High Point 9, Long Island 7 (11 innings)
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. – The High Point Rockers took a 9-7 decision in 11 innings from the Long Island Ducks on Wednesday night at Fairfield Properties Ballpark, keeping the Rockers’ hopes for an Atlantic League postseason berth alive.
Tied at 5-5 after nine innings, the Rockers took a 7-5 lead in the top of the 10th before Long Island answered with two runs of its own to force an 11th inning.
In the 11th, with Ben Aklinski starting the frame at second, Evan Edwards singled to right to move Aklinski to third. Connor Owings brought home Aklinski with a sac fly to right to give High Point an 8-7 advantage. Edwards then stole second and Long Island reliever Daniel Corcino walked Gilberto Jimenez to put two Rockers aboard. Aidan Brewer then grounded a ball up the middle that hit the second base bag and continued into center, scoring Edwards and moving Jimenez to third. A walk to Brian Parreira loaded the bases but D.J. Burt fouled out to right and Brewer was doubled off second as the Rockers took a 9-7 lead to the bottom of the 11th.
High Point sent lefty Jacob Edwards (S, 1) to the mound in the bottom of the 11th. He struck out Nick Heath, induced a ground out to short from Yonny Hernandez and got Leobaldo Cabrera to line out to third to end the game.
The win keeps the Rockers (33-25) alive in their race for an Atlantic League playoff berth. Gastonia (34-24) defeated Charleston 3-2 on Tuesday night, handing the Dirty Birds (36-22) their fourth straight loss. The Rockers are three games back of Charleston with five left to play.
Martin Figueroa staked the Rockers to a 1-0 lead when he hit a lead-off homer. Long Island tied the game at 1-1 in the third when Hernandez singled home Kole Kaler.
Edwards blasted a solo homer leading off the fourth to give the Rockers a 2-1 advantage. But Long Island catcher Aaron Antonini hit a solo homer to right to tie it up at 2-2.
The Ducks forged a 4-2 lead in the sixth when Joe DeLuca hit a two-run homer off Rockers’ starter Jeremy Rhoades.
The Rockers loaded the bases in the seventh when Brian Parreira walked, Figueroa singled to left and Ryan Grotjohn drew a walk. The Ducks replaced reliever Rolando Casihis with Peyton Williams. Williams gave up a sac fly to Ben Aklinski as Parreira scored. Williams then hit Edwards with a pitch to re-load the bases. Connor Owings then slapped a single up the middle, scoring Figueroa and Grotjohn as the Rockers took a 5-4 lead.
Garrett Schilling replaced Rhoades with two outs in the sixth and started the seventh by allowing a bloop single to Kole Kaler. Schilling was called for a balk, moving Kaler to second and he scored on a double to left by Nick Heath to tie the game at 5-5.
In the top of the eighth, the Rockers were able to put runners on the corners when D.J. Burt singled and Figueroa followed with a single, his third of the night. The Ducks turned again to the bullpen, bringing in Tyler Vail who was able to escape the frame by retiring Grotjohn on a fly out to center.
The Rockers sent Dakota Chalmers to the mound in the eighth and he pitched around a double by Taylor Kohlwey to keep the Ducks off the board and the game tied.
Aklinski drew a walk to start the ninth and stole second before Gilberto Jimenez lined a single to right but Yoelquis Cespedes’ throw to the plate was in time to prevent the Rockers from taking the lead.
Jameson McGrane (started the ninth on the mound for the Rockers and put the Ducks down in order.
Long Island went with Daniel Corcino in the top of the 10th with Jimenez placed on second base. Nieporte singled down the line in left, scoring Jimenez and then moving to second when the throw back to the infield got away from the Ducks. With Aidan Brewer pinch-running for Nieporte at second, Burt singled to right, giving the Rockers runners on first and third. Corcino then walked Figueroa to load the bases with one out. Grotjohn lined out to center but it was deep enough to score Brewer from third on the sac fly, giving High Point a 7-5 lead.
Will Carter (W, 1-1) came in to pitch for the Rockers in the 10th and allowed a single to Leobaldo Cabrera, scoring Hernandez from second. Carter then struck out Alan Marrero on a fouled third strike bunt attempt. Carter then hit Cespedes with a pitch to put runners on first and second. DeLuca then beat out an infield single to load the bases. Carter then walked Kohlway to force in Cabrera and tie the game at 7-7.
Rockers manager Jamie Keefe brought in Aklinski from his spot in centerfield to serve as a fifth infielder. Long Island’s Alexis Pantoja grounded to Burt at second who threw home to cut down the winning run at the plate. Carter then fanned Kole Kaler to leave the game tied and send it to the 11th.
The series resumes on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. The Rockers will send Yuhi Sako to the mound to face Long Island righty Nick Tropeano (4-1).
Lancaster 11, Hagerstown 0
The Lancaster Stormers, after a couple of low-scoring losses at York over the weekend, were back in form on Tuesday evening with an 11-0 win over the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars in the opener of a three-game series.
Lancaster dropped its magic number to three with the win and an extra-inning loss by Long Island at home against High Point, needing three more wins or Long Island losses to claim the title in the North Division in the second half.
Noah Bremer (10-7) notched the win with five shutout innings. The right-hander yielded three hits and two walks while striking out six. He retired the first two batters in each of his five innings before allowing a solitary baserunner in each frame.
Lancaster reached left-hander Mike Kickham (7-13) for a pair of runs in the first inning. Damon Dues reached on a single flared into left and stole second. Gaige Howard followed with a walk, and both runners moved ahead on a wild pitch on a third strike to Isan Diaz. Kickham also struck out Mason Martin, but Niko Hulsizer, after falling behind, 0-2, drilled a two-run double into the left field corner for the lead.
Hulsizer banged another double to left to lead off the fourth and scored in front of Chris Proctor’s two-run homer to right center with two outs as the Stormers built a 4-0 advantage.
The most daring run of the night came in the fifth when Gaige Howard scored all the way from second when Mason Martin smashed a grounder behind the first base bag. The ball was fielded cleanly by Nellie Rodriguez on a dive but needed to hustle to first to record the out on Martin. Howard never slowed down and came home.
Lancaster then put the game away in the sixth. Shortstop Ozzie Abreu failed to handle Damon Dues’ two-out grounder up the middle, allowing one to score. Howard tripled to right center, and Diaz doubled to the left center gap to build the score to 8-0. After Martin was walked by Jack Parisi, Hulsizer lofted a three-run homer onto the deck to cap the scoring.
Newcomers Christian Scafidi and Trevor Kuncl pitched a scoreless inning apiece. Both wiggled out of jams. Scafidi yielded consecutive singles to start the seventh, before the right-hander struck out Ozzie Abreu and coaxed a double play out of Dariel Gomez. Kuncl loaded the bases on two singles and a walk but fanned Rodriguez and got Joe Campagna to ground into a force out to maintain the shutout.
Oscar De La Cruz (4-3) will make the start on Wednesday against right-hander Domenic Picone (0-2). Fans may tune into the game on FloBaseball, starting at 6:40.
NOTES: Bremer increased his season strikeout total to 132, the fourth highest single season total in franchise history…Hulsizer finished the night with five RBI and eight total bases…He has three homers in four games…The Stormers have taken 17 of 19 from Hagerstown this season…They beat Kickham for the fifth time.
Staten Island 13, York 6
The Staten Island FerryHawks earned a series opener win as they defeated the Revolution in York 13-6 on Tuesday.
Luis Castro mashed his team-leading 23rd home run of the season in the top of the first inning, which helped drive in Kolby Johnson and Alejandro De Aza. This three run first inning gave the FerryHawks an early lead, and one they never lost. Backed by a combined 17 hits and 13 runs, Staten Island won big time over their fellow North Division opponent.
Castro collected another RBI on a sacrifice fly later in the game, and he would finish the night 2-4 with 4 RBI and one run scored. Apart from Castro, there was an abundance of production from the top of the order for manager Mark Minicozzi’s FerryHawks. Johnson, De Aza and Pablo Sandoval all had notable nights as well at WellSpan Park. Johnson went 4-5 with 3 RBI and 3 R, while De Aza totaled 3 hits and 3 runs in 5 at bats, and Sandoval ended the evening 3-5 with 3 RBI and a run also. David Melfi was responsible for the remaining RBI, and Calvin Estrada went 2-4 with 2 runs from the seventh spot in the order
On the pitching side, righty Taylor Lepard got the ball to start the game for Staten Island. Lepard was able to pitch through 6 completed innings while striking out 8 batters and allowing 7 hits. 5 of the 6 York runs were charged to Lepard, but that didn’t stop the Toronto native from picking up the win. Lepard has now won each of his last two starts, with the last one also being against York on September 4th. He threw a gem in that one, tossing a complete game (7 innings, as it was game one of a doubleheader), and allowed just one run.
Brennen Oxford, Josh James, and Robbie Baker combined for the last three innings from the mound. The trio surrendered just four hits and one run, while tallying 6 strikeouts. With Lepard, the pitching staff totaled 14 strikeouts in the ballgame.
The season is winding down, and the FerryHawks will play two more in York before a three game series in Lancaster to end the 2024 campaign. Don’t miss a pitch of the action! Watch the final few games live with a FloSports subscription!
Gastonia 3, Charleston 2
Gastonia’s Kevin Watson, Jr. hit a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the eighth to send Charleston to its fifth straight defeat. The Dirty Birds hold a two-game lead over Gastonia in the Atlantic League’s South Division and are three games ahead of High Point. Lefty Nick Horvath (W, 10-4) earned the win by pitching a shutout eighth inning for Gastonia.
Charleston led 1-0 in the second on a sac fly from Rusber Estrada.
Gastonia scored twice in the third on a double by Eric De La Rosa, an RBI single from Watson, Jr. and an RBI single from Jacob Robson.
The Dirty Birds tied the game in the fourth when Keon Barnum knocked a ground rule double and scored when Angelo Castellano’s single to center resulted in an error.
The game remained scoreless until Watson, Jr.’s homer in the eighth. Seth Nightingale (L, 1-2) pitched the seventh and eighth innings in relief of Cristofer Ogando who fanned nine in six innings of work.
Lexington 4, Southern Maryland 3