High Point 5, Long Island 2
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. – The High Point Rockers won their fourth consecutive game from the Long Island Ducks on Friday night, scoring a 5-1 victory at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. But 700 miles to the south in Gastonia, the Charleston Dirty Birds defeated Gastonia 2-0 to secure the Atlantic League’s second half South Division pennant and end the Rockers hopes for a 2024 playoff berth.
Charleston (38-23) won the second half pennant over High Point (36-25) and Gastonia (35-26). While the Rockers could still tie Charleston in terms of second half record, High Point would lose the tiebreaker by virtue of Charleston’s 8-5 head-to-head advantage in the second half of the season.
On the field at Long Island, Ryan Grotjohn started the Rockers’ scoring with a one out single as Ben Aklinski followed with his 29th home run of the season to give the Rockers a 2-0 lead.
Michael Martinez hit a two-out ground rule double in the second then scored on D.J. Burt’s opposite field single with a head-first slide at the plate to put the Rockers up 3-0.
Evan Edwards’ third homer of the series and his 20th of the season was a solo shot in the third that increased High Point’s lead to 4-0.
High Point starter Derrick Adams (W, 3-3) proved himself to be quite the escape artist in the fourth. With two outs, he issued three consecutive walks to load the bases then struck out Taylor Kohlwey to escape any damage.
The Rockers ran the score to 5-0 in the top of the sixth when Edwards walked, moved to third on a single by Connor Owings then scored when Quincy Nieporte bounced into a 5-4-3 double play.
Adams went five innings and despite giving up a season-high six walks, he did not allow a hit and left the game with a 5-0 lead.
Long Island’s Leobaldo Cabrera singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth off High Point reliever Jacob Edwards to break up the no-hitter but Edwards kept the shutout alive by throwing a scoreless inning.
Kyle Halbohn kept the Ducks scoreless in the seventh inning but Long Island broke up the shutout with a run off Zach Vennaro in the bottom of the eighth. Cabrera singled, stole second and third and scored on a grounder back to Vennaro who recorded the out at first.
Garrett Schilling allowed an RBI double by Kole Kaler in the ninth but was able to wrap up the game for the Rockers.
Owings finished with two hits on the night. Long Island’s Sal Romano (L, 2-1) allowed all five runs along with eight hits during his six innings of work.
On Saturday, the Rockers will send righty Matt Solter (3-2, 6.03 ERA) to the mound to face Long Island’s David Griffin (2-0, 3.55).
York 8, Hagerstown 4
(September 13, 2024 – Hagerstown, Md.): The York Revolution won for the fifth time in six games, topping the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars 8-4 on Friday night at Meritus Park to open the final series of the regular season. York improves to 78-45 with the win, one victory shy of matching a franchise record for total wins in a season.
York scored the game’s first run in the top of the first inning as Zander Wiel kicked off his big night with a two-out RBI single to right.
Hagerstown answered as Joe Campagna blooped a two-out, two-run single to shallow center.
Campagna added an RBI triple to left center in the third and scored on Ozzie Abreu’s base hit to left as York trailed 4-1 early.
The Revs began their comeback in the fourth as Alfredo Reyes slugged an RBI double to left center and a wild pitch from Boxcars starter Yeudy Garcia (3-9) brought home a second run to slice the deficit to 4-3.
York went in front for good with two more in the fifth. Chase Dawson started things with an infield single and Matt McDermott doubled to left center to put two in scoring position with no outs. Rudy Martin Jr bounced an RBI ground out to second base tying the game, and Wiel added a sac fly to right for a 5-4 lead.
York lefty Jack Eisenbarger (1-0) finished strong in his debut start, retiring eight of his final nine batters faced and striking out nine over five innings, including four of five batters at one point, the highest total by a Revs pitcher since Aaron Fletcher struck out nine on July 6 vs Staten Island.
The Revs added a run in the sixth as John Cristino smoked a two-out RBI single to left, and two more in the seventh as Wiel tattooed a two-run homer to left field, his 29th of the season, 16th with York, and 90th of his Atlantic League career. It capped a four-RBI performance for the Revs’ cleanup man, his fifth game of four RBI or more since joining the Revs.
The Revs’ bullpen was flawless, facing the minimum over the final four innings while retiring the final 11 batters in order.
Tom Sutera handled a scoreless sixth, erasing a leadoff single with a double play ball.
Frankie Bartow induced three weak ground outs for his fifth consecutive scoreless outing in the seventh.
Denny Bentley struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth, and Oliver Garcia did the same in a perfect ninth to close it out.
Notes: York’s 78 victories tie the 2014 Revs for second most in a season in team history, one shy of the 2012 club’s franchise record of 79; both of those seasons were 140 games in length, as the Revs will play 125 games this season by comparison, having already set a franchise record for winning percentage, now at .634. The Revs have won 39 games both at home and on the road. They improve to 16-6 vs Hagerstown, tying a franchise record for wins in a season series against one opponent. The Revs drew 11 walks, their most in a game since June 23. McDermott, David Washington, and Alejandro Rivero all walked three times apiece. McDermott reached four times and scored three runs, tying Billy Hall (Somerset, 2000) for fourth in league history with 113 runs scored; he is now one shy of matching High Point’s Ben Aklinski (2023) for third all-time. Wiel has hit 29 home runs for the second consecutive season after blasting a career-high 32 two years ago. Washington stole his 19th base in the top of the ninth as he is now one steal shy of becoming the fourth player in league history with 30 or more home runs and 20 or more steals in a single season. York righty Jon Olsen (11-3) faces Hagerstown’s Marvin Gorgas on Saturday at 6 p.m. Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and FloBaseball.TV beginning at 5:40 p.m.
Lancaster 6, Staten Island 3
The Staten Island FerryHawks were defeated by the Lancaster Stormers on Friday by a final score of 6-3.
Nate Roe made his last start of the season for Staten Island, giving his club 5.1 innings of work. During that span, Roe allowed four runs on 6 hits while both walking and striking out three batters. Lefty hurler J.P. Woodward was called on out of relief for 1.2 innings and surrendered one run on two hits, and then Josh James pitched the final frame also giving up a run.
The big hit of the game for Staten Island came off the bat of Jackson Loftin, as he went yard for the second time this season. He finished the night 2-4 with a home run, single, and one RBI. Calvin Estrada picked up 2 RBI from the cleanup spot, and Pablo Sandoval had two hits in his four trips to the plate.
The final two FerryHawks games for the 2024 season are lined up for this Saturday and Sunday in Lancaster. Don’t miss a pitch of the action, watch live after purchasing a FloSports subscription today!
Charleston 2, Gastonia 0
Southern Maryland 5, Lexington 3