Dylan Rock chasing baseball history
Charleston Dirty Birds 11, Lexington Legends 10
Lexington, KY – Dylan Rock’s solo home run in the 1st inning Thursday night at Legends Field not only extended his Atlantic League-record feat of hitting homers in eight consecutive games, it mirrors the Major League Baseball all-time mark of that same eight-game length held by three of baseball’s great hitters: Dale Long, Don Mattingly & Ken Griffey Jr.
The big league record dates back to 1956 when Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Long smashed homers in eight straight ballgames. Another left-handed hitting first baseman, Mattingly of the New York Yankees, tied the record in 1987. The last time an MLB player hit round-trippers in eight straight games occurred in 1993 when Griffey Jr. did it as a Seattle Mariners outfielder.
A former collegiate standout for Texas A&M and Toronto Blue Jays farmhand, Rock started his streak of long balls on June 18th against the Gastonia Ghost Peppers when he and teammate Brady Whalen launched back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning to seal the victory for the Legends. The right-handed hitter’s homer lit a fire under his team fueling Lexington to win six of its next eight games.
The streak sets a new benchmark in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an MLB Partner League. Previous to Rock’s tear, the Atlantic League record of home runs in consecutive games stood at six games achieved by Spire City’s Leobaldo Cabrera in 2023, until the 26-year-old Legends outfielder broke the record on June 24th.
Despite Rock’s historic hitting, the Legends fell to the Charleston (WV) Dirty Birds, 11-10, Thursday night in the finale of a three-game series and the homestand. The Legends travel to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs for a weekend series where Rock will attempt to extend his long ball streak to a professional baseball-record nine games.
Long Island Ducks 8, Staten Island FerryHawks 8
(Central Islip, N.Y., June 26, 2025) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks 10-8 on Thursday night in the final game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.
Staten Island took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a bases loaded hit by pitch of Shayne Fontana, an RBI groundout from Cristhian Rodriguez and an RBI single by Aaron Takacs off Ducks starter Mitchell Senger. Long Island responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on RBI singles by Troy Viola and JC Encarnacion off FerryHawks starter Shane Barringer to get within a run. River Town’s RBI single to right field in the second tied the game at three.
The Ducks took a 6-3 lead in the third on Roldani Baldwin’s sacrifice fly to center and a two-run single to left by Chris Roller. The FerryHawks closed to within a run in the fifth on a throwing error that scored Eddy Diaz and a sac fly to right by Brandon Martorano, but Kole Kaler’s sac fly to left in the bottom of fifth widened the gap to 7-5.
Another sac fly by Martorano in the seventh made it a one-run game once again, but the Ducks got the run back on Roller’s RBI triple to right-center in the bottom of the frame. Baldwin pushed Long Island’s advantage up to 10-6 in the eighth with a two-out, two-run home run to left field. Staten Island closed back to within two in the ninth on Rodriguez’s two-run single, but the tying runs were stranded on base.
Senger did not factor into the decision but pitched four innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on two hits and five walks with one strikeout. Tim Melville (3-0) earned the win, tossing three innings, allowing one unearned run on a hit and two walks while striking out three. Barringer (2-3) suffered the loss, surrendering six runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks in three innings with two strikeouts.
Johnson led the Ducks with three hits, two runs and two walks. Roller added two hits, three RBIs and a walk, while Town and Viola each had two hits, an RBI and a run.
The Ducks continue their homestand on Friday night when they open a three-game set with the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars. 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). The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive Ducks Tote Bags, courtesy of PaintCare. It’s also a Tap Room Friday, and Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons with a special offer from The Tap Room to fans as they exit the ballpark. Left-hander Juan Hillman (2-4, 6.47) gets the start for the Ducks against Flying Boxcars righty David Richardson (2-7, 6.17).
High Point Rockers 12, Gastonia Ghost Peppers 6
GASTONIA, N.C. – The High Point Rockers scored nine runs over the fourth and fifth innings and went on to post a 12-6 win over the Gastonia Ghost Peppers on Thursday night at CaroMont Health Park. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Rockers.
The Rockers dropped their magic number to clinch the Atlantic League’s South Division title to three as High Point returns home to open a three-game series on Friday against the Lancaster Stormers.
High Point owns a six-game lead over the second place Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. The Rockers can clinch the title with any combination of three High Point wins and/or Southern Maryland losses.
The game was tied 3-3 after three innings when the Rockers opened the flood gates.
The Rockers put a pair of runners on board to open the fourth when Aidan Brewer and Luis Gonzalez each singled. A third straight single by Max Viera plated Brewer and put Gonzalez at third. Drew Mendoza hit into a 6-4-3 double play but Gonzalez crossed the plate to put High Point up 5-3. After another single by Jordan Luplow, Alex Dickerson slammed a homer to right to extend the Rockers lead to 7-3.
Mendoza grounded out to short in the bottom of the fifth, bringing home Isaiah Mirabal to give the Rockers an 8-3 lead. After Gastonia reliever Jackson boss walked Luplow, Dickerson delivered his second homer of the night, a grand slam, to increase High Point’s lead to 12-3.
High Point starter Cooper Casad (W, 2-2) went six innings, allowed eight hits and five runs while walking one and striking out four. Gastonia starter Justus Sheffield (L, 5-2) allowed 11 hits and seven runs, six earned over his four innings of work.
High Point host the Lancaster Stormers in their only visit to High Point this season. The three-game series starts on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. Rockers fans can follow the action on FLOBASEBALL.tv and on the Mixlr app.
NOTES: Casad is in his fourth stint with the Rockers having pitched in 2021-22 and 2024-25 . . . The win was his 12th career victory as a Rocker putting him in fourth place in career wins . . . Dickerson’s grand slam was the eighth of the season for the Rockers, setting a club record for slams in a season . . . The 2019 and 2023 Rockers clubs each hit seven grand slams . . . Luis Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 13 straight games with a fourth inning single.
York Revolution 6, Lancaster Stormers 5
After a short weather delay, the Lancaster Stormers and York Revolution traded blows for nine innings on Thursday night. An entertaining game ended in serious disappointment for the Lancaster crowd, as the Stormers fell 6-5 in the end.
The passing storm system meant the air was rising upon the contest’s start. That’s a good condition if you like home runs, and the Revs evidently do. First baseman Frankie Tostado mashed his sixth dinger of the season to put York on top 1-0 in the first. An inning later, shortstop Jeremy Arocho and catcher Alexis Olmeda launched back-to-back bombs from the eighth and ninth spots in the Revs lineup. That pair of homers put the Stormers in a 4-0 hole through an inning and a half.
Lancaster shortstop Nick Lucky, however, didn’t let York get too far ahead of itself. The five-hole hitter clubbed a solo home run to put his squad on the board in the latter half of the second frame.
York got that run back with its fourth homer of the game by designated hitter William Simoneit in the top of the third. But when the inning turned over, the Lancaster bats turned up. Four hits in the bottom of the third plated three runs for the Stormers. The punch came in the form of a two-out rally. With a couple of men retired, third baseman Nick Ward drew a walk, and first baseman Mason Martin followed with a ground-rule double. With those two in scoring position, right fielder Joseph Carpenter stepped to the plate and shot a single towards the position he plays. Lucky then drove Carpenter home with a double of his own, making the score 5-4 Revs.
The offense died down significantly after the opening three innings. York center fielder Bubba Alleyne doubled home a tally in the fifth. Lancaster got that run back in the eighth when Lucky singled and made his way around before scoring on a wild pitch. Those flashes of offense made the count 6-5 York through eight frames, but this game was won (and very much lost) in the ninth.
The Stormers needed a run to tie it in the bottom of the ninth, and second baseman Slater Schield started the inning with a walk. Leadoff man Evan Alexander then singled, and was one base in the form of the winning run. Ward then came to the dish and bunted a pop-up down the third base line. Brandon Lewis dove to secure it, and there was one away. Martin, who reached in each of his first four at-bats, struck out swinging to follow Ward. Carpenter drew a two-out walk to load the bases, and it was all up to Nick Lucky. The shortstop fouled off the first pitch he saw and lifted the second into shallow left field for the game’s final out
It was a crushing one-run loss for Lancaster, and a thrilling win to clinch the series victory for York. Ross Peeples’ bunch now travels down to High Point. Friday night’s game between the Stormers and Rockets is set for 6:30. Lancaster sends right-hander Noah Bremer (4-1) to the bump, while lefty Pat Gardner (0-1) takes the hill for High Point. Catch the action on FloSports.
Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 4, Hagerstown Flying Boxcars 3