Long Island 3, Staten Island 2

(Staten Island, N.Y., August 3, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks 3-2 on Wednesday morning in the middle game of a three-game midweek series from Staten Island University Hospital Community Park.

 The FerryHawks took a 1-0 lead against Ducks starter Joe Iorio thanks to a leadoff solo home run to right field off the bat of Antoine Duplantis. The Ducks tied the game at one apiece just one-half inning later versus FerryHawks starter Anthony Rodriguez thanks to a booming run-scoring double to the wall in left center field produced by Carlos Castro that plated Deibinson Romero after he led off the frame with a walk.   

 Staten Island jumped back out in front 2-1 in the fourth on Christopher Cespedes’ first hit in a FerryHawks uniform as he drove home Angel Aguilar with an RBI base knock to the opposite-field in right. Long Island fought back to score two runs in the sixth as they took a 3-2 advantage thanks to a sacrifice fly courtesy of Dustin Woodcock that plated Sam Travis after he led off the inning with a base hit, while the eventual winning run scored one batter later as Joe DeCarlo singled to left with Romero at second and eventually hustling home and sliding in safely following an error committed by Cespedes in left. The Flock bullpen did the rest, as the duo of Jose Jose and Tyler Webb shut the door on any potential FerryHawks comeback by firing two scoreless innings on four strikeouts, with Webb closing out the game as the southpaw registered his team-best tenth save of the campaign.

 Iorio (7-4) registered the win, allowing just two runs on four hits (one home run) in seven innings pitched, walking four while striking out two as the right-hander notched his sixth quality start in 2022 and third versus Staten Island. Rodriguez (4-6) was tagged with the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on seven hits in five and two-thirds innings of work, walking four batters. Travis and Phil Caulfield led the way offensively with a pair of hits apiece.

 The Ducks and FerryHawks conclude their three-game set on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park. Fans can follow all the action on the Long Island Ducks Broadcast Network. Live streaming HD video and audio will be available via BoxCast on LIDucks.com as well as on the Ducks official Facebook page and YouTube channel. Left-hander Bennett Parry (0-1, 5.95) toes the rubber for the Ducks against FerryHawks righty Dakota Freese (1-7, 4.09).

Gastonia 10, Lexington 3

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Gastonia Honey Hunters rapped 18 hits Wednesday afternoon, including three batters putting together four-hit efforts, downing the Lexington Legends 10-3 at Wild Health Field.

Darian Sandford, Reece Hampton and Luis Roman had four hits apiece, driving the Honey Hunters engine throughout the day against a Lexington club that managed just six hits against Ian McKinney and two Gastonia relievers.

Sandford fell a triple shy of the cycle, scoring three times and stealing a base during the four-hit day.

For Hampton, the designated hitter scored three times, while launching his seventh homer on the year.

Luis Roman drove in a pair of runs for Gastonia, boosting his season's average thirteen points while adding support to a dominant effort from the top half of the lineup.

Zach Jarrett tacked on three hits today, driving in three runs while scoring one.

The win for Gastonia (65-25, 21-4) moves their second half record to 21-4 and continues a magical run, going to 40 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history.

Ian McKinney (4-1) earned the win for Gastonia, scattering five hits over six frames, allowing just three runs in the game.

Thomas Dorminy suffered the setback for Lexington, falling to 5-5 on the season.

Tomorrow, Randall Delgado gets the ball for Gastonia, as the team looks for another road sweep of the Legends.

High Point 9, Kentucky 4

High Point, NC- The High Point rockers rode a four-run third inning to victory, toppling the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes 9-4 Wednesday night at Truist Point.

 The Genomes opened up the scoring on a RBI groundout by outfielder Anderson Miller in the top of the second off High Point starter Liam O’Sullivan (W, 1-3), but the Rockers would bounce right back on a run-scoring triple by catcher Mike Gulino. The triple was his third of the year, tying Long Island’s Joe DeCarlo for most triples this season by an ALPB catcher.

 In the third, the Rockers (8-17, 47-43) exploded for four runs off Genomes starter Max Povse (L, 4-9). With two outs in the inning, Povse walked Zander Wiel, before Logan Morrison notched his second triple of the season to give High Point the lead for good, 2-1. Tyler Ladendorf would follow Morrison with a double, making it 3-1 and, following a walk, Jay Gonzalez would drive in two more with a double of his own.

 Down 5-1, the Genomes (13-13, 47-43) plated a pair of runs in the fourth but the Rockers managed to stay one step ahead, countering with an RBI single by Giovanny Alfonzo in the fifth.

 Jerry Downs launched an opposite-field home run in the sixth inning to put the game out of reach, as Junior Rincon and Gabriel Castellanos combined to allow just a single Wild Health run over four innings of work.

 Downs paced the Rockers offensively, going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI, while Gonzalez contributed a pair of hits, a pair of RBI, and a stolen base (his 10th of the season, becoming the third Rocker to reach double digits).

 With the win, the Rockers moved back into a tie with the Genomes for the Wild Card position in the Atlantic League postseason race with still 41 games remaining.

 The series concludes Thursday at Truist Point with a 6:35 first pitch on Thirsty Thursday. The Rockers’ Ivan Pineyro will look to become the first Rockers pitcher to notch five victories tomorrow evening.

Southern Maryland 9, Charleston 3

(8/3/2022, Waldorf, MD) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs took game two of the series over the Charleston Dirty Birds on Wednesday night by a final score of 9-3.  The Blue Crabs bats came alive, while Alex Merithew pitched seven innings, allowing only two earned runs.  

 The Blue Crabs got the offense going in the first inning.  Jack Sundberg picked up a base hit to start the inning before Michael Wielansky blasted a two-run home run over the wall in left field.  In the second inning, Southern Maryland kept the offense going. With runners on second and third, Ryan Haug pulled a double down the line, scoring two to give the Blue Crabs a 4-0 lead.   Sundberg bounced a single up the middle later in the inning, scoring Haug to put Southern Maryland ahead 5-0. 

 The Dirty Birds got a run back in the top of the fourth, while the Blue Crabs responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth.   Sundberg lifted a ball into left field, scoring Lee to give the Blue Crabs a 6-1 lead.  

 The Blue Crabs and Dirty Birds exchanged home runs in the sixth, while Southern Maryland added an additional run, giving the Blue Crabs an 8-2 advantage. 

 Merithew remained on the mound to start the eighth inning, allowing only one earned run across the first seven innings. On the first batter of the inning, Edwin Espinal smashed a solo home run to left field, cutting the deficit to 8-3.  Merithew ultimately went seven-plus innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits and one walk.   

 Sundberg added four hits in the game, doubling to right field in the eighth, scoring Jared Walker to give the Blue Crabs a 9-3 lead.

Patrick Baker pitched the last two innings, allowing no runs on two hits to secure the 9-3 win.  With the victory, the Blue Crabs move to 63-28 overall, and 15-10 in the second half.  Southern Maryland remains home for game three of the series tomorrow night at 6:35 pm.

Lancaster 5, York 3

YORK, Pa. - Five runs.  Eight hits.  Those have been magical numbers for the Lancaster Barnstormers on their current road trip.

 Lancaster amassed exactly those totals for the third time in five games, winning by a 5-3 margin in each, defeating the York Revolution at People’s Bank Park. 

 The Barnstormers, a perfect 5-0 on the current six-game trip, remained two games ahead of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the North race.

 It was the first inning that decided Wednesday night’s game.  Shawon Dunston, Jr. drew a leadoff walk from Jorge Martinez (9-5) and stole second.  Melvin Mercedes lined a single into left field to advance Dunston to third.  Andretty Cordero picked up the first run with a single into right center.  He stole second, and, with one out, Trayvon Robinson walked.  Ariel Sandoval squirted a single inside the first base bag to score two, and Chris Proctor wrapped up the first inning scoring with a grounder to first that plated Robinson.

 Telvin Nash produced the only run off Oscar De La Cruz (6-1) with a towering leadoff homer in the second.  De La Cruz faced remaining trouble over the remainder of the second and again in the third, but the Revs stranded all five of their runners.  The 6’6” right-hander retired 11 of the last 13 batters he faced.

 Lancaster closed out its scoring in the third.  Cordero doubled over the head of right fielder J.C. Encarnacion, moved up on a grounder by Jacob Barfield and scored on a sac fly to left by Robinson.

 Donald Goodson and Josh Graham both fired 1-2-3 innings before Connor Lien reached West Tunnell for a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.  Tunnell retired the final two as York never managed to get the tying run to the plate.

 The clubs will meet at People’s Bank Park Thursday at 6:30.  Erik Manoah will get the nod for the Barnstormers against lefty Austin Nicely (2-8).  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube channel at 6:25.

 NOTES:  Lancaster leads the War of the Roses, 15-10…Graham has struck our five of six batters he has faced in the series…Goodson reached 99.4 mph on the radar gun…The Barnstormers staff struck out 13 more batters, the 36th time this season that the team has reached 10…De La Cruz took the team lead with his seventh quality start…Sandoval had struck out all three times he faced Martinez in their last meeting.