Gastonia 8, Southern Maryland 3
Nick Wells made 30 relief appearances for Gastonia in 2023.
The left-hander’s last start was in the summer of 2022, with Southern Maryland.
Almost two years later, Wells made the start on Friday night in his 2024 debut against the Blue Crabs, and he was spectacular.
Wells went four scoreless, hitless innings against his former team to help Gastonia win its fourth straight game, defeating Southern Maryland 8-3.
Although the lefty has only made three starts since 2019, he’s confident in his ability to be among the starters on the Gastonia staff. After all, he trained in the offseason to be able to do so.
“This year, I’ve added two pitches,” Wells said. “And I was like, ‘Well, I’m throwing five pitches now… let’s give it a whirl as a starter and see what happens.’”
The two pitches: sweeper and splitter.
The addition of those two pitches allows Wells to use his four-seamer and cutter more effectively because hitters have to beware of the offspeed, of which he has more at his disposal now. This was seen in Gastonia’s win on Friday night.
“The cutter was working,” Wells said. “I was getting ahead of a lot of guys, staying ahead, just trying to keep them off balance between the heater, the cutter. Mixed in the sweeper now and then.”
Wells is hoping to remain a starter for the Club, and it’s safe to say he nailed his audition.
While Wells was striking out six Blue Crabs hitters and not allowing a hit, the Gastonia offense was helping out the starter by scoring eight runs over the first four innings against Ian Kahaloa.
The offense was powered by three homers against the right-hander.
Justin Wylie got the party started in the second inning, blasting a ball that hit the top of the left-center field wall and carried over to make it 2-0 Gastonia.
The Club then went back-to-back an inning later.
Jake Gatewood hit his third long ball in two games. The third baseman’s ninth homer of the season was a no-doubter, clearing the left-field fence and making it a 4-0 game.
Patrick Mazeika then followed up, pulling a deep drive to right for his seventh of the year to give Gastonia a 5-0 cushion.
After Gastonia scored three more runs in the fourth, right-hander Sean Poppen came on in relief of Wells.
Poppen allowed a three-run dinger to Southern Maryland leadoff hitter Matt Hibbert in the fifth. But after the homer, Poppen settled down.
The former big leaguer ended up giving his team four innings, just allowing the three runs from the Hibbert homer. Poppen recorded five strikeouts and only walked one batter.
Gastonia cruised to the 8-3 win, taking the first game of the four-game Memorial Day Weekend set.
The Club is 10 games over .500 at 18-8, still alone atop the South Division and they’ve won 10 of their past 11 contests.
Game 2 between Gastonia and Southern Maryland is on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Long Island 6, Lancaster 4
(Central Islip, N.Y., May 24, 2024) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Lancaster Stormers 6-4 on Friday night in the opener of a four-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.
The Ducks took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on Frank Schwindel’s sacrifice fly to center field and Ryan McBroom’s two-run home run to left off Stormers starter Carsie Walker. The Stormers got a run back in the second on Shawon Dunston Jr.’s leadoff solo homer to right field off Ducks starter Emilio Marquez. Chad Smith answered in the fourth by launching his first home run as a Duck, a solo blast to left, restoring the Long Island’s three-run lead at 4-1.
A two-out RBI single to center by Manuel Geraldo in the sixth made it 5-1 Ducks. Joseph Carpenter responded with a two-out RBI single of his own to right in the seventh, closing the gap to three. However, Scott Kelly scampered home from third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the frame to make it a 6-2 game.
Chris Proctor trimmed the Ducks lead to 6-4 in the ninth with a two-run single to center. However, Matt Seelinger retired the next three batters in order to preserve the win.
Marquez (1-2) earned the win, tossing five innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and four walks while striking out four. Walker (0-1) suffered the loss, surrendering five runs on 10 hits and three walks over six innings with three strikeouts. Seelinger collected his fifth save with a scoreless ninth, working around a hit and striking out one.
McBroom led the Flock offensively with two hits, two RBIs, a run and a walk. Geraldo added two hits, an RBI, a run and a walk.
The Ducks and Stormers continue their four-game set on Saturday with a day/night doubleheader. First pitch for game one, which will be a seven inning game, is scheduled for 1:35 p.m., with the Fairfield Properties Ballpark gates opening at 12:35 (12:20 for full season ticket holders). It’s Bark in the Park, and fans are invited to bring their dogs to the game with them. CLICK HERE for more information. Right-hander Charlie Neuweiler (0-1, 9.22) gets the nod for the Flock against a Stormers starter to be determined.
Game time for the nightcap, which will be a nine inning game, is slated for 6:35 p.m., with the Fairfield Properties Ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (5:20 for full season ticket holders). Following the game, all fans in attendance will be treated to a Fireworks Spectacular. It’s also a Long Island MacArthur Airport Lucky Seat Saturday! During the game, one lucky fan will win two round trip tickets on Breeze Airways to any of their six non-stop destinations from MacArthur Airport. Left-hander Mike Montgomery (0-1, 6.94) toes the rubber for the Long Island against Lancaster righty Jack Labosky (1-0, 2.25).
High Point 6, Charleston 1
CHARLESTON, WV – The High Point Rockers tallied three runs in the fifth inning to help secure a 6-1 victory in the opener of the series against the Charleston Dirty Birds. The win gives High Point its fourth straight victory over Charleston, and fifth overall.
The scoring got started in the second frame when Ben Aklinski smacked a liner up the middle to bring home Ryan Grotjohn and lift High Point to a 1-0 lead. The Dirty Birds were quick to respond in the bottom of the frame, however, after Rusber Estrada yanked a base hit to the left field corner that evened the score 1-1.
A pair of innings later in the fourth, High Point struck again thanks to a passed ball that allowed Grotjohn to scamper home and give the Rockers a 2-1 lead. From there, the Rockers were in command to the finish line, scoring the game’s final four runs.
In the fifth, a pair of base hits from Colin Moran and Evan Edwards set up Brian Parreira who squibbed a grounder back to the mound. The throw to first from Charleston pitcher Gerald Ogando sailed out of play and allowed Moran to cross the plate. Then, D.J. Burt stepped to the plate and laced a base hit to right field that plated two more Rocker runs and lifted the score to 5-1.
High Point starter Jonah Scolaro was marvelous once again, spinning six innings allowing just a single run, which was unearned. He also scattered just four hits and fanned a pair of Dirty Birds hitters. The bullpen combined for three shutout innings the rest of the way, as High Point added one more tally for good measure in the top of the ninth and took game one of the series by a 6-1 final.
Game two of the series is slated for 6:35 on Saturday. Ryan Weiss will get the start for High Point, opposed by Alex Mack for Charleston.
York 16, Staten Island 7
(May 24, 2024 – York, Pa.): In a battle for sole possession of first place in the North Division, the York Revolution put on an offensive clinic on Friday night, scoring a season-high 16 runs on a season-high 17 hits, beating the Staten Island FerryHawks 16-7 at WellSpan Park in the opener of a four-game set.
Staten Island opened the scoring in the first inning on a two-out, two-run homer to left center by Joe Dunand.
Matt McDermott reached on an infield single to lead off the home half, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Donovan Casey proceeded to even the game up with his first home run of the season on a tape measure blast to left center field. Jacob Rhinesmith added a sacrifice fly to put the Revs up 3-2.
After Zach Neff tossed a 1-2-3 second inning, his offense gave him a big cushion in the bottom half. Kobe Kato and McDermott both reached on singles before Casey beat out a potential double play ball to plate a run and keep the inning alive. David Washington followed with a run-scoring single before Trey Martin blasted York’s second home run of the game, a three-run shot to left field for his second round-tripper in as many days. That chased FerryHawks starter Matt Reitz from the game after just 1.2 innings.
The game was a back-and-forth slugfest in the early innings and that continued in the top of the third as Staten Island batted around, scoring four against Neff. Doubles by Taylor Motter and Pablo Sandoval were the big swings of the inning which cut the York lead to 8-6.
Alfredo Reyes led off the bottom half of the third with a single before Paul Mondesi launched his first Revs homer over the Arch Nemesis to put York up 10-6.
Alex Valverde relieved Neff in the fourth inning but Staten Island was able to scratch across another run. After Drew Maggi led off the inning with a broken bat double, Sandoval scored him with a two-out single to shrink the lead to 10-7.
Casey led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to right and Rhinesmith delivered a two-out RBI single to right field off of lefty Christian Allegretti. After four high-octane frames, York led 11-7.
Both relievers traded zeroes in the fifth inning with Valverde tossing a perfect inning with a strikeout and Allegretti working around a one-out walk.
Tom Sutera entered in the sixth inning with two outs and two runners on to face Sandoval who worked a walk to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. Dunand grounded a ball up the middle but McDermott made an incredible full extension diving stop from short and threw to first in time to strand the bases loaded on one of the top defensive plays of the season from the Revs.
York had two aboard in the bottom of the sixth but Rhinesmith was robbed of extra bases by center fielder Nate Scantlin who laid out in the right center field gap to take away multiple runs on a diving catch of Rhinesmith’s line drive. The next play saw chaos as Reyes hit a ball up the middle which was fielded on a backhand by Motter at second base. Motter threw to first where his first baseman Luis Castro was not initially covering. Getting back to the bag, Castro collided with Reyes as the ball skipped in front of the York dugout. Washington scored on what ended up being an RBI single for Reyes increasing the lead to 12-7.
Sutera retired the side in order in the seventh and eighth before the Revolution offense provided one final blast of insurance in the bottom of the eighth.
With the bases loaded and one out, Reyes unloaded on a pitch over the Nemesis for his first home run as a Rev. The grand slam put the finishing touches on a prolific offensive day for York, as they extended their lead to 16-7. It also capped a five-RBI performance for Reyes in his first home game at WellSpan Park.
Motter led off the top of the ninth with a single but Matt Turner retired the next three he faced to end the game.
York takes sole possession of first place with the win and moves to 16-10 on the season, establishing the best 26-game start in franchise history. York has won six of its last eight overall in addition to a victory in a suspended game completed during that stretch and will look for a fourth straight win on Saturday as they send Will Stewart to the hill opposed by Staten Island’s Christian Capuano at 6:30 p.m. It is Salute to Service presented by M&M Plumbing & HVAC which includes Post-Game Fireworks presented by AAA Mid States and a Patriotic Hat giveaway presented by L2 Brands to the first 1,000 fans. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
Notes: Washington extended his York career-opening hit streak to 19 games and recorded his first three-hit night; he also doubled for a fifth consecutive game. McDermott extended his league high on-base streak to 23 games including all 22 games he has played with York; he also extended his hit streak to 11 games with multi-hit games in his past five contests and in nine of his last ten. With 2.1 more scoreless innings, Sutera has not allowed an earned run across his first 12.1 innings this season. York’s bullpen allowed just one run in six innings while each of the final five innings were scoreless. The Revs bullpen has now allowed just two runs in its last 27.0 innings. The four-homer game is the second of the season for the Revs. Reyes’ grand slam is the second of the season for the York offense (Rhinesmith, April 28).
Hagerstown 6, Lexington 4