High Point 7, Gastonia 1
HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point Rockers scored seven runs in the first five innings and claimed their second straight win over Gastonia by a final of 7-1 on Thursday night at Truist Point. Jeremy Rhoades, making his first start since May 20, went five innings and scattered six hits while striking out six as he improved to 2-2 on the season.
The Rockers struck in the second inning when Trey Martin singled and scored on a Brian Parreira double.
Ben Aklinksi led-off the third frame for the Rockers by drawing a walk, then advancing to second on a balk by Gastonia starter Mike Wright, Jr. (L, 2-4). Quincy Latimore singled home Aklinski to give the Rockers a 2-0 advantage.
Gastonia scored its lone run in the fourth inning when Eric De La Rosa drove singled home Clint Coulter who had doubled and moved to third on an outfield error.
Gilberto Jimenez launched a three-run homer in the fourth as the Rockers took a 5-1 lead. And a two-run double off the bat of Evan Edwards in the fifth put High Point on top 5-1.
Kyle Halbohn pitched a scoreless sixth for the Rockers and Nate Espelin kept Gastonia from scoring in the seventh and eighth. Newcomer Nate Griep made his first appearance as a Rocker, retiring Gastonia in order in the ninth.
The Rockers are now 12-5 in the second half and in command of first place in the Atlantic League’s South Division. High Point is one game ahead of Charleston (11-6) and three games in front of Gastonia (9-8) this half.
High Point is set to play the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Friday, July 26th with a 7:05 p.m. start. That will launch a three-game weekend series at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Md.
Long Island 10, Staten Island 3
(Staten Island, N.Y., July 25, 2024) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks 10-3 on Thursday morning in the rubber game of a three-game series at Staten Island University Community Park.
The FerryHawks jumped out in front 1-0 in the first inning on Kolby Johnson’s leadoff home run to right centerfield off Ducks starting pitcher Mike Montgomery. Long Island took a 3-1 lead in the second on a Zach Racusin RBI double, a Nick Heath sacrifice fly, and a run-scoring base hit from JC Encarnacion versus Staten Island starter Anthony DeFabbia. Ryan McBroom’s leadoff four-bagger to right center in the third gave the visitors a 4-1 advantage, and the Flock added two more runs in the fourth on Heath’s mammoth two-run tater well over the right field wall.
The Ducks sent nine men to the plate in the fifth and broke the ballgame wide open scoring four more times for a 10-3 cushion, highlighted by a Scott Kelly RBI base knock, a run-scoring double from Kole Kaler and another Heath sacrifice fly. The FerryHawks scored twice in the eighth to get to within 10-3 by way of an Alejandro De Aza sacrifice fly and Jeison Guzman RBI single but would get no closer as Long Island was able to come away with their third consecutive series triumph.
Montgomery (4-4) picked up the win after allowing just one run on four hits (one home run) across five innings pitched, walking and striking out three. DeFabbia (0-1) suffered the loss in his professional debut, surrendering four runs on six hits in three innings pitched, walking and striking out a pair of batters.
Heath led the way at the plate as the outfielder tallied a pair of hits while driving in a season-high four runs on the afternoon while also extending his on-base streak to 18 consecutive games overall in the process.
Long Island returns home on Friday night to begin a three-game series against the Lancaster Stormers. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m. The first ever Chicken Nugget Eating Championship, in conjunction with Wendy’s and Major League Eating will take place at Fairfield Properties Ballpark at 5:35 p.m. Ballpark gates will open early for all fans at 5:15 p.m. The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive Justin Davies oversized baseball cards, also courtesy of Wendy’s as the Ducks commemorate their 2004 Championship 20th Anniversary Series. It’s also a Tap Room Friday, and as fans exit the ballpark, Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons for 20% off your entire check (dine-in) and 50% off your first online or mobile app order from Tap Room. Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen (4-6, 6.46) toes the rubber for the Ducks against Stormers lefty Brady Tedesco (0-2, 5.12).
York 4, Charleston 3
(July 25, 2024 – Lancaster, Pa.): Jacob Rhinesmith’s single in the top of the 12th inning provided the winning run as the York Revolution edged the Lancaster Stormers, 4-3 on Thursday night at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
It was another nailbiter as all three games in the series were one-run contests decided late with York taking two of the three.
York was slow out of the gates offensively as Lancaster starter Matt Swarmer struck out six of his first eight batters and retired all nine to start the game in a dominant first trip through the order.
Revs starter Jon Olsen wiggled out of trouble in each of the first two innings before settling in on his own stretch of nine straight hitters retired through the end of the fourth.
Lancaster broke the scoreless deadlock with two outs in the fifth as Isan Diaz connected on a two-run homer to right center, just the fourth long ball surrendered by Olsen all season.
York was held to just one hit through five innings but got things going with one out in the sixth as Rudy Martin Jr and Matt McDermott both singled to put runners at the corners. After a steal by McDermott, Donovan Casey got the Revs on the board with a sac fly to right for his league leading 88th RBI, bringing York within 2-1.
The Revs handed Swarmer a no-decision, tying the game an inning later. Rhinesmith punched a looping single to center with one out and drew an errant pickoff throw, racing to third base. Unable to tag on a heat seeking lineout to right by Michael Berglund, Rhinesmith eventually came home when Alfredo Reyes singled up the middle, knotting things at 2-2 and chasing the Lancaster starter after 6.2 innings.
Speed stole the show in the eighth as the Revs went in front in jaw-dropping fashion. Martin Jr worked a leadoff walk from reliever Steffon Moore and stole second base, tying a franchise record with his 55th steal of the year. After McDermott walked, Lancaster skipper Ross Peeples called on righty Kyle Johnson to face Casey who crushed a tape measure homer off the reliever two nights earlier. This time Johnson won the battle with a double play ball and could see his way out of the inning, but with two outs, Martin Jr took off from third on a ball in the dirt that was blocked slightly in front of the plate by catcher Chris Proctor. Martin Jr dove across with the go-ahead run ahead of the attempted tag to give York a 3-2 lead as the Revs dugout erupted in response to the spectacular hustle play.
Brett Schulze worked a perfect seventh and Alex Valverde enjoyed his fifth straight scoreless outing and seventh in the last eight with a goose egg in the eighth, helped by Casey who gunned down Diaz attempting to reach second on a ball that clanged off the right center fence and barely missed tying the game.
Matt Turner saw his nine-appearance scoreless streak end as Joseph Carpenter lofted a game-tying homer that just cleared the right center fence with one out in the ninth, forcing extras with a 3-3 score.
York’s offense went silent, going down in order in each frame from the ninth through the 11th while failing to advance their leadoff runner in either of the first two extra innings.
Lancaster came closer to winning it as Trace Loehr bunted Joe Stewart to third to begin the bottom of the 10th, but with the infield in, Aaron Holiday got a ground ball to third and Reyes caught Stewart in a rundown between third and home for the second out. Holiday struck out Diaz to finish the 10th with his 11th scoreless outing in 12 appearances.
Frankie Bartow stranded two in scoring position with a strong outing in the bottom of the 11th.
Cleanup man David Washington used his wheels to set up the winning run in the top of the 12th, stealing third base with one out. That forced Lancaster’s infield in, and Rhinesmith took advantage with a tiebreaking RBI single to left as the Revs finally broke through for a 4-3 lead.
Denny Bentley fired a perfect bottom of the 12th, striking out the final two to notch his 16th career save and first since 2022.
The Revs improve to 54-26 overall, one game behind Gastonia for the league’s best overall record. They have won 11 of 14 overall and shrink Lancaster’s second half division lead to two games. The Revs lead the War of the Roses series 13-2 with three games remaining, all in York in September, and finish the season series 7-2 at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
Notes: Martin Jr tied Wilson Valdez (2014) and Darian Sandford (2021) for a share of the Revs single-season steals record. The Revs stole four bases, moving past the 2000 Long Island Ducks for fifth most in a season by a team in Atlantic League history now with 224. Casey’s outfield assist was his league-leading 10th of the year as he becomes the ninth player in franchise history with double digit dimes in a season and first since Melky Mesa’s 12 in 2022. Olsen struck out seven and walked one in six innings and now leads the league with 95 strikeouts compared to just 14 walks for the year, also boasting the league’s top strikeout-to-walk ratio; he has struck out 25 and walked just three in 24.2 innings over his past four starts. With three games remaining in the season’s War of the Roses series, York is one win shy of matching their 2011 records against both Bridgeport and Camden (14-4) for most head-to-head wins in a season series of 18 games or fewer; their best marks in a series of any length were 16-4 records in 20-game season series vs Lancaster in 2010 and Southern Maryland in 2019. With the win in Thursday’s rubber match, York has won five straight series and 13 of the last 14, while improving to 20-4-2 in series on the year (12-2-0 on the road). York owns a league-best 27-12 road record overall while they are 27-14 at home. York improves to a league-best 6-1 in extra-inning games and a league-best 15-7 in one-run games. The 12-inning game was their longest since 9/4/19 at Sugar Land, their longest win since 7/17/16 vs New Britain (13 innings), and their longest road win since 8/26/15 at Lancaster (13 innings). The series featured eight ties and nine lead changes with each team’s biggest lead at just two runs, neither of which lasted an inning. York won despite striking out 18 times, their most ever in a win and one shy of matching a club single-game high of 19 which came in a 15-inning game at Somerset in 2016. Swarmer tied Lancaster’s all-time single-game record with 13 strikeouts, one shy of the most ever by an individual pitcher in a game against the Revs. Other Lancaster pitchers to strike out 13 are Bryan Evans and Eric Junge who did it against York in 2010, also in a game won by the Revs at Clipper Magazine Stadium. Swarmer’s double-digit strikeout game was his second consecutive, the second time in as many years with Lancaster he has accomplished that feat; the only other Lancaster pitcher with back-to-back games of 10 or more strikeouts was former Revs lefty Kelvin De La Cruz who York traded to Lancaster in 2016 for centerfielder Travis Witherspoon who helped the Revs to the 2017 Atlantic League championship. York pitchers whiffed 15, tied for their second most in a game this year and their most since May 11. York lefty Zach Neff (5-4) faces Hagerstown’s Edgar Rodriguez on Friday at 6:30 p.m. when the Revs make their first ever visit to Meritus Park in Hagerstown, MD. 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 6:10 p.m.
Charleston 4, Lexington 0
Hagerstown at Southern Maryland, postponed