Lancaster Stortmers 9, Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 8
A perfect road trip that began at 10:30 AM on one Friday morning ended at 12:31 AM the next.
The Stormers used three homers and a five-walk inning to rally from a pair of deficits and bump off the host Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, 9-8, in a game that finally got underway at 9:00 PM following a long rain delay and took crazy turns to a hectic finish.
It was Lancaster’s eighth win in a row and enabled the Stormers to start a six-game homestand with a three-game lead in the North Division race.
Southern Maryland jumped ahead, 4-0, thru the first four innings on a two-run double by Sam Dexter in the second and an RBI triple by Ryan McCarthy followed by an RBI single from Jackson Loftin in the fourth.
The home runs brought Lancaster back. Nick Ward drove a ball onto the left field deck to lead off the fifth, and Mason Martin followed with a titanic blast over the wall in right to cut the lead to 4-2. Kevin Watson, Jr. blasted a three-run shot to right in the seventh, staking Lancaster to its first lead.
At that point, approaching midnight, the game entered bizarro world. Southern Maryland loaded the bases off Kyle Johnson with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Phil Diehl (2-4) entered the action and got an apparent double play out of Pearce Howard, but catcher’s interference was called, tying the game. Giovanni Digiacomo followed with a sacrifice fly to center, putting the Blue Crabs back ahead, 6-5.
However, Evan Alexander drew a walk to lead off the eighth and was bunted ahead by Joe Campagna. Yeison Coca’s dribbler up the third base line was thrown away by McCarthy to allow the tying run to score. A balk, four walks and two wild pitches from Brandon McCabe (3-2) and Dalton Ross later, and the Stormers led, 9-6.
Southern Maryland refused to cry “uncle.” Two-out doubles by Alejandro de Aza and Brett Barrera in the eighth brought the Blue Crabs to within two. Scott Engler came on for the ninth. After one strikeout, Pearce Howard tripled down the right field line. Engler picked up a second strikeout before Dexter kept the game going with his third double of the night.
Finally, after a long full-count battle, McCarthy took a called third strike on the inside corner, putting an end to an incredibly long day and incredible productive week.
The Stormers will send Tim Brennan (2-2) to the hill on Friday evening against Staten Island’s Ofelky Peralta (0-3). Fans may tune into the game on FloBaseball, starting at 6:40.
NOTES: The Stormers finished the season series with Southern Maryland, winning, 5-4…Martin retook the league lead with his 28th homer, which also ties him with Tommy Everidge (2011) and Blake Gailen (2018) for the third highest single season total in team history…He is six shy of Caleb Gindl’s record…Engler’s save was his third of the trip…The Stormers recorded a save in each of the last five games.
Hagerstown Flying Boxcars 4, Staten Island FerryHawks 0
The Flying Boxcars put together a complete performance Thursday night, blanking the Staten Island FerryHawks 4–0 at Meritus Park.
Starter Jonh Henriquez led the way, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings while scattering four hits and striking out two. Three relievers, Andrew Simone, Carlos Reyes, and Rafael Kelly kept the shutout intact, allowing just one hit the rest of the way.
Hagerstown’s offense struck first in the third, when Cary Arbolida plated the game’s opening run and Gary Mattis followed with an RBI double of his own. The Boxcars added insurance in the 8th as Bryce Cannon doubled home two more runs, giving the bullpen extra breathing room. On the series, Bryce Cannon notched 2 home runs, 4 extra base hits, and 7 runs batted in.
Mattis led the way at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while Arbolida added two doubles and a run scored. Staten Island managed five hits but stranded eight runners.
With the win, Hagerstown locked down their second straight series win (Long Island, Staten Island). With four wins in their last six games, and 41 runs scored, the Boxcars will take their heavy hitting to Long Island on Friday evening.
York Revolution 6, Long Island Ducks 3
(August 14, 2025 – Central Islip, NY): Caleb McNeely clobbered a three-run homer and drove in four, Jalen Miller enjoyed a 4-for-4 night, and the York Revolution received a lights out showing from the back end of the bullpen in a 6-3 victory over the Long Island Ducks in Thursday evening’s rubber match at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.
McNeely opened the scoring, launching a three-run homer to left spotting the Revs a 3-0 lead just three batters into the game.
York starter Alex Valverde was excellent in his first starting assignment since last April, holding the Ducks scoreless through the first three innings and striking out the side in the third.
Long Island got on the board in the fourth, turning Ivan Castillo’s leadoff double into a run on a pair of fly balls including a sac fly from Aaron Antonini.
Valverde retired the side on just five pitches in the fifth inning and was brought back out for the sixth, but was replaced by lefty Ian Churchill after the first two batters reached. Churchill (3-5) recorded a fielder’s choice grounder before a walk to Antonini loaded the bases. Pinch hitter JC Encarnacion produced an RBI fielder’s choice to make it a one-run game, and Cody Thomas singled up the middle, driving in a run to tie the score at 3-3. With runners at second and third and two outs, third baseman Jeremy Arocho made a great charging play on a slow bouncer, throwing out Troy Viola to prevent a go-ahead run from scoring.
The Revs immediately went to work on wrestling the lead back. Chris Williams (2-for-4) sparked the rally with a one-out double into the left field corner and Miller reached on one of his three infield hits of the night. After Miller stole second, Arocho worked a walk to load the bases, and McNeely picked up the go-ahead RBI, his fourth of the night, on a fielder’s choice to second base. The Ducks failed to record an out on the play as shortstop Kole Kaler dropped the throw from Castillo, and Justin Connell followed with his own fielder’s choice grounder that drove in Miller. Castillo bobbled the transfer and Arocho alertly dashed home, diving across to beat the tag at the plate as the Revs took advantage of two errors in the inning to reclaim the lead, 6-3.
Cam Robinson made his first appearance in 12 days with a scoreless seventh, allowing just a single.
Josh Mollerus struck out the side in the eighth on just 10 pitches, and Brendan Cellucci recorded his third save, striking out the side in the ninth.
Notes: McNeely’s three-run homer is the Revs’ third three-run shot in the first inning over their last nine games, as Brandon Lewis hit one in Tuesday’s victory and also blasted one the week before. McNeely was 10-for-18 to begin his Revs career after the first inning homer. Miller stole two bases giving him 46 on the year, tied for the league lead; he draws even with Trey Martin (2023) for fifth most in a season in franchise history. Miller also scored twice tying him for the league lead with 90 runs scored, while moving into a tie for eighth most in a season in Revs history. Williams has hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 10-for-28 (.357) with six extra-base hits on that stretch. York grounded into five double plays, tying a single-game franchise record (June 22, 2017 vs Southern Maryland). Mollerus has retired 18 of 21 batters since joining the Revs and has 12 strikeouts in 6.1 innings. Cellucci has retired 21 of 24 and has 13 strikeouts in seven innings. The Revs have won five consecutive series at Long Island dating to July, 2023. They have also won six of their last seven series in Central Islip and are 11-4 in their last 15 games at Long Island and 14-6 in their last 20 meetings in New York.
Up Next: The road trip continues to Southern Maryland on Friday at 6:35 p.m. as RHP Kevin Miranda (2-1, 2.46) starts 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 6, Gastonia Ghost Peppers 2
Lexington, KY- The Lexington Legends took game three of their six-game series against the Gastonia Ghost Peppers with a 6-2 score. The defense for both teams completely took over in the early innings, and both teams were able to score in the fourth, with the Legends’ first run coming in off an RBI single from Brian Fuentes. Things went quiet for a bit until the Ghost Peppers were able to plate one in the seventh to break the tie. However, Isaias Quiroz, EJ Cumbo, and Pedro Gonzalez would all hit home runs in the bottom of the seventh to put Lexington in the driver’s seat.
The Legends looked to regroup after falling the night prior. That win meant the Legends fell to a game and a half back of the first-place Ghost Peppers as both teams race towards the playoffs. Lexington gave the start to a freshly activated Nic Laio, who was looking to get back at Gastonia after his last start did not go as planned. Matt Hartman was the starter for the Ghost Peppers; he performed well in his last start against the Legends, as they were unable to get a run off him.
Nate Scantlin would hit a lead-off single to get things started, but the Lexington infield was able to cleanly turn a double play before the Ghost Peppers could get started. Gastonia would also turn a double play in the first as Lexington’s offense was unable to plate anything. Laio would tally his first strikeout in the second inning as he continued to hold the Ghost Peppers offense. Lexington would load the bases in the third, starting with Xane Washington, who found the Legends’ first hit of the game with a one-out double. However, the Legends’ offense was unable to drive any runs in.
Gastonia got the scoring started in the top of the fourth when Carter Aldrete laid down an RBI single to centerfield that brought in the first run of the game. However, Andy Atwood would lay down a one-out double to put runners in scoring positions; Brian Fuentes followed this up by laying down an RBI single to tie the game up at one a piece. Gastonia would lay down two singles in the fifth, but Laio was able to tally two strikeouts to make it out of the inning unscathed. EJ Cumbo would lay down a lead-off single in the sixth, but he was left stranded as the game stayed tied.
Gastonia pulled back ahead in the seventh when Nate Scantlin laid down an RBI double that brought the go-ahead run in. However, the Legends’ offense would surge to life in the seventh, sparked by Isaias Quiroz’s lead-off solo shot that tied the game. EJ Cumbo would then follow this up with a three-run moonshot that took the lead, and the inning was capped off by a solo homer from Pedro Gonzalez. John Armstrong took over the mound in the eighth, and despite walking two Gastonia batters, he was still able to escape unscathed. Jonathan Haab came into the game to close things out in the ninth as he successfully secured the win.
The Legends win 6-2 as they take the lead in their six-game series against Gastonia, as they cross the 50-win mark. This win puts Lexington half a game back from the first-place Ghost Peppers. The win is given to Carson Lambert, whose record improves to 3-1 on the season, and the loss is handed to Kent Hasler, whose record goes to 1-3 on the year. The Legends and Ghost Peppers will return to Legends Field for Faith and Family Night, with first pitch slated for 7 PM EST.
High Point Rockers 5, Charleston Dirty Birds 4
CHARLESTON, W. Va — The High Point Rockers held off a late-inning surge from the Charleston Dirty Birds to secure a 5-4 victory on Thursday night at GoMart Ballpark.
High Point improves to 59-37 overall and 18-15 in the second half of the season. They now trail division-leading Gastonia by just two games thanks to a Lexington win over the Ghost Peppers tonight.
The Rockers got on the board first for a third consecutive game in the top of the third inning after a leadoff walk by Braxton Davidson and Ben Aklinski was hit by a pitch. That set up Luke Napleton to drive home the game’s opening run on an RBI single off Dirty Birds starter Jamison Hill (L, 2-12) to make it 1-0.
Charleston responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth off Jonah Scolaro (W, 7-4) after consecutive doubles from Chad Sedio and Zach Daniels knotted the score 1-1.
Aklinski drew a walk to open the fifth inning and advanced to second on a stolen base before Evan Edwards smacked a grounder through the right side of the infield to put the Rockers ahead 2-1. The very next batter was Napleton, who ambushed the first pitch and sent a skyscraping home run over the left field fence to lift High Point to a 4-1 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Chad Sedio hit a solo homer to cut the High Point lead to 4-2. Scolaro would then strand Daniels in scoring position to cap off his fourth straight outing of six frames allowing two runs or fewer, and aligning himself for a winning decision.
High Point tacked on a run in the seventh as a bases loaded wild pitch scored Evan Edwards from third to make the score 5-2. That run proved to loom large as Joe DeLuca led off the bottom of the inning with a solo homer off Zach Vennaro to make it a 5-3 game. A walk to Demetrius Moorer followed by a throwing error from Napleton pushed him to third base, and Joseph Rosa sliced a base hit to center to make it a one-run contest. That forced Jamie Keefe to bring on Cam Cotter to finish the frame and keep High Point ahead 5-4.
In the top of the eighth, a borderline strike call to Ben Aklinski prompted the eventual ejection of both Frank Viola and Jamie Keefe, leaving the High Point dugout without a member of the coaching staff for the rest of the contest.
In the ninth, Jameson McGrane (S, 12) came on and retired the side in order, securing the victory for High Point.
Game four of the series is set for 6:35 on Friday at GoMart Ballpark. The Rockers will send LHP Ben Wereski (0-2, 4.26) to the mound against RHP Eddy Demurias (3-4, 4.87) for Charleston. Rocker fans can catch all the action on FLOBASEBALL.TV and on the MixLR app.