Connor Lien clobbered a three-run homer to right-center, his third home run in the last four games.  Reyes chased Legends starter Bruce Bell with a two-run single to center for his second hit of the inning.

Lexington’s bullpen dominated, however, handling scoreless ball on just two hits over the final 6.1 innings of the game.  Jeff Thompson worked three innings, while Thomas Dorminy (3-3), Jeff Johnson, and Austin Adams (9^th save) kept York without a hit over the final three frames.

The Legends built their comeback immediately, answering the Revs’ seven-run third with four runs in their half.  Isaias Tejeda cracked a three-run homer to left-center to launch the effort, and Cesar Cuevas cut the lead to 8-6 with a two-out RBI infield hit.

Nicely rebounded with a scoreless fourth, but Cuevas cut it to 8-7 with a two-out RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the fifth.

Tejeda chased Nicely with a game-tying sac fly to center on a 3-0 green light in the sixth, tallying his fourth RBI of the night.  Nicely was charged with five earned runs out of his eight runs total.

Lexington took the lead against reliever Jhoendri Herrera (1-1) with a two-out RBI single to right by Boog Powell in the bottom of the seventh, and Hawkins added the insurance with a solo homer to left off Josh Martin in the eighth, retying Franco for the league lead with his 18^th home run.

The Revs fall to 5-4 on their current road trip and will open a three-game weekend series at Staten Island on Friday at 7 p.m.  Revs righty Eduardo Rivera starts the opener.  York fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and the WOYK YouTube channel beginning at 6:40 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.

Notes: The Revs were charged with a season-high-tying three errors, their most since May 31; York entered the game with a .976 team fielding percentage, third-best in the league.  Franco now has 11 homers and 30 RBI in his last 16 games.  Lien has hit safely in all nine games on the current road trip, batting .425 (17-for-40).  The Revs have homered in 15 consecutive games, tying a franchise record set in July, 2019; they have totaled 29 home runs in those 15 games and are now one off the league lead with 59 home runs as a team on the season.