Lancaster 14, Staten Island 7

LANCASTER, Pa. - The Lancaster Barnstormers donned alternative uniforms on Friday evening at Clipper Magazine Stadium, and the alter egos, the Lebanon Ironmasters, put together a 15-hit attack to drop the visiting Staten Island Ferryhawks, 14-7, in the opener of a three-game series.

 Kelly Dugan homered, doubled and drove in four while Anderson Feliz contributed a homer, double and three-RBI to lead the Ironmasters to the win in the debut of the orange-sleeved jerseys.

 With the score tied at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth, Feliz took starter Eddy Reynoso out of the yard to right center for his third homer of the season and a 3-1 advantage.  Trace Loehr followed with a single, and one-out later, Melvin Mercedes added the second of his three hits, bringing on Dugan.  The slugging first baseman ended his longest home run drought since the beginning of the year, belting his 21st high over the right field tents as Lebanon went up, 6-1.

 Staten Island, a team averaging 3.2 runs/game responded with a savage attack against Lancaster starter Erik Manoah in the top of the fifth to overtake the Ironmasters.  The inning opened with a long walk to Mariel Batista.  One out later, Bryan Gonzalez lined a single over Dugan’s glove that chased Batista to third.  Antoine Duplantis slammed a three-run homer down the right field line to cut the lead to 6-4.  Alfredo Reyes flied to right, but Angel Aguilar belted a homer to left to cut the Lebanon lead to 6-5.  Ricardo Cespedes singled to left to put the tying run aboard.  Dilson Herrera hit a drive to deep left.  Trayvon Robinson, trying to track the ball down, went hard into the vinyl-covered chain link and fell to the ground.  By the time shortstop Anderon Feliz could recover the ball, Herrera was well on his way home with an inside-the-park home run.

 The Ironmasters’ comeback got off to a false start as Connor Law entered with the bases loaded on walks and stranded all three runners.  Lebanon got to Law (1-1) in the bottom of the sixth, however.  With one out, Dugan was walked on four pitches.  Andretty Cordero doubled to the gap in left center to score Dugan with the tying run.  Cordero went to third as ball four to Colton Shaver was wild, and a sacrifice fly by LeDarious Clark put the host club in the lead to stay.

 Six more runs crossed in the home eighth.  Dugan doubled home one and scored on a wild pitch.  Clark slugged an opposite field homer for an 11-7 lead.  Robinson, who stayed in the game, each doubled, then, following a walk to Loehr, Shawon Dunston, Jr, ripped a two-run triple into the right field corner.

 Cole Aker (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings for the Barnstormers to earn the win.  Donald Goodson got his club out of trouble in the eighth after the Ferryhawks picked up two singles against Augie Sylk, pitching between starts.

 The Ironmasters will host Staten Island again on Saturday night.  Oscar De La Cruz (2-1) will make the start against Hector Guance Pena.  Fireworks will follow the game.  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers

YouTube Channel or Froggy Valley 100.1 beginning at 6:25.

 NOTES:  Dugan’s homer was his 22nd of the season, but he lost ground in the home run chase as Lexington’s Courtney Hawkins hit his 22nd and 23, and York’s Carlos Franco hit #’s 21 and 22…Mercedes is 18-for-46 (.391) in his last 11 games…Cordero has hit safely in 34 of 41…Clark now has 12 homers along with his 23 stolen bases...Dunston has four triples in 19 games...Aker has two wins and a save in eight days.

York 10, Long Island 5

(Central Islip, N.Y., July 1, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the York Revolution 10-5 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series before a past-capacity crowd of 6,335 at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 The Revolution jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on RBI singles by Josue Herrera and JC Encarnacion and an RBI ground rule double by Yefri Perez off Ducks starter Anderson DeLeon. The Ducks answered with a three-spot of their own in the bottom of the first on Alejandro De Aza’s RBI single to center and sacrifice flies to right by Deibinson Romero and Rusney Castillo off Revolution starter Jorge Martinez.

 York plated went back in front 6-3 in the second on Connor Lien’s RBI double and a two-run single by Encarnacion. A solo home run to right field by Carlos Franco in the fourth and a two-run homer to center by Franco in the sixth extended the lead to 9-3. Johnni Turbo’s pinch-hit solo homer to left in the sixth and De Aza’s RBI single to right in the seventh closed the gap to four. However, Perez’s solo homer to center in the ninth pushed York’s lead up to 10-5.

 Martinez (6-4) earned the win, tossing five innings of three-run ball, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out two. DeLeon (3-2) suffered the loss, surrendering six runs on eight hits and two walks in one and two-thirds innings with two strikeouts.

 De Aza led the Flock at the plate with three hits, two RBIs and a run scored. Turbo added two hits, an RBI and a run off the bench.

 The Ducks and Revolution continue their three-game set on Saturday night. 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).

High Point 6, Southern Maryland 3

HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point won its eighth straight game, using solid pitching and an unrelenting offensive attack to defeat the Atlantic League North Division first half champion, Southern Maryland 6-3 in front of 2,153 fans at Truist Point on Friday night.

Johnny Field, Giovanny Alfonzo and Zander Wiel each knocked in two runs for the Rockers. High Point starter Austin Glorius went five innings, allowed four hits and struck out three in improving to 3-4 on the season.

“We’re just playing good baseball right now,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe.  “Our defense has been carrying us. When your pitchers trust their defense, it makes baseball fun.”

The Rockers had 10 hits to Southern Maryland’s nine but the Rockers were strategic in their placement.  Southern Maryland’s Alex Crosby doubled in the top of the second and scored on an RBI double by Joe DeLuca to give the Blue Crabs an initial 1-0 advantage. Wiel  launched the first blast of the night, hitting his 16th homer of the year in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 1-1.  That was followed by a two-out infield single from Tyler Ladendorf, a walk to Dakota Mulcay and an RBI single by Alfonzo.

The Rockers went up 4-1 in the fourth on a single by Ladendorf, a wallk to Alfonzo and a two-run double by Field. The lead grew to 5-1 in the seventh when Ben Aklinski walked and scored from first on a double by Wiel.

Kyle Mott threw a pair of shutout innings for the Rockers in the sixth and seventh before Bryce Hensley came on to start the eighth. The Blue Crabs greeted him with three consecutive singles, the third of which scored Jack Sundberg. David Harris grounded into a 4-3 double play to plate Michael Wielansky.

The Rockers added an insurance run in the eighth on a single by Quincy Latimore, a sac bunt by Mulcay and another RBI single from Alfonzo.

Ryan Dull earned his fourth save of the year with a shutout inning in the ninth.

Southern Maryland starter Mitch Lambson (L, 5-3) went seven innings and struck out six while allowing five hits and five runs.

“One through nine, we’re swinging the bats really well right now,” said Keefe. “I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”

The Rockers are now 38-25 on the season while the Blue Crabs fell to 45-18.

The Rockers will send lefty Jonah Scolaro to the mound on Saturday to face Southern Maryland’s Eddie Butler. Game time is 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point as the Rockers celebrate Military Appreciation Day with a special pre-game ceremony.

Gastonia 12, Lexington 11

Charleston 2, Kentucky 1