Lancaster Stormers 8, Gastonia Ghost Peppers 5 (10 innings)
GASTONIA, N.C. – Kevin Watson Jr. made his presence felt in his return to Gastonia, crushing a grand slam in the 10th inning and leading Lancaster to an 8-5 victory over the Ghost Peppers on Sunday.
Gastonia carried a 3-2 lead into the ninth, but Yeison Coca picked up his third hit of the day with a game-tying single off Cory Thompson.
Watson Jr. then delivered in the 10th, smacking a grand slam to straight-away center field and giving the Stormers an 8-3 advantage.
The lefty, who started his season as a Ghost Pepper before getting traded to Lancaster on August 4, ends the day with 16 homers and 65 RBIs.
Gastonia and Lancaster traded blows throughout the day, with the Peppers striking first in the opening frame. Dalton Guthrie lined a single to right-center, plating Justin Wylie to make it 1-0 in the first.
Guthrie was responsible for the first three Gastonia runs, blooping an RBI double to shallow left-center in the fifth and hitting a sac fly in the seventh to put the Peppers on top, 3-2. The third baseman upped his RBI total to 67 on the season.
Donovan Benoit allowed the Watson Jr. grand slam in the 10th, which led to Lancaster taking Sunday’s rubber match, 8-5.
The Ghost Peppers fell to 24-18 in the second half, remaining in first place and a game above High Point. They face off against Lexington in the beginning of a six-game road trip on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m.
Long Island Ducks 7, Hagerstown Flying Boxcars 2
(Hagerstown, Md., Aug. 24, 2025) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars 7-2 on Sunday afternoon in the final game of a three-game series at Meritus Park.
Cary Arbolida gave Hagerstown the early lead with a first inning solo home run to left field off Ducks starter Ryan Sandberg. Tyler Williams added a solo homer to left in the third, doubling the Flying Boxcars lead to two.
The Ducks struck for five runs on seven consecutive two-out hits in the sixth inning to take a 5-2 lead. Ivan Castillo, Aaron Antonini, Taylor Kohlwey, Cody Thomas and Troy Viola all had RBI singles. Castillo added a sac fly to center in the seventh and Kohlwey scored on a throwing error in the eighth to make it a five-run advantage for the Flock.
Sandberg did not factor into the decision but tossed four and two-thirds innings of two-run ball, giving up six hits and two walks with one strikeout. Brad Casey (5-3) picked up the win after getting the final out of the fifth inning. Flying Boxcars starter Julian Minaya (0-9) took the loss, yielding four runs on five hits in five and two-thirds innings while striking out four.
Kohlwey led the Ducks offense with two hits, an RBI and two runs. Thomas added two hits and an RBI, while River Town finished with a pair of hits and a run. Five Ducks relievers combined for four and one-third scoreless innings of relief, giving up just four hits while striking out seven batters.
The Ducks return home on Tuesday night to begin a six-game series against the York Revolution. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m., with the Fairfield Properties Ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (5:20 for full season ticket holders). It’s a Pat’s Marketplace Tuesday, and Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons for $5 off a purchase of $50 or more at Pat’s Marketplace as fans exit the ballpark. It’s also a Triple Play Tuesday, and if the Ducks turn a triple play during the game, one lucky fan will be a grand prize winner of $25,000. Left-hander Juan Hillman (8-5, 5.01) gets the start for the Ducks against Revolution righty Alex Valverde (1-1, 3.75).
Tickets to the game and all Ducks games are now available and can be purchased by visiting the ballpark box office, calling (631) 940-TIXX or CLICKING HERE. Those unable to make the game can follow all the action live on FloBaseball. Sign up today by CLICKING HERE.
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 12, Staten Island FerryHawks 8
The Staten Island FerryHawks couldn’t complete the series against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Sunday afternoon at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park, falling 12-8 in the rubber game.
Southern Maryland wasted no time jumping ahead, striking for five runs in the opening frame behind a solo shot from Jackson Loftin and a two-run homer from Jamari Baylor. Staten Island punched right back in the bottom half, as Mark Contreras plated Eddy Diaz with an RBI single before Kolby Johnson ripped a bases-loaded double to cut the deficit to 5-3.
After starter Rob Kaminsky worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, the FerryHawks pulled closer when Contreras lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 5-4. But the Blue Crabs answered immediately once reliever Clay Helvey entered, tacking on two runs in the third to extend the lead to 7-4. Sam Dexter added to the damage with a solo homer in the fifth.
The FerryHawks showed fight in the sixth. With two outs and two aboard, Johnson launched his fourth home run of the season, a three-run blast that brought Staten Island within one at 8-7 and electrified the crowd.
The Blue Crabs, however, never relinquished control. They scratched across a run in the seventh and, after Staten Island closed the gap to 9-8, Ryan McCarthy delivered the knockout blow with a three-run homer in the ninth.
Johnson finished with four RBIs in a standout effort, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Southern Maryland’s power display.
The FerryHawks return home on September 3 to open a new series against the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars as they look to get back in the win column.
York Revolution 4, Charleston Dirty Birds 3
(August 24, 2025 – York, Pa.): Chris Vallimont struck out nine over six strong innings as the York Revolution knocked off the Charleston Dirty Birds, 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at WellSpan Park to complete their fifth consecutive series win. The Revs have won six of their last eight games overall.
The Revs led right away as Jeremy Arocho led off the home half of the first inning with a double off the Arch Nemesis. He quickly took off for third notching his 30th steal of the year while prompting a throwing error from catcher Joe DeLuca as the Revs helped themselves to an instant 1-0 lead.
Vallimont (7-4) was razor sharp early, working past a game-opening single to retire eight straight and 11 of his next 12 with six strikeouts on that stretch. He led 1-0 with two outs in the fourth when Zach Daniels kept the inning alive with a single and DeLuca cracked a two-run homer to right, propelling the Dirty Birds on top 2-1.
The Revs answered right away as Caleb McNeely drilled a leadoff double off the Arch Nemesis, dashing a streak of nine consecutive batters retired by Charleston starter David Lebron (8-3). McNeely moved to third on William Simoneit’s fly out to the wall in center, and was awarded home when third baseman Alan Alonso went into the dugout after catching Shayne Fontana’s foul pop up as the game was tied, 2-2. Brandon Lewis put the Revs back in front, launching a towering solo homer to left as his 13th of the year lifted the Revs ahead, 3-2.
Vallimont backed it up with a 1-2-3 fifth, but was tagged by Keon Barnum for a solo homer to right leading off the sixth as Charleston drew even at 3-3. Vallimont was unfazed, striking out the next two before a ground out to finish six strong innings.
The Revs again answered instantaneously, as Fontana slammed a tiebreaking home run to right center leading off the bottom of the sixth, extending his hitting streak to 15 consecutive games.
York’s bullpen was dominant over the final three innings to preserve the lead.
Nick Mikolajchak struck out his first two in the seventh before allowing his first hit in seven outings on a single by Demetrius Moorer. After Moorer stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, Mikolajchak retired James Nelson on a grounder to short to finish his 10th scoreless outing in 11 appearances with York.
Brendan Cellucci overcame a leadoff hit by pitch and steal by Alsander Womack that landed the tying run at second with no outs in the eighth. Cellucci struck out Barnum and cleanup man Chad Sedio before setting down Daniels on a grounder to short, notching his 10th straight scoreless outing to begin his Revs career and his ninth in-a-row without allowing a hit (9.1 innings).
Cam Robinson faced his first save opportunity since July 19, and after hitting DeLuca to start the inning, struck out the next two batters before retiring Moorer on a soft tapper back to the mound, finishing off the 4-3 victory with his league-leading 15th save.
Notes: The win is the 1,100th in the managerial career of Rick Forney. Vallimont struck out nine and walked none, throwing just 80 pitches (58 strikes) in six efficient innings. He has struck out at least eight in five consecutive starts, totaling 46 strikeouts to just nine walks in 31.0 innings over that stretch (13.35 strikeouts per nine innings). Overall for the season, Vallimont has struck out 96 compared to just 21 walks in 75.0 innings (11.5 strikeouts per nine innings). York pitchers struck out 15 while Revs batters struck out just four times in the game. York leads the league in strikeouts as a staff (958) and in fewest strikeouts as an offense (743). Revs pitchers struck out 42 batters in 28.0 innings in the series. York has notched each of its five consecutive series wins by taking the rubber match finale. The Revs tie a season-high at 19 games above .500 (62-43) for the first time in over a month; they also reached that mark on July 20 and July 23. York improves to 39-11 when scoring first, 48-1 when leading after six, 47-0 when leading after seven, and 50-0 when leading after eight. Arocho gives the Revs three players with 30 steals in the same season for the third time in franchise history (2014, 2024). Fontana’s 15-game hitting streak is the Revs’ longest of the year; he has also now scored in eight straight, totaling 15 runs. Ryan Higgins extended his hitting streak to a season-best eight games in-a-row. Lewis went 8-for-20 (.400) with two homers and six RBI on the homestand. Simoneit lost an eight-game hitting / RBI streak; he batted .438 (14-for-32) with 15 RBI on the streak. Cellucci has retired 30 of his last 33 batters with 20 of those coming on strikeouts. Bubba Alleyne went 2-for-4 with a hustle double and two steals, hitting safely in each of his final two at-bats; it was his final game as he departs to accept a job opportunity with Major League Baseball. The Revs have just one homestand remaining as 15 of their final 21 regular season games will be played on the road where they are a league-best 30-18.
Up Next: The Revs head to Long Island to open a six-game series Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. as RHP Alex Valverde (1-1, 3.76) faces southpaw Juan Hillman (8-5, 5.02) in the opener. 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 6:15 p.m.
Lexington Legends 11, High Point Rockers 2
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Lexington Legends claimed an 11-2 win over the High Point Rockers on Sunday afternoon at Truist Point behind the hitting of Curtis Terry who blasted two home runs including a grand slam and drove in five runs on the afternoon.
The Rockers are now 64-41 overall and 23-19 in the second half as Lexington improves to 53-51 and 22-19 in the second half. Gastonia continues to lead the South Division by one game over the Rockers at 24-18 in the second half.
The Rockers took a 1-0 lead in the second when Braxton Davidson led off with a double and came around to score on a double by Aidan Brewer.
Down 1-0 in the third, the Legends scored at least one run in each of the next six innings.
Lexington took a 4-1 lead in the third when Terry blasted a grand slam off High Point starter Fin Del Bonta-Smith (L, 0-3). Del Bonta-Smith went five innings and allowed eight hits and seven runs with two walks and six strikeouts.
Alex Dickerson hit a solo homer to right in the third to bring the Rockers to within 4-2.
Lexington added a run in the fourth for a 5-2 lead when Brian Fuentes doubled into the left field corner and scored on a single by Mason Dinesen.
The Legends’ lead grew to 7-2 in the top of the fifth as Andy Atwood and Terry started the frame with back-to-back solo homers.
Atwood drove in a run in the sixth with an RBI single, Dinesen and Gonzalez picked up RBIs in the seventh and Brady Whalen added an RBI in the eighth to complete Lexington’s scoring.
Lexington starter Christian Edwards (W, 1-1) went six innings and held the Rockers to six hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Simon Gregersen earned the save with three shutout innings, his first save of the year.
Dickerson, Luke Napleton and Nick Longhi each had a pair of hits for the Rockers. Terry led the Legends with five RBI while Atwood finished with three hits.
Following an off-day on Monday, the Rockers will resume their homestand with a three-game series with the Charleston Dirty Birds. First pitch on Tuesday, August. 26, is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.
NOTES: Ben Aklinski’s ninth inning home run on Saturday was the 100th of his Rockers career.