Staten Island 8, York 7
July 7, 2024 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution dropped their second straight on Sunday as the Staten Island FerryHawks seemed to have an answer at every turn, as York fell 8-7 in the rubber match at WellSpan Park, dropping their first series since early June, and first home series since mid-May.
Kolby Johnson led off the game with an infield single and eventually scored on a two-out single from Luis Castro, who continued to haunt York pitching after a four RBI night on Saturday.
The Revs answered back just two pitches into their half of the first inning when Kobe Kato homered off of the tents in right against starter Cam Hill, his second leadoff home run of the season tying the game at 1-1.
Staten Island ran themselves out of the inning in the top of the second when York got Jordan Howard caught up between first and second on a delayed steal and cut down Ben Norman at the plate.
Alexis Pantoja doubled home a run in the bottom of the second to put York up 2-1.
The FerryHawks manufactured two runs in the third inning against York starter Jon Olsen with an RBI groundout from Pablo Sandoval and a run on a two-out passed ball to jump ahead 3-2.
Staten Island rallied for three runs on five hits against Olsen (6-1) in the fourth, including three straight two-out hits. A two-run single by Nate Scantlin and an RBI knock by Castro did the damage, putting the FerryHawks up 6-2.
The Revs responded as the first two reached in the bottom half of the inning with Jacob Rhinesmith scoring on a single by Pantoja as York pulled within 6-3.
Denny Bentley worked around two leadoff baserunners to start the fifth for a scoreless frame in relief.
In the bottom half, Rudy Martin Jr started things with a single and stole second base for his league-leading 42nd swipe. Two batters later, he scored on a double from Colton Welker that landed in right field when Johnson lost the ball in the sun. Trey Martin worked a walk with two outs and Staten Island lifted Hill for Bryan Warzek. The first batter he faced was Alfredo Reyes who ripped a single to left field to plate a run, bringing York within 6-5.
Bentley was lifted for Nelvin Correa in the top of the sixth after walking Sandoval. Correa issued a walk of his own to Castro before Joe Dunand singled home an insurance run. Correa then got Norman to break his bat on a slow roller up the middle, but the ball deflected off of the second base bag. What would have been an inning ending double play turned into an RBI infield single and an 8-5 Staten Island lead. Correa got an inning ending double play one batter later.
York put two runners on with one out on a pair of walks in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Donovan Casey came within mere feet of tying the game with a blast. Instead, it was a run scoring double off the top of the Arch Nemesis. Welker brought the margin back within a run one batter later with a sacrifice fly, but the inning ended with the tying run at third and Staten Island in front 8-7.
It remained that way to the ninth as Staten Island sent Brian McKenna out to complete a six-out save. Casey drew a leadoff walk and stole second base but could not advance any further as the Revs flied out twice before McKenna notched a game-ending strikeout.
The Revs fall to 0-2 in the second half and will head to New York this week starting with a trip to Long Island on Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. York lefty Zach Neff faces Wei-Yin Chen 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.
Notes: The Revs suffer just their fourth series loss all year (15-4-2) and second at home (6-2-2). It is their first series loss since June 4-6 at Charleston; they had won eight straight series with a 20-5 record during that span prior to dropping the last two. It is their first home series loss since May 14-16 vs Long Island and their first set of back-to-back home losses since May 25-26 vs Staten Island; they had won 18 of their previous 20 at home. It is only the fifth time they’ve suffered consecutive losses all season (one three-game losing streak in May and just their fourth set of two consecutive losses). Olsen (6-1) suffered his first loss after becoming the first in Revs history to start a season 6-0. York turned a double play to end three consecutive innings from the sixth through the eighth. Kato led off for the third time all year; he has leadoff home runs in two of those three games. Martin Jr extended his hitting streak to 11 consecutive games. Casey extended his hit and RBI streaks to nine consecutive games. Welker has a sac fly in five of his last eight games; he now has 31 RBI in his last 17 starts. The Revs tallied three stolen bases and now have a league-leading 186 steals on the season, 55 more than the next closest team and now just two shy of matching a franchise single-season record of 188 set in 2014. Aaron Holiday fired a sixth consecutive scoreless inning to begin his Revs career in the seventh.
Roster Move: The Revs made a blockbuster trade on Sunday afternoon, sending reliever Will Carter to the High Point Rockers in exchange for power hitting 1B/OF Zander Wiel who is expected to join the Revs in advance of Tuesday’s game at Long Island. Wiel blasted a High Point record 32 home runs (2nd in ALPB) with 98 RBI (T-3rd) for the Rockers in 2022, and slugged another 29 long balls with 96 RBI, ranking 5th in the Atlantic League in both categories last season. He has 13 home runs this year and is the Rockers’ all-time franchise leader with 74 round trippers.
High Point 14, Lancaster 3
Before you could blink, Sunday night’s game was over.
Connor Owings slammed a three-run homer in the bottom of the first, and the High Point Rockers added six runs in the second en route to a 14-3 rout of the Lancaster Stormers in the series finale at Truist Point.
The game was delayed for an hour past the scheduled start time of 4:05.
Matt Swarmer (0-1) missed the strike zone with 10 of his first 11 pitches, walking two. He got the first out on an infield pop up by Ben Aklinski before Owings took him out of the yard to left center for his fourth homer in the six games of the season series.
Brian Parreira opened the second inning with a homer off the right field scoreboard. Swarmer got one out but was lifted five hits and an error later with Lancaster trailing, 8-0. Evan Edwards roped Carsie Walker’s first pitch to left for an RBI double and the 9-0 lead.
Isan Diaz put Lancaster on the board with an opposite field home run in the top of the fourth. Gaige Howard and Jack Conley had RBI singles for Lancaster later in the game.
The Stormers host Staten Island Tuesday evening at Clipper Magazine Stadium. Brady Tedesco (0-2) will make the start for Lancaster. Fans may tune into Blue Ridge 11 or FloBaseball, beginning at 6:40.
NOTES: Howard had his 20th multiple hit game…Diaz’ homer was his first since his return…Mason Martin extended his hitting streak to seven…He is14-for-25 in the streak…He was 1-for-3 with two walks in Sunday’s game and was robbed of a potential home run when Gilberto Jimenez made a leaping catch at the wall for the final out of the game.
Hagerstown 8, Long Island 4
(Hagerstown, Md., July 7, 2024) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars 8-4 on Sunday night in the finale of a three-game series at Meritus Park.
Long Island took a 1-0 advantage three batters into the ballgame against Hagerstown starting pitcher Yeudy Garcia thanks to a Frank Schwindel run-scoring base hit. The Flying Boxcars tied the game at one in the second versus Ducks starter Mike Montgomery by way of an Osmy Gregorio RBI single.
The Flock went back out in front 3-1 in the third on an RBI ground-rule double to right from Chance Sisco and a run-scoring single by Ivan Castillo. Hagerstown scored three times in the bottom of the frame for a 4-3 advantage on a run-scoring groundout by Luis Diaz and back-to-back RBI singles from Ozzie Abreu and Gregorio. The Flying Boxcars sent nine to the plate in the fifth and scored four runs for an 8-3 cushion on Gregorio’s RBI double, a bases loaded walk issued to Andrew Moritz and a two-run base hit from Cito Culver. Long Island cut the deficit to 8-4 in the eighth on a bases loaded free pass issued to Jackie Bradley Jr., but the comeback fell short as Aneudy Cotorreal shut the door for his second save of the season.
Garcia (1-0) notched the win after giving up three runs on six hits in five innings pitched, walking four and striking out five. Montgomery (2-3) was tagged with the loss, surrendering four runs (one earned) on eight hits across four innings of work, walking two and striking out three.
Bradley Jr. had two doubles, two runs scored, two walks and a stolen base, while Schwindel chipped in with a pair of hits as well along with drawing a walk.
Long Island returns home on Tuesday, July 9, to begin a three-game set with 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). As fans exit the ballpark following the game, Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons for a special offer from Francesco’s Trattoria East Islip. 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. Lefty Wei-Yin Chen (2-5, 6.59) gets the nod for the Ducks against Revolution southpaw Zach Neff (4-3, 6.31).
Gastonia 15, Lexington 5
Southern Maryland 18, Charleston 5