High Point Rockers 6, Gastonia Ghost Peppers 2 (Game 3 of South Division Championship)
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers slapped six extra base hits including back-to-backer homers to take Game 3 of the Atlantic League’s South Division Championship on Tuesday night by a 6-2 score over the Gastonia Ghost Peppers at Truist Point.
The win puts the Rockers in position to win the South Division title and move on to the League Championship series with a win on Wednesday night.
Drew Mendoza collected his fifth and sixth hits of the series with a run-scoring single in the first and an RBI double in the second. He finished the night with two hits after smacking four against the Ghost Peppers in Game 2. Luke Napleton and Alex Dickerson also added a pair of hits.
The Rockers went up 2-0 in the first inning on RBI singles from Mendoza and Napleton. The lead grew to 3-0 in the second when Aidan Brewer singled and scored on a double off the wall in center by Mendoza.
Narciso Crook hit a solo homer leading off the third to pull the Ghost Peppers within a run at 3-1.
Ben Aklinski and Evan Edwards hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth as the Rockers went up 4-1. Gastonia added a run in the seventh when Aaron McKeithan singled and scored on a double by Shed Long, Jr.
The Rockers made it a 6-2 game with back-to-back homers in the eighth off the bats of Napleton and Dickerson. It was the first playoff homer for each.
Josh Hendrickson (W, 1-0) went six innings and scattered six hits while striking our four and allowing just one run. David Hess struck out two in his one inning of work while Cam Cotter in the eighth and Kyle Halbohn in the ninth each retired the Peppers in order.
Game 4 of the series is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start on Wednesday at Truist Point. The Rockers will send lefty Ben Wereski (4-4, 3.76) to the mound to face Gastonia righty Ljay Newsome (4-3, 5.04).
Tickets for Wednesday’s Game 4 are on sale now at the Truist Point Box Office and online at www.HighPointRockers.com.
York Revolution 6, Lancaster Stormers 3 (Game 3 of North Division Championship)
(September 23, 2025 – Lancaster, Pa.): The York Revolution completed yet another bigtime come-from-behind effort, polishing off a sweep of the Lancaster Stormers with a 6-3 victory late Tuesday night at Penn Medicine Park. The win secures a second consecutive North Division championship for the Revs who advance to the Atlantic League Championship Series, aiming to defend their crown when they host the South Division winner in Game One on Saturday night at WellSpan Park.
Kyle Martin highlighted the comeback with a pair of homers including the game-tying shot in the sixth and a go-ahead grounder in the eighth.
Play got underway following a rain delay of an hour and 37 minutes at the outset and York struggled to solve Lancaster starter Brock Bell who retired eight in-a-row after Jalen Miller’s game-opening double.
Lancaster plated a pair of two-out runs in the second on a double to left by Yeison Coca, and added a sac fly by Joe Campagna in the third to go up 3-0.
Martin got the Revs on the board in the fourth, rocketing a line drive solo homer to right. Chris Williams blasted a solo homer to left leading off the fifth as the Revs drew within a run, and Martin crushed his second of the night, a game-tying shot to right center with one out in the sixth as the Revs pulled even at 3-3.
The Revs mounted the decisive rally with a three-run eighth. Elvis Peralta sparked it with a double off the wall in deep left center and Miller walked. Jeremy Arocho dropped down a sac bunt and third baseman Luis Castro yanked his throw wide, allowing the bases to load on the error. Martin topped a grounder toward second that Melvin Mercedes was unable to come up with, bringing home Peralta with the go-ahead run. Two batters later, Shayne Fontana provided the insurance with a two-run single up the middle for a 6-3 advantage.
York starter Mike Kickham hung tough after falling behind early, as he did not allow a hit over his final three innings, working six frames before turning it over to the bullpen with a tie score.
Josh Mollerus (1-0) fired a 1-2-3 seventh, and Jimmy Burnette struck out two in a razor sharp 1-2-3 eighth inning.
Brendan Cellucci struck out Nick Lucky to begin the ninth but was lifted for Cam Robinson following a walk and a single, the Stormers’ first hit since the third inning. Robinson induced a force out on a grounder for the second out before issuing a walk to pinch hitter Kevin Watson Jr to load the bases and bring the winning run to the plate. Robinson nailed down the save, retiring Mercedes on a first pitch ground out to second base to end it, securing the fourth playoff sweep in Revs history and first ever in the divisional round.
Notes: Martin becomes the fourth player in Revs history to go yard twice in a postseason game, joining Bryant Nelson (2011), Telvin Nash (2019), and Alerick Soularie who did it in last year’s Game Four clincher vs Lancaster. York’s bullpen worked three innings of one-hit ball and totaled 10.1 scoreless innings with just two hits given up in the series. The Revs have won seven consecutive postseason games and are 9-1 in the playoffs the past two years (6-1 vs Lancaster). The Revs are 5-0 on the road in the postseason the last two years. York is 9-5 all-time in playoff series and 5-5 all-time in Division Series (3-1 vs Lancaster) as the Revs head to their fifth Championship Series, matching Lancaster and Bridgeport for third-most in Atlantic League history (trailing only Somerset’s 10 and Long Island’s 9). It’s the second time they’ve gone to back-to-back Championship Series as they also reached the final consecutive years in 2010-11. They have defeated Lancaster each of the last two years to advance. The Revs have come from behind in four consecutive playoff victories going back to last year’s championship, and have erased multi-run deficits in the sixth inning or later in all three games this postseason. Of their nine wins over the last two postseasons, seven have been decided in the sixth inning or later.
Up Next: York hosts Game One of the Atlantic League Championship Series on Saturday at 6:30pm against the winner of the South Division Championship Series (High Point vs Gastonia). Tickets are on sale now at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.