Charleston 4, Lexington 0
Charleston, WV – The Lexington Legends faced a tough defeat last night against the Charleston Dirty Birds, with the final score of 4-0. Despite a commendable effort from the Legends’ pitching staff, the Dirty Birds capitalized on key opportunities to secure their victory. The winning pitcher, Stevie Ledesma of the Dirty Birds, delivered a stellar performance, pitching four innings in relief, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out one. Matt Reitz of the Legends took the loss, pitching six innings and giving up five hits, three earned runs, one walk, and striking out two.
Offensively, the Legends struggled, managing only three hits throughout the game. Matt Bottcher, Luis Hernandez, and Mikey Reynolds each recorded a hit but were unable to score. In contrast, the Dirty Birds saw standout performances from Jay Carr, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Ramon Estrada, who contributed two RBIs and a double.
The Legends will look to win the series against the Dirty Birds Thursday night in the final game of a three-game set. Lexington will return home on Friday, July 26 against the Staten Island FerryHawks for the beginning of a six game homestand.
Lancaster 4, York 3
The Lancaster Stormers started only two right-handed batters on Wednesday evening against York Revolution left-hander Aaron Fletcher.
Those two were enough.
Niko Hulsizer went 3-for-4 with a homer and double, and Joe Stewart was 2-for-3 with a homer and a triple as the Lancaster Stormers upended the York Revolution 4-3, in the middle game of a three-game series at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
The win ended Lancaster’s eight-game losing streak against the archrivals and moved the Stormers back to a three-game lead over the Revs in the North Division’s second half chase.
With a 2-2 tie entering the seventh, York took a two-out lead against eventual winner Jackson Rees (4-0). The right-hander walked Matt McDermott and Rudy Martin, Jr. consecutively with two outs. Catcher Chris Proctor made an attempt to pick Martin off first base but sailed the ball over Mason Martin and down the right field line as McDermott scored. Rees fanned Donovan Casey to end the inning.
Aaron Fletcher (5-4) walked Shawon Dunston, Jr. to start the bottom of the inning and was visibly upset with home plate umpire Steve Hart afterward. Stewart followed with his triple to the gap in left center to tie the game. Fletcher, about to be replaced by right-hander Tom Sutera, grew increasingly incensed and was tossed by Hart.
Sutera retired Proctor on a foul pop up to third, but Trace Loehr was able to bring home the lead run with a single through the left side.
Phil Diehl held the lead through the eighth inning, allowing an infield single to Zander Wiel. Stephen Nogosek polished off York in 1-2-3 fashion in the ninth for his 10th save. The leadoff strikeout of Alex Pantoja led to the second baseman’s ejection as well.
Stewart opened the scoring with a line drive home run barely fair onto the Clipper Magazine Stadium deck in the bottom of the second, but York tied the game in the fourth as Casey reached on a two-base throwing error by Loehr then raced home to score on an errant pickoff throw by Oscar De La Cruz.
Hulsizer took a Fletcher offering onto the hillside in left for a 2-1 lead, but that was negated by Jacob Rhinesmith’s two-out solo shot in the sixth.
De La Cruz worked six innings, yielding seven hits and only one earned run. He walked one and fanned seven.
Matt Swarmer (2-1) will make the start for the Stormers on Thursday in the series finale. Jon Olsen (8-1) will counter for the Revs. Fans may tune into Blue Ridge 11 or FloBaseball, starting at 6:40.
NOTES: Five of Stewart’s six hits have been for extra bases…Nogosek earned his eighth save in Lancaster’s 13 second half wins…De La Cruz has fired back-to-back quality starts…The Stormers were guilty of four errors, the most since Opening Night at Long Island, when the club committed five…Hulsizer has seven homers and 25 RBI in his last 18 games.
High Point 9, Gastonia 4
HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point Rockers blasted three home runs on Tuesday night to power their way to a 9-4 win over the Gastonia Baseball Club at Truist Point. The Rockers led from start to finish and scored multiple runs in the second, third and fourth innings to secure the win.
Rookie Aidan Brewer hit his first homer with one aboard in the second to put the Rockers in front 2-0. Gastonia’s Richie Martin hit a solo shot in the third to cut the margin to 2-1.
High Point went ahead 6-1 with a four-run outburst in the third. Connor Owings hit a two-run homer and Evan Edwards a solo shot while Brian Parreira brought in a run with a sac fly.
Gastonia responded in the fourth with a solo homer from Justin Wylie and an RBI single by Eric De La Rosa to pull the GBC within three at 6-3.
The Rockers topped off their scoring with three more runs in the fourth. Walks to D.J. Burt and Martin Figueroa put two aboard before Ben Aklinski drove both of them in with a triple to center. Owings added a sac fly to score Aklinski and give High Point a 9-3 lead.
Martin and Clint Coulter each singled in the seventh while Rockers reliever Will Carter walked Jake Gatewood to load the bases. Martin scored on a passed ball but Carter was able to induce Marc Flores into a 3-6-1 double play to end the threat.
Rockers starter Jonah Scolaro (W, 5-1) pitched 5.2 innings before being relieved after his 99th pitch. Scolaro allowed eight hits and three runs but struck out seven and helped Gastonia strand six men on base in the first six innings.
Zach Vennaro pitched around a walk and a hit batter to keep Gastonia scoreless in the eighth. Dakota Calmers allowed a ninth inning double to Gatewood but he was stranded when Flores went down swinging for the final out of the game.
Gastonia starter Ryan Conroy (L, 4-5) allowed 10 hits and nine runs, eight earned, over his four innings of work with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.
Owings finished the night with three RBI on a single, triple and sac fly. Aklinski and Brewer each drove in two runs for High Point. Wylie, Gastonia’s second baseman, had three hits including a double and homer, and drove in one run.
High Point moved to two games in front of Gastonia in the Atlantic League’s South Division second half pennant race. The Rockers (11-5 in the second half) improved to 47-32 overall while Gastonia fell to 9-7 and 55-24. The Charleston Dirty Birds are now one game back of High Point after starting the second half with a 10-6 record.
Game three of the series will start at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday at Truist Point. It will be Thirsty Thursday with beverage specials at all concession stands.
NOTES: The Rockers turned a double play for the 11th consecutive game, extending a club record… High Point turned a 6-4-3 double play in the first and a 3-6-1 in the seventh… Aidan Brewer hit his first professional home run, a two-run shot to left in the second inning to give the Rockers a 2-0 lead… On Wednesday, the Rockers released RHP Ryder Giles and signed RHP Nate Griep. Griep was with Staten Island earlier this season… RHP Cooper Casad went on the injured list with a toe injury, giving the Rockers six players on the IL… Also on the injured list are RHP Taylor Guerrieri, LHP Braeden Ogle, INF Colin Moran, RHP Jeremy Rhoades and C Jake Washer… Rhoades should come off the list on Thursday and is expected to earn his first start since May 10.. Thursday may be Quincy Latimore’s final game for the Rockers this season as his partner, Yolanda, is expecting a child any day. The only Rocker to appear in a game in all five seasons, Latimore is sitting on 296 hits as a Rocker and 59 home runs, both marks are the third-most in team history.
Staten Island 7, Long Island 3
The FerryHawks defeated the Long Island Ducks by a score of 7-3 on Wednesday night at SIUH Community Park!
It didn’t take long for the first run to come across the plate, as an RBI groundout off of Hawks right-hander Christian Capuano scored Ducks leadoff hitter Nick Heath from third base in the first inning. The top of the Ducks order came through again in the third, when Ivan Castillo took Capuano deep for two more runs, but the FerryHawks would not be deterred.
After a pair of two out singles by Kyle Dernedde and Nate Scantlin, Jeison Guzman came through with a base hit of his own to drive in one in the bottom of the third, followed by Pablo Sandoval lining one to left to bring the Hawks within one run, down 3-2.
The rally seemed over when Alejandro De Aza popped one to right-center, but a misplay by Long Island’s centerfielder allowed Guzman and Sandoval to scamper home and keep the inning alive! Ben Norman quickly capitalized on the error as he blasted a two-run homer to put the Hawks up by three. Staten Island would add another run in the fifth inning, as Will Butcher hit a single to right-center for his first RBI as a FerryHawk.
Despite allowing three early runs, Capuano bounced back to complete seven innings, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out two Ducks hitters. He was relieved by left-hander Bryan Warzek in the eighth, who stayed in for the ninth to finish the game and cement the win for the Hawks. Capuano notched his 9th win putting him in sole possession of 1st place for wins in the Atlantic League.
On Thursday morning, the FerryHawks will wrap up their series against the Ducks before heading to Lexington, Kentucky for the weekend to take on the Legends. You can catch the Hawks back in Staten Island on Tuesday, when they begin a three game set against the Lancaster Stormers.
Hagerstown 7, Southern Maryland 6