Lancaster 9, Hagerstown 8
The 27th out monster tried to creep out from under the bed and snatch another win from the Lancaster Stormers on Thursday evening.
Ryley Gilliam stepped in and ended the threat.
Gilliam struck out one time Lancaster utility player Chad Sedio to close out a three-run inning as the Stormers held on for a 9-8 win over the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars in the series finale at Meritus Park.
The win gave Lancaster their first series victory since opening weekend at Long Island.
The Stormers, thanks to three RBI apiece from Mason Martin and Yeison Coca, carried a 7-5 lead into the ninth inning. This time, the Stormers produced two much needed insurance runs, set up by a Nick Lucky double to left center. Brandon Wagner made it 8-5 on a strange sacrifice fly to center field, and a double steal between Lucky and LeDarious Clark brought the ninth run home.
Those runs looked to be another layer of security as Jackson Rees opened the ninth with his fourth straight strikeout. Then, things began to unravel. Gary Mattis stung a single up the middle, and Joe Campagna walked. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. Ossie Abreu picked up one with a single to center, and another scored when Errol Robinson chopped out to short.
Chris Kwitzer kept the game alive with a single to center to slice the lead to 9-8.
Ross Peeples, reluctant to go to a sixth pitcher for the night, marched Gilliam in, and the right-hander made quick work of Sedio to quell the nightmare and send Lancaster home with the win.
Coca and Danny Amaral collected three hits apiece for Lancaster while Martin homered and doubled. Mattis rapped out three hits for the host club while Campagna knocked in three runs, two on a homer.
Scott Engler (2-0) earned the win over Matt Reitz, who surrendered the Martin homer leading off the seventh.
Lancaster will entertain the Long Island Ducks to start a three-game series on Friday at Penn Medicine Park. Keylan Killgore (0-2) will start for Lancaster against Zach Plesac (2-1) in a rematch of last Saturday’s 1-0 Long Island win.
NOTES: Lancaster has played 10 one-run games already this season with a 3-7 record…Martin’s homer was his first since May 1 in York and his 32nd as a Stormer in 78 games…The game was the longest of the season for Lancaster at 3:43…Amaral and Lucky paced the Stormers with five hits apiece in the series.
High Point 18, Lexington 8
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The High Point Rockers unleased their most furious offensive attack of the season on Thursday night, posting an 18-8 win over Lexington at Legends Field.
The Rockers scored a season-high 18 runs, pounded out 17 hits and hit three home runs.
DH Nick Longhi and right fielder Ben Aklinski accounted for nine RBI. Longhi was five-for-six with five RBIs while Aklinski drove in four runs and scored four times. Jordan Luplow added a three-run homer.
The Rockers now own the best record in the Atlantic League at 13-5 and own a one-game lead in the South Division over 12-6 Lexington.
Lexington tallied a solo run in the second when Xane Washington’s sac fly scored Brian Fuentes who had led off the inning with a single.
The Rockers posted their highest scoring inning of the season with eight runs in the third. D.J. Burt contributed a sac fly, Aklinkski, Drew Mendoza and Longhi each had an RBI single, Aidan Brewer stole home and Luplow hit his first homer as a Rocker, a three-run shot, that put the Rockers up 8-1.
Lexington clawed back a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Fuentes and an RBI infield ground out by Ryan McCarthy.
Longhi added another RBI single in the fourth as High Point’s lead grew to 9-3. Washington’s homer in the bottom half made it a 9-4 game.
Gonzalez singled in the fifth and scored on a Fuentes double to put Lexington within four at 9-5.
The Rockers tallied their 10th run in the sixth when Luis Gonzalez singled, moved to second and then third on a pair wild pitches and scored on another Longhi single, his third RBI of the night.
High Point starter Kent Emanuel (W, 2-0) left after five innings, having allowed five runs on 10 hits, a walk and two strikeouts. Lexington’s Colton Eastman (L, 2-2) lasted 2.1 innings and yielded six runs on six hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts.
High Point’s Kyle Halbohn allowed a run in the sixth inning on a single by Brady Whalen and an RBI double from Curtis Terry to make it 10-6.
Zach Vennaro came on in the seventh for the Rockers and gave up a solo homer to Ryan McCarthy as the Legends pulled within three at 10-7.
The Rockers added three more runs in the eighth when Aklinski walked and scored on a double by Evan Edwards. After Dalton Ross replaced Christian Edwards on the mound for Lexington, Longhi greeted him with a two-run shot to left, lifting the Rockers to a 13-7 lead. A five-run outburst in the ninth, featuring an RBI double from Brewer, a sack fly from Luis Gonzalez and a three-run homer from Aklinski sealed the win.
Lexington’s final run came in the bottom of the ninth off a wild pitch from Rockers reliever Jonah Scolaro.
High Point returns home to face the Legends in a three-game series starting Friday night at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. A fireworks show will be held following the game.
Gastonia 5, Long Island 2
CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – Duane Underwood Jr.’s 3.2 scoreless relief innings proved to be pivotal in Gastonia’s 5-2 victory over Long Island on Thursday, as the Ghost Peppers managed to salvage the series and snap their four-game losing skid.
Underwood Jr. entered the day having only allowed one run in 10 innings this season, and he was nothing short of dominant against the Ducks. The right-hander allowed just two baserunners from when he entered in the fifth to when he completed the eighth inning. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five in a masterful outing, and has now allowed one run through 13.2 frames this year.
Most importantly, Underwood Jr. kept the Ducks at bay (pun fully intended) by keeping the game knotted at 2 heading into the seventh inning.
Eric De La Rosa knocked in the eventual game-winning run in the seventh, doubling down the left-field line and plating Narciso Crook, who scored from first base, to make it 3-2 Ghost Peppers. Gastonia then tacked on in the eighth with two sacrifice flies – one from Justin Wylie and the other from Patrick Mazeika – to extend the advantage to 5-2.
The situational hitting wasn’t only key late in the game for the Peppers; it was early on as well.
Gastonia struck first in the fourth inning by bringing in two runners from third base with less than two outs. Wylie doubled in Dalton Guthrie and Mazeika grounded out to second, which scored Wylie.
Wylie’s two RBIs on Thursday puts him atop the Atlantic League leaderboard with 22 runs driven in this season. The slugger entered the day leading the ALPB in slugging percentage (.766) and now leads the league in RBIs as well.
Wylie has reached base safely in all 18 games this season, and extended his hitting streak to 14 games in the final game of the series on Long Island.
Raynel Espinal got the start for Gastonia in the contest and the right-hander allowed a pair of runs in 4.1 innings, walking one and punching out five batters. His outing was just the seventh time a Ghost Peppers starter was able to complete four innings this season out of the club’s 18 games.
The Ghost Peppers improved to 6-12 on the season, and now head to Staten Island for a three-game set this weekend. First pitch on Friday is 7 p.m.
Staten Island 9, Charleston 2
The Staten Island Ferry Hawks bounced back with a dominant win against the Charleston Dirty Birds, powered by an explosive offense and a strong bullpen performance.
Charleston Key Performances
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- Travis Demeritte (RF): 3-for-4, 2 2B, .218 AVG.
- Joseph Rosa (SS): 2-for-4, 1 BB, .235 AVG
Pitching Breakdown
- Staten Island:
- Starter Morgan McSweeney allowed 2 runs over 4 innings, while the bullpen (Guzman, Meeker, Higgins, Andrews) pitched 5 scoreless innings, combining for 6 strikeouts and scattering 5 hits.
- Charleston:
- Starter Kyle McGowin managed 5 innings of 2-run ball, but the bullpen faltered, giving up 7 runs over the final four innings.
Key Moments
- Staten Island’s offense erupted in the 8th inning with 4 runs on 5 hits, highlighted by Fontana’s bases-clearing double.
- Charleston’s bats were stifled in the late innings, with Staten Island’s relievers combining for 6 strikeouts in the final 3 inning
Game Impact:
The Ferry Hawks avoided a series sweep with their most dominant performance of the series, improving to 1-2 in the series. Their offensive surge was led by the top of the lineup, with Dues and Fontana combining for 9 hits and 7 runs.
Southern Maryland 4, York 3
In a tightly contested matchup that extended into extra innings, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs walked off the York Revolution 4-3 in 10 innings. John Taylor came away with the bases loaded base hit in the bottom of the 10th to win it.
York took an early lead with a run in the 1st and added another in the 5th. Jalen Miller started off the game with a solo home run as it was quickly 1-0 York off of stater Andrew Thurman. Thurman ended up going five innings and allowing just two earned runs.
Alerick Soularie hit a bases loaded sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 2-0. York’s starter, Wes Scott, dominated early.
The Blue Crabs, hitless through six innings against York’s starter Scott (5 IP, 0 H, 9 K), broke through in the 7th, scoring two to tie the game. Alejandro De Aza broke up the no hit bid to begin the seventh, followed by a Brett Barrera pinch hit single, then Giovanni Digiacomo laced a single to bring home De Aza and move the tying run to third. Barrera scored on a sac fly from Dondrei Hubbard to tie the game in the seventh.
The bullpens held it down for both teams in the eighth and ninth, as York scored the Manfred Man in the top of the 10th to make it 3-2 on a Justin Connell RBI single off of Brandon McCabe.
In the bottom of the 10th, Digiacomo started on second, and was moved over by a Hubbard fly out to right. Cael Chatham worked a pinch hit walk with one out, as did Pearce Howard also pinch hitting against veteran closer Cam Robinson. Jackson Loftin hit a slow grounder to shortstop, but it couldn’t be handled by Jefferey Wahler as the tying run scored and everyone was safe on the E6.
With the bases loaded and a full count with one out, John Taylor singled into right field to win it for Southern Maryland. It caps off a 5-1 homestand for Southern Maryland, and they have won 11 of their last 13 games after starting the season 0-5.
Brendan McCabe (1-0) earned the win in relief, while York’s closer Cam Robinson (2-1) took the loss. Despite being outhit 9-4, the Blue Crabs found a way to capture the win.
Southern Maryland heads to Charleston to play a weekend series in West Virginia, as they open up 13 straight games on the road.