Lexington 7, Lancaster 6

The Lexington Counter Clocks scored six unanswered runs in the last four innings on Sunday afternoon to defeat the Lancaster Barnstormers, 7-6, in a homestand finale at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

Lexington improved to 7-2 on the year while the defending champion Barnstormers fell to 2-7.

Jacob Lemoine allowed only three hits through the first five innings, retiring 12 in a row in one stretch, but the right-hander, leading, 6-1, opened the sixth inning with a walk to Ronnie Dawson.  Manuel Geraldo singled into right center, sending Dawson to third.  Abiatal Avelino’s slow roller on the third base side was fielded by Lemoine, but the right-hander skipped his throw past first baseman Andretty Cordero and down the right field line as two runs scored.

Lemoine got through the rest of the sixth unscathed and turned the ball over to Brian Marconi for the seventh to face a string of left-handed batters.  Connor Owings reached him for a double into the right field corner, and Logan Brown followed with a single into right, putting runners at the corners.  Jake Gitter struck out, and Jesus Tavarez followed with a slow grounder to the hole at shortstop on which Jake Hoover could only get a force out.  Tavarez stole second, and Dawson reached on a bobble to put runners at the corners.  Marconi’s wild pitch cut the lead to 6-5, and Geraldo tied the score with a single to left.

Mike Adams survived a one-out triple by J.C. Encarnacion in the eighth inning, but the Counter Clocks put together the winning rally in the ninth.  With one out, Tavarez spanked a double past third base.  Dawson blooped a single into shallow left center without Tavarez moving, and Travis Lakins, Sr. (0-1) appeared to be out of the inning when Geraldo chopped a pitch back to the mound.  Lakins, attempting to start a double play, pulled the throw behind shortstop Jake Hoover covering the bag.  Hoove managed to save the throw and get the second out of the inning, but Avelino singled through the right side for the winning tally.  Garrett Schilling shut the door in the ninth for his fourth save.

Trace Loehr led the early charge by the Barnstormers.  The third baseman singled home Hoover in the second for a 2-1 lead and added a three-run homer to right center in the fourth.  Cordero doubled home Melvin Mercedes in the fifth for the 6-1 advantage but then was doubled up at home trying to score on a fly out by Kelly Dugan

Lancaster managed only one hit, a single by Ariel Sandoval, for the remainder of the game.

Aaron Oschenbein (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth to earn the win.

The Barnstormers will open a three-game series at Charleston on Tuesday evening at 6:35.   Lancaster will start right-hander Brandyn Sittinger (0-2) against Dirty Birds lefty Derrick Adams (0-1).  Fans may tune into the game on Flosports.tv, starting at 6:30.

NOTES:  Lancaster is 0-4 in one-run games…The club has lost seventh inning leads on back-to-back Sundays…Loehr had the first four-RBI game by a Barnstormer this season…Sandoval has batted safely in eight straight to start the season…Five of Cordero’s six hits have been for extra bases…Mike Adams’ streak of outs ended at 13 on Encarnacion’s triple off the right field wall.

High Point 3, Frederick 2

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Shortstop Ryan Grotjohn hit a solo homer leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to give the High Point Rockers a thrilling 3-2 win over Frederick on Sunday afternoon at Truist Point. It was Grotjohn’s first homer as a Rocker and gave High Point its first walk-off win of the season
“I knew (Frederick pitcher Jack Weinberger) was a sinker ball pitcher, so I was looking for something down,” said Grotjohn who deposited the sinker over the wall in center field. It was his first walk-off homer since playing for Kane County, Arizona’s Class A team in Geneva, Ill. in 2018.

Grotjohn’s blast gave Jameson McGrane the win after he had set Frederick down in order in the top of the ninth.

Frederick had taken a 2-0 lead in the fifth when Leobaldo Cabrera doubled off Rockers starter Neil Ramirez and scored on a sac fly off the bat of Scott Kelly. Frederick’s Johnni Turbo singled and scored on a double by Gavin John.

The Rockers evened the game in the bottom of the fifth. Grotjohn drew a leadoff walk as did Daikan Yoh. After Michael Russell was walked to load the bases, Beau Taylor doubled to right to score Grotjohn and Yoh and tie the game at 2-2.

Neither team scored until the ninth as lefty Bryce Hensley threw two shutout innings out of the Rockers bullpen and was followed by Cam Cotter who put the Freddies down in order in the eighth. McGrane started the ninth and struck out the first two hitters he faced and put Frederick down one-two-three.

The Rockers are now 8-1 and continue enjoy their greatest start in franchise history while Frederick fell to 0-8. The Rockers hold a one-game lead over 7-2 Lexington and a two-game advantage over 6-3 Gastonia.

High Point and Frederick finish their four-game series on Monday with a special 11:05 a.m. first pitch for Education Day at Truist Point. Tickets for this game are only available through the Rockers Box Office.

York 10, Staten Island 5

(May 7th, 2023 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution completed a three-game sweep in their home opening series against the Staten Island FerryHawks, winning Sunday afternoon’s finale 10-5 at WellSpan Park. The Revs have won five straight overall, their longest streak since 2021, and open the home schedule with a sweep for the third time in franchise history and first since 2017.

Alejandro Rivero stayed hot, launching a long solo homer down the left field line in the first inning, giving the Revs a 1-0 lead after one. It was Rivero’s third home run, all in the past five games, and second in as many contests.

The Revs added to the lead in the second after starter J.T. Hintzen set the Hawks down in order. Jacob Rhinesmith singled, followed by another single to right center by Jalen Miller as Rhinesmith went first-to-third and Miller advanced to second on an error by right fielder Dominick Bucko. Alexis Pantoja grounded to the right side to drive in Rhinesmith, making it 2-0 Revs.

Revs pitchers carried a 23-inning scoreless streak into the fourth before Staten Island plated their first runs of the series, scoring three times on the strength of an RBI double by Bucko and a two-out, two-run single by Ricardo Cespedes to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead.

The Revs tied it at 3-3 in the bottom half when Trey Martin singled, stole his league-leading seventh bag of the season, and was doubled in by Rhinesmith.

Jeff Wehler led off the fifth with a homer to left center, the FerryHawks’ first of the season, giving the Hawks another lead at 4-3.

Hintzen finished his second start after five innings, allowing four runs on six hits with three walks and four strikeouts in a no-decision.

The Revs got three-up, three-down frames from Nelvin Correa in the sixth and Andrew Gross (1-0) in the seventh.

York tied the game in the sixth when Martin sprinted to third on an errant force attempt and jetted home on another botched throw by Staten Island’s infield defense, squaring things at 4-4.

The Revs again put their bats and good plate discipline on display in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three times on just one hit as Trent Giambrone cracked a tiebreaking RBI double to right center, Drew Mendoza produced a run-scoring grounder, and Rhinesmith drove a sac fly to center for a 7-4 lead.

The Hawks got to Blake Rogers for his first run allowed of the season in the eighth as Jack Elliot banged a long RBI single off the Arch Nemesis in left field, cutting the lead to 7-5.

The Revs pounced on former York closer Jim Fuller for another three runs in the eighth on a two-run double from Rivero and a Mendoza RBI single.

Will Carter closed out the afternoon with a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the last two batters to cap the victory. The Revs take a five-game winning streak into Monday’s off-day as they won the last two on the road at Lancaster and swept the FerryHawks in the opening series in York.

York lefty Denson Hull (0-0, 1.29) gets the ball against Long Island righty Joe Iorio (0-1, 2.57) in Tuesday’s series opener against the Ducks at 6:30 p.m. It is a Silver Sluggers Tuesday presented by WellSpan Sports Medicine and a Time Travel Tuesday featuring the Vikings. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.

Notes: The Revs are 3-0 to start the home schedule for the fifth time, joining the 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2017 teams. The Revs scored double digit runs for the second straight game following a 13-0 victory on Saturday night. Rivero (3-for-4) drove in three runs after plating four the night before; he has hit safely in eight of the first nine games (.441) and has four multi-hit games in the last five, going 10-for-21 with three homers, a double, and 11 RBI. Rhinesmith (2-for-4) is now 8-for-12 at WellSpan Park.

Long Island 6, Gastonia 4

(Central Islip, N.Y., May 7, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Gastonia Honey Hunters 6-4 on Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. 

A first inning three-spot off Honey Hunters starter Ian McKinney gave the Ducks an early 3-0 lead. Daniel Murphy's RBI single to right field and Adeiny Hechavarria’s two-run single to left got the scoring started. An RBI single by Steven Sensley off Ducks starter Brett Kennedy in the second trimmed the Ducks lead to 3-1. 

The advantage remained two until the seventh when Boog Powell scored from third on a wild pitch and Murphy added another RBI single, making it a 5-1 ballgame. Steven Moya’s three-run homer to right field in the eighth closed the gap to 5-4, but Hechavarria answered with a solo blast to left-center in the bottom of the frame to push Long Island’s lead back up to two. 

Kennedy (1-0) earned the win, tossing five and two-thirds innings of one-run ball, allowing eight hits and two walks while striking out four. McKinney (0-1) suffered the loss, surrendering three runs on six hits and two walks over five and one-third innings with three strikeouts. Kevin Quackenbush picked up his first save of the season with a scoreless ninth despite yielding a hit and a walk.

Hechavarria led the Flock offensively with three hits, three RBIs, a run and a walk. Murphy added two hits, two RBIs, a run and a walk, while Powell and Lew Ford each chipped in with two hits and two runs. 

The Ducks hit the road on Tuesday night to open a three-game series against the York Revolution. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at WellSpan Park. Fans can follow all the action live on Flo Baseball by CLICKING HERE. Right-hander Joe Iorio (0-1, 2.57) gets the start for the Ducks against Revolution lefty Denson Hull (0-0, 1.29). 

Long Island returns home on Tuesday, May 16, for another three-game set with the Revolution. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m., with Fairfield Properties Ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (5:20 for full season ticket holders).

So. Maryland 11, Charleston 7