Charleston 8, Long Island 5
(Central Islip, N.Y., July 3, 2024) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Charleston Dirty Birds 8-5 on Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game series before a past-capacity crowd of 6,834 at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.Jackie Bradley Jr.’s solo home run to center field off Dirty Birds starter Kevin Smith and Aaron Antonini’s RBI single to right field gave the Ducks a 2-0 first inning lead. Bradley Jr. added an RBI single through the right side in the second to make it a 3-0 game.
Chance Sisco cranked a solo homer to right-center, and Zach Racusin added an RBI fielder’s choice in the third to run the Ducks lead to five. Charleston got on the scoreboard in the fourth on Keon Barnum’s RBI single to left field off Ducks starter Wei-Yin Chen. Phillip Ervin’s RBI double and Delino Deshields’ RBI single in the seventh closed the gap to 5-3.
The Dirty Birds then struck for four runs in the eighth to take a 7-5 lead. Barnum’s solo homer to right, Ervin’s RBI double to left and Deshields’ RBI single to right highlighted the inning. An RBI double in the ninth by Willy Garcia rounded out the scoring.
Neither starter factored into the decision. Chen tossed six innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out six. Smith also pitched six innings, conceding five runs on nine hits with three strikeouts. Gerald Ogando (1-1) picked up the win with a scoreless seventh inning, striking out two. Wladimir Pinto (1-1) took the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on three hits in one-third of an inning. Mason Fox earned his second save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Bradley Jr. led the Ducks offensively with three hits, two RBIs and a run. Antonini added two hits and an RBI, while Jaylyn Williams recorded two hits and a run.
The Ducks and Dirty Birds wrap up their three-game set on Thursday night. 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). Following the game, all fans in attendance will be treated to a Fireworks Spectacular, presented by Catholic Health. It’s also a Tex’s Chicken and Burgers Thursday, and Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons for a special offer from Tex’s as fans exit the ballpark. It’s a Thirsty Thursday as well, and fans can enjoy a special buy one, get one free offer on Fountain Hard Seltzer during the game. Right-hander Stephen Woods Jr. (3-3, 5.88) toes the rubber for the Ducks against Dirty Birds southpaw Mack Lemieux (1-3, 5.10).
Gastonia 5, High Point 3
HIGH POINT, N.C. – Gastonia banged out six extra base hits and defeated the High Point Rockers 5-3 Wednesday night at Truist Point in front of a crowd of 2,052.
The GBC had 11 hits on the night including five doubles and a triple while the Rockers scratched out six hits with a double and a triple.
Scoreless through three innings, Gastonia tallied three runs in the fourth inning off High Point starter Cam Bedrosian (L, 3-1). Justin Wylie struck first with a leadoff single and Clint Coulter followed with an RBI double to score the first run. Alan Alonso laced an RBI single to score Coulter for the second run. The third run came after Eric De La Rosa scored on a fielder’s choice grounder to first from Alex Johnson.
High Point’s first run also came in the fourth inning. Ben Aklinski led off the inning with a double and was singled home by Connor Owings to make it a 3-1 game.
Gastonia struck again in the seventh inning after Kevin Watson, Jr. smacked a leadoff triple. A sac fly from Josh Stowers scored Watson. Marc Flores and Justin Wylie hit back-to-back doubles to give GBC a 5-1 lead.
Connor Owings led off the seventh inning with a triple for the Rockers and scored on Brian Parreira’s sacrifice fly to make the score 5-2.
High Point rallied for a run in the eighth when DJ Burt drew a leadoff walk and stole second before scoring on an RBI single from Ryan Grotjohn. The Rockers would go on to load the bases but could not push another run across and went to the ninth trailing 5-3.
Gastonia reliever Gabe Klobosits put the Rockers down in order in the ninth to earn his fourth save of the year.
Gastonia starter Ljay Newsome (W, 5-1) went six innings and limited the Rockers to four hits while striking out six.
Game three of the series between the Rockers and Gastonia is set for a 6:35 p.m. start on Thursday. Ballpark gates will open at 5:30 p.m. and there will be fireworks following the game.
Staten Island 5, Hagerstown 0
The FerryHawks DEFEATED the Flying Boxcars by a score of 5-0 on Wednesday at Staten Island University Hospital Community Park!
The FerryHawks got on the board first with a 2-RBI double from Luis Castro. Later that inning, Kolby Johnson hit DEEP shot to center for a 2-run homer which extended the lead to 4-0.
Both teams were unable to manufacture much offense until Kyle Dernedde extended the lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the 6th to make it 5-0, the final score in this one.
Nate Roe, the winning pitcher, started the game with a dominant 4 innings striking out 4 batters and giving up 0 runs. William Kirwan came into the game in the 5th and pitched 4 innings, giving up only 1 hit, and 0 walks as he retired the first 10 batters he faced. Robbie Baker came into the game in the 9th and closed the game out to secure the shutout win!
Reigning ALPB pitcher of the month Aaron Leasher will be toeing the rubber next for the FerryHawks as they hunt for the series sweep on 4th of July!
York 11, Lancaster 2
(July 3, 2024 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution are once again War of the Roses champions, using another offensive onslaught to knock off the rival Lancaster Stormers, 11-2 on Wednesday night at WellSpan Park.
York started the scoring against Oscar De La Cruz in the first when Rudy Martin Jr scampered home on a passed ball with two outs in the inning.
It took all of two pitches for the Stormers to tie the game in the second as Mason Martin launched a solo home run to right off of Zach Neff.
The game remained knotted at 1-1 until the fifth, with both Neff and De La Cruz navigating through jams.
York finally got to De La Cruz in the bottom of the fifth, starting with Matt McDermott driving a one out double to the base of the wall in right center. After Martin Jr walked, Donovan Casey plated a pair by ripping a single through a drawn in infield and into left. Colton Welker drove in Casey on a sacrifice fly, putting York ahead 4-1.
Will Stewart relieved Neff (4-3) in the sixth but was greeted by Mason Martin, who went over the Arch Nemesis for his second solo home run of the night, cutting the lead to 4-2.
York got that run back in the sixth, chasing De La Cruz (0-2) in the process when Alexis Pantoja ripped an 0-2 pitch into right center field for a run scoring double to make it a 5-2 game.
Will Carter retired the side in order in the seventh with a pair of strikeouts, and York’s offense finally exploded in the bottom half to put the game away for good.
Welker started the scoring blasting a two-run homer to left center off of reliever Steffon Moore to pad the lead to 7-2. It was the first of six consecutive hits which also included an RBI single to right center from Kobe Kato, a two-run triple clobbered to deep center by Ciaran Devenney, and a Pantoja RBI bloop single as the lead ballooned to 11-2.
Aaron Holiday worked around a leadoff walk to pitch a scoreless eighth and Tom Sutera logged a scoreless ninth to close down the 11-2 win, clinching the Community Cup outright for the Revs for the second consecutive year.
York will look for the sweep on Thursday at 5 PM when Michael Horrell takes the hill against Lancaster’s Brady Tedesco on July4York presented by Traditions Bank. The night includes a Post-Game York Symphony Orchestra Concert, Post-Game Fireworks presented by Glatfelter Insurance Group, and it’s a Hunger Free Thursday presented by Members 1st Federal Credit Union. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
Notes: The Revs improve to 41-20, now six games ahead of the 2010 and 2023 clubs for best 61-game record in franchise history. York increases its North Division lead to a franchise record 11 games. The win is Rick Forney’s 999th in his managerial career. York improves to 21-10 at home, having won 10 of 11 and 16 of the last 18 at WellSpan Park. The Revs improve to 10-1 in the season’s War of the Roses series (5-0 at home), winning the series outright for the ninth time and in back-to-back seasons for the third time. The Revs have won four of the last five season series against the Stormers and have notched the earliest clinch in a season series, both by number of games and by earliest date. Having already clinched the winningest half in franchise history by winning percentage, the Revs are two wins shy of tying the club record for total wins in a half (43, set in a 70-game half in 2012). York scored double digits in runs for the 17th time this season and for the 16th time in the past 40 games. York is averaging 10 runs per game against Lancaster. Martin Jr stole two bases, becoming the league’s first to 40 steals this year and the sixth in Revs history to 40 steals in a season; by comparison, last year’s league leader was teammate Trey Martin with 46. Martin stole the 60th base of his Revs career on Wednesday night, becoming the sixth to reach that mark. Martin Jr tied a franchise record with four walks and reached base all five times. Casey added to his league lead in RBI (67), runs (61), and maintained his tie for the league lead in hits with McDermott (83). Welker leads the team with seven sac flies while the Revs lead the league with 30 on the season. Jacob Rhinesmith doubled in the seventh, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Devenney’s triple gives him 17 hits on the season, 13 of which have gone for extra bases. Holiday has worked five scoreless innings in five appearances to begin his Revs career.
Southern Maryland 3, Lexington 2