York 4, Hagerstown 3
The Hagerstown Flying Boxcars (24-57) faced off against the York Revolution (13-6) in game two of their three-game series at Meritus Park in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Parker Markel (25-5) made his 11th start of the season and held the Revolution scoreless through four innings. A lead-off walk to centerfielder Donovan Casey ultimately turned into a sacrifice fly RBI for catcher Michael Berglund, giving the Revs a 1-0 lead.
That lead didn’t last long.
The Boxcars turned around in the home half of the fourth with a lead-off hit for right fielder Eury Perez (47), who was later driven in by designated hitter Nellie Rodriguez (2), who notched his first RBI as a Flying Boxcar.
York’s centerfielder Donovan Casey continued his hot second half, giving the Revs the lead right back with his 13th home run.
Hagerstown stuck around late into Saturday night’s game, scoring two runs in the sixth thanks to RBI hits from first baseman Dariel Gomez (18) and designated hitter Nellie Rodriguez (2).
Ultimately, the Revs were able to score two runs of their own in the eighth inning. Leadoff walks to right fielder Jacob Rhinesmith, and designated hitter Zander Wiel lead to them scoring by RBI hits from second baseman Alex Pantoja (14) and left fielder Rudy Martin Jr. (34).
In game two, the Revolution took a 4-3 win over the Flying Boxcars.
Both teams are set to face off in the series finale on Sunday at 5 pm.
Lancaster 6, Long Island 1
Max Green’s development as an ace took another step forward Saturday evening.
The left-hander, who had not made a non-rehab start since high school, fired seven strong innings in a 6-1 victory over the Long Island Ducks at Fairfield Properties Ballpark, keeping Lancaster a game ahead of the York Revolution in the North’s second half race.
Green (9-4) gave up only three hits and did not walk a batter. The only blemish on his record was a homer by Ryan McBroom which came on his first pitch of the fifth inning. He faced only three batters over the minimum and struck out five.
The former Detroit farmhand is 9-1 as a starter, and the Stormers are 11-1 with him taking the hill since joining the rotation.
Stephen Woods, Jr. (5-5) matched Green for the first four innings. Woods found trouble for the first time when he walked Gaige Howard and Shawon Dunston, Jr. back-to-back to start the fifth. Chad Sedio grounded out, advancing the runners. Woods uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Howard to scoot home with the game’s first run. Dunston had to wait for a two-out, two-run homer by Trace Loehr.
Sedio added a homer to lead off the seventh for a 4-1 advantage.
There was a scare in the bottom of the eighth inning. Tyler Osik greeted Phil Diehl with a leadoff single past the outstretched glove of shortstop Isan Diaz. Diehl walked Zach Racusin after a lengthy battle, and Kole Kaler drilled a deep foul ball down the left field line. Kaler would eventually fly to left, and Diehl closed the inning with a force out and a strikeout.
Chris Proctor added a sac fly in the ninth, and Loehr followed with his third RBI of the night on a single to center as the Stormers pulled away in the ninth.
Noah Bremer (8-4) will take the hill for the Stormers on Sunday at 5:05. He will be opposed by lefty Jimmy Robbins (6-3). Fans may tune into the game on FloBaseball at 5:00.
NOTES: Green completed the seventh inning for the first time…He threw 104 pitches…The home runs by Loehr and Sedio were the first for each outside of Clipper Magazine Stadium in 2024…Gaige Howard had his 27th multi-hit game of the season…He is hitting .500 (21-42) over his last 11 games and .396 in his last 40.
Southern Maryland 13, High Point 3
WALDORF, MD – The High Point Rockers fell in a one-sided contest on Saturday night in Southern Maryland by a final of 13-3.
The Blue Crabs opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when Anthony Brocato reached first on an error by Connor Owings that allowed a run to score and make it a 1-0 game. Later in the inning, Miles Williams singled home a second run to stretch the lead to 2-0 Southern Maryland.
In the fourth, High Point got on the board thanks to a Trey Martin RBI single that brought in Gilberto Jimenez, cutting the deficit to 2-1. In the bottom of the inning, the Blue Crabs quickly responded with a two-run homer by Aaron Hill that gave the home team a 4-1 lead.
The Rockers manufactured a run in the top of the fifth after a leadoff triple from Aidan Brewer, when DJ Burt grounded out to second to bring in the run and slice the Blue Crabs lead to 4-2. One inning later, Ben Aklinski smacked his 18th homer of the season to bring High Point to within a run at 4-3.
That was as close as the Rockers got, however, as Southern Maryland went on to score nine unanswered runs. An RBI base hit from Josh Broughton pushed the score to 5-3 Blue Crabs after six frames.
In the seventh, Jomar Reyes doubled to score Brocato, which was later followed by a three-run homer down the right field line off the bat of Ian Yetsko, to push the Blue Crabs lead to 9-3.
The following inning, Southern Maryland loaded the bases with two outs in the frame. Reyes ripped a double but was tagged out trying to stretch a double into a triple. On the very next pitch, Williams smashed a line drive homer to make it a double-digit lead at 13-3, which went final.
The Rockers still maintain a two-game lead in the South division over both Charleston and Gastonia, while also holding a four-game lead in the Wild Card over Lancaster. The series finale in Southern Maryland is penciled for a 2:05 first pitch on Sunday.
Staten Island 10, Lexington 5
Gastonia 16, Charleston 15