Staten Island 8, Hagerstown 1
The Staten Island FerryHawks defeated the Hagerstown Flying Box Cars 8-1 Saturday evening.
Nate Roe made his 7th start as a FerryHawk this season and picked up his 3rd win. Roe carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning of the game, and his final line was 5.1 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.
Kolby Johnson wasted no time as the leadoff batter, singling to start the home half of the first. Johnson stole second, and on a bad throw down to the bag was able to advance to third. Alejandro De Aza was slotted second in the order after his three-hit, 6 RBI game one, and drove in the speedy outfielder with a sac fly. Luis Castro followed up the sacrifice with a triple off the wall in right center field before Pablo Sandoval grounded out and made the score 2-0. All with two outs, Matt Schefler, Ben Norman and Calvin Estrada singled. Estrada’s single scored Scheffler from second, and when Nate Roe returned to the mound in the second inning he had a 3 run lead.
Luis Castro walked to start the bottom of the 5th. Castro, who initially advanced to second on a Sandoval fielder’s choice, went first to third. Following an erratic throw from the Box Cars first baseman to the third baseman, Castro was able to score and make it a 4 run lead for the FerryHawks.
Roe came out again in the 6th to start the inning, but loaded the bases with only one out. Lefty reliever Bryan Warzek came in out of relief and the Box Cars picked up their first run on a sacrifice fly to right field, with the run being charged to Roe.
Adding some insurance to the board was Pablo Sandoval in the 6th inning, who doubled to score Kyle Dernedde with two away. This put the home team up 5-1.
The FerryHawks struck once more with two outs in the very next inning, as Kolby Johnson brought home Ben Norman and Kyle Dernedde with a double to right field. Johnson’s extra-base hit extended Staten Island’s lead to 7-1.
Castro went opposite field in the bottom of the 8th and left the yard for the 22nd time in 2024. The solo shot increased the score to 8-1 in favor of the home squad.
The final FerryHawks home game for the 2024 season is scheduled for 1:30PM on Sunday. Staten Island is looking to secure the sweep and end their time at SIUH Community Park with a win before a six game road trip against York and Lancaster.
Long Island 8, Charleston 7
(Charleston, W. Va., Sept. 7, 2024) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Salt Town Dirty Birds (a.k.a. Charleston Dirty Birds) 8-7 on Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game series at GoMart Ballpark.
The Ducks jumped out in front 2-0 in the top half of the first inning against Dirty Birds starting pitcher Keyvius Sampson as Yonny Hernandez scored on an error and Yoelquis Cespedes plated a run by way of an RBI fielder’s choice. Long Island made it 3-0 in their favor in the second thanks to a Hernandez RBI ground ball. Trailing 3-1 in the fourth, Charleston went ahead 4-3 on Phillip Ervin’s three-run home run to right centerfield versus Ducks starter Jimmy Robbins.
The Flock scored a pair of runs in the fifth to retake the lead 5-4 on a Hernandez run-scoring triple and Leobaldo Cabrera sacrifice fly. The Dirty made it five apiece one half-inning later courtesy of a solo roundtripper off the batter’s eye in centerfield from Keon Barnum. Barnum and Tillman Pugh gave Charleston a 7-5 advantage in the seventh on back-to-back solo four-baggers. With runners at first and second and one man down in the ninth, the stage was set for Cabrera and the outfielder did not disappoint as he launched a go-ahead three-run home run over the left field wall off Dirty Birds reliever Joan Martinez and with one dramatic swing of the bat Long Island was back out on top 8-7. Ramn Santos retired all three hitters he faced in the ninth on a flyout and a pair of strikeouts for his team-high 14th save of the season and second in as many nights versus Charleston as the Flock were able to complete the improbable comeback.
Neither starter factored into the decision. Robbins allowed five runs on seven hits in four plus innings pitched, walking and striking out three. Sampson surrendered five runs (three earned) on four hits across five innings of work to go along with four works and four strikeouts. Peyton Williams (4-2) tallied the win out of the bullpen retiring all three batters faced. Martinez (0-4) was tagged with the blown save and the loss, giving up three runs on three hits in one inning on the mound to go along with a walk and a strikeout.
Cabrera drove in four runs on the evening while also scoring and walking twice. Hernandez had two hits, two RBIs, three runs scored, a walk and a stolen base, while Nick Heath notched three hits, two runs scored, a walk and a bag swiped.
The Ducks and Dirty Birds wrap up their three-game set on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. at GoMart Ballpark. Fans can follow all the action live on FloBaseball by CLICKING HERE. Right-hander David Griffin (1-0, 4.19) toes the rubber for the Ducks against Dirty Birds righty David Lebron (7-7, 5.02).
York 1, Lancaster 0
(September 7, 2024 – York, Pa.): In front of WellSpan Park’s biggest crowd since August 2016, Chris Vallimont delivered 7.1 shutout frames in a playoff-esque 1-0 affair on Saturday night as the York Revolution hung on to even the weekend series with the Lancaster Stormers.
The Revs got their first hit since the third inning of Friday night when Matt McDermott blooped a ball into right field with one out in the first, but he was doubled off one batter later when Rudy Martin Jr lined into a double play.
Stormers starter Matt Swarmer faced the minimum through the first nine hitters before Chase Dawson led off the fourth inning with a triple to right center. It was the first Revs hit for Dawson who set a Frontier League record with 24 triples in 2022. McDermott put York on the board with a sacrifice fly to left field one batter later.
Vallimont retired 16 straight hitters after a one-out walk to Gaige Howard in the first inning, until Damon Dues finally dropped Lancaster’s first hit into shallow right center for a single with two outs in the sixth. Dues stole second base but Vallimont kept the shutout bid alive when McDermott robbed Howard of a base hit with a leaping grab at short.
The seventh inning saw some controversy as a towering fly ball to right field by David Washington was ruled foul rather than a potential two-run homer. After Washington proceeded to strike out, he was ejected by first base umpire Silvio Martinez for arguing the foul call on his way off the field as the lead remained just 1-0.
In the top of the eighth inning, Vallimont made two very tight pickoff attempts of Shawon Dunston Jr at first base but did not get the out call on either. After a Chris Proctor single put runners on the corners, Vallimont was lifted for Dan Kubiuk with the game hanging in the balance.
In his second outing with York, Kubiuk needed just one pitch to force Trace Loehr to bounce into a clutch inning-ending 6-3 double play, thrilling the crowd of 6,579.
Matt Turner worked around a two-out single to strike out the side in the ninth, securing the 1-0 win with his 16th save.
Jon Olsen (10-3, 3.81) takes the ball for York in the rubber match on Sunday at 2 PM, opposite of Lancaster’s Brady Tedesco (3-3, 5.15). It is Sunday Funday by Weis Markets, Recovery Day, Unused Ticket Redemption Day, and Urban Air Ticket Giveaway (first 500 fans). Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
Notes: The Revs improve to 13-10 all-time in 1-0 games, 6-3 at WellSpan Park, and 2-1 all-time against Lancaster. It marked the Revs’ first 1-0 game since a 1-0 victory at Staten Island on May 24, 2022. It was the first 1-0 game at WellSpan Park since a victory vs Sugar Land on July 20, 2018. It was the first 1-0 game in War of the Roses play since an eight-inning road victory for the Revs on September 12, 2016. The crowd of 6,579 is the Revs’ largest at home since August 8, 2016 when 6,731 witnessed a 10-8 victory vs New Britain. It is the Revs’ third crowd of 6,000-plus this season; they had not had any such turnouts since 2021 and three is their most in a season since 2019. The shutout win is the third of the year for the Revs and their first at home. At two hours and 13 minutes it was the Revs’ third quickest nine-inning game of the season and their speediest since a 3-1 win at Charleston on June 5 that took just two hours and eight minutes. York improves to 74-44, clinching the top full season winning percentage in franchise history. The 74 wins are the fifth most in a season in club history and the most in a season of fewer than 140 games. York is five shy of its franchise wins record with seven games remaining in the regular season. The Revs improve to 14-3 against the Stormers (7-1 at home). Vallimont (5-2) went 7.1 innings tying a career-high set in 2019 with Jupiter (at Lakeland) while a Miami Marlins prospect. It is the Revs’ longest start since Olsen went 7.2 innings in a win vs Lexington on July 19. Vallimont was one out shy of matching the Revs’ longest no-hit bid of the year (Aaron Fletcher, 6.0 innings, June 30 at Southern Maryland). His 16 consecutive batters retired established a Revs’ season-best and came within one of a franchise record. Turner’s 16 saves are two shy of the league lead and 10th most in a season in Revs history, one shy of matching Ricardo Gomez (2012) for ninth. Dawson’s triple is the 51st of his pro career.
Lexington 6, High Point 3
HIGH POINT N.C.- Despite a late-inning surge, the High Point Rockers couldn’t overcome a powerful Lexington Legends offense, falling 6-3 at Truist Point on Saturday night in front of 2,901 fans. A two-run home run by Lexington’s Pedro Gonzalez in the seventh inning proved to be the dagger in the Rockers’ comeback hopes.
The game started strong for High Point’s pitching, as Jonah Scolaro set the tone with a quick first inning, striking out back-to-back batters to retire the side. Lexington, however, wasted no time getting on the board in the second inning when Justin Williams launched a towering 411-foot home run to give the Legends an early 2-0 lead after Jacob Barfield had reached on a single.
The Rockers’ offense struggled to gain momentum in the first half of the game. Ryan Grotjohn’s base hit in the first was High Point’s only offense through five innings, as Lexington starter Matt Reitz kept the Rockers’ bats quiet. Meanwhile, High Point reliever Stephen Ridings managed to hold the Legends scoreless through the sixth, pitching around multiple walks.
Lexington extended its lead in the seventh inning when Garrett Schilling took over on the mound for High Point. Korry Howell singled, followed by a JT Riddle RBI single to increase Lexington’s lead 3-0. A hit-by-pitch by Kole Cottam put another runner on base before Pedro Gonzalez crushed a three-run home run to center field, putting the Legends up 6-0.
The Rockers finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh. Ben Aklinski reached base after being hit by a pitch, and Grotjohn followed with a double to deep right. Evan Edwards’ sacrifice fly brought Aklinski home for High Point’s first run. Connor Owings drew a walk, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch, but the Rockers couldn’t capitalize, leaving the score at 6-1.
In the ninth, High Point made one last push. Aklinski’s base hit and a walk to Grotjohn set the table, and Edwards’ single drove in another run. Gilberto Jimenez followed with an RBI single to make it 6-3, but Lexington closer Nick Gardewine shut down the rally for the third time in this series, forcing a flyout to end the game.
The Rockers (32-24) will look to even the series in their final matchup against Lexington on Sunday afternoon at 4:05 p.m., as they continue their final homestand at Truist Point.
The Rockers were not able to gain ground despite Charleston’s loss at home to Long Island on Saturday. The Rockers enter the final home game of the season at 32-24, four games behind the South Division leading Dirty Birds at 36-20.
Gastonia 7, Southern Maryland 1