Lancaster 4, Hagerstown 3
Lancaster withstood a bizarre finish on Wednesday evening at Meritus Park to win its 15th consecutive game, 4-3, over the host Hagerstown Flying Boxcars.
The Stormers streak ties the 2000 Somerset Patriots for the longest string of successes in the 27-year history of the Atlantic League.
Until the bottom of the eighth inning, the Stormers led a well-pitched, well-defended game, 2-1. Lefty Phil Diehl (1-0) was summoned to hold the lead, but allowed a rolling single up the middle by Demetrius Moorer and a two-run homer to Jaylyn Williams to start the inning, and the Stormers found themselves three outs from the winning streak ending, one short of the league mark.
However, the Stormers turned it right back around in the top of the ninth. Gaige Howard greeted Rafael Kelly (0-1) with a single to left. Kelly fell behind Jordan Howard, 3-0, got to a full count, then the Lancaster second baseman cranked a 400+-foot home run over the boards in right as the Stormers would take the 4-3 edge.
Ross Peeples went to his closer, Kyle Johnson, who struck out pinch hitter Justin Williams to start the inning. On a 1-0 pitch, Ozzie Abreu popped up a bunt along the third base line. Johnson sprinted to grab the ball and collided with third baseman Trace Loehr. The right-hander took a few warmup throws, but his continuation in the game was deemed not possible, and the Stormers rushed lefty Justin Kelly in from the pen. Kelly was wild, walking the next two batters and hitting the third, giving Hagerstown the tying and winning runs in scoring position with only one out.
Enter Ted Stuka. The flame-throwing right-hander needed nine pitches to fan Jaylyn Williams and Dariel Gomez to send the Stormers to their share of league history.
Shawon Dunston, Jr. provided the early thrust for the Stormers, tripling twice. He scored on a Trace Loehr grounder in the first and drove in Kyle Kasser with his second three-bagger in the fifth inning.
Cito Culver homered off Max Green’s first pitch, but the lefty starter settled down, lasting 6 1/3 innings, allowing only five hits and one walk while striking out seven.
Carsie Walker (2-1) will try to pitch the Stormers to sole possession of the record on Thursday evening against right-hander Malik Binns (1-4). Fans may tune into FLoBaseball, beginning at 6:25.
NOTES: The win kept Lancaster within one game of division leading York…Joseph Carpenter had a pair of singles to extend his hitting streak to 18…Utility player Payton Robertson, who was acquired in a trade with Lexington, made his Lancaster debut…Howard’s homer was his first hit as a Stormer…He joined the club yesterday.
Charleston 6, Southern Maryland 3
(Charleston, WV – June 12, 2024) – The Dirty Birds defeated the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 6-3 in the matinee Wednesday game. The Dirty Birds came from behind again scoring four unanswered runs in the back half of the game.
The bats warmed up after being hitless through three innings. The Dirty Birds combined for nine hits and three of them were home runs. Keon Barnum hit his seventh home run and Gabriel Cancel hit home runs 15 and 16. The short stop leads the Atlantic League with 16 home runs.
The Dirty Birds pitching staff gave up three runs off eight hits while striking out ten batters. Joan Martinez struck out the side in order in the eighth inning.
The Dirty Birds host Southern Maryland Thursday for the series finale. Thursday is the final game of the nine-game homestand for Charleston.
York 10, Long Island 6
(Central Islip, N.Y., June 12, 2024) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the York Revolution 10-6 on Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.
York grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on David Washington’s RBI single to right field. Long Island answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame off Revolution starter Ethan Lindow on back-to-back solo home runs by Ivan Castillo and Ryan McBroom plus a sac fly off the bat of Tyler Dearden.
The Revolution countered with a three-run inning of their own in the third off Ducks starter Mike Montgomery to take a 4-3 lead. Donovan Casey’s RBI double and Trey Martin’s two-run double did the damage. It stayed that way until the sixth when the Ducks leapfrogged back in front 6-4 on Dearden’s two-run double to right and Manuel Geraldo’s single to center.
A five-run seventh inning allowed York to re-take the lead in the seventh at 9-6. Colton Welker’s RBI single and Alfredo Reyes’ three-run triple highlighted the inning. Casey added an RBI double in the eighth to round out the scoring.
Montgomery did not factor into the decision but lasted six innings, giving up five runs on five hits and three walks while striking out four. Lindow (3-3) picked up the win despite allowing six runs on six hits and two walks over six innings with one strikeout. Peyton Williams (0-1) took the loss after being charged with two runs on two hits in relief. Alex Valverde collected his first save of the season with three scoreless innings of relief, yielding a hit and two walks with two strikeouts.
Castillo led the Ducks offensively with two hits, an RBI and a run. Hector Gomez added two hits and a run, Dearden drove in three runs, and McBroom had a hit, an RBI, two runs and a walk.
The Ducks and Revolution 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). The first 1,200 fans in attendance will receive Duck Baseball Caps, courtesy of Petro Home Services. It’s a Tex’s Chicken and Burgers Thursday, and Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons with a special offer from Tex’s as fans exit the ballpark following the game. It’s also a Thirsty Thursday, and fans can enjoy a special buy one, get one half-price offer on NÜTRL Hard Seltzer during the game. The Duck Club will also be open for all fans to enjoy. A starter to be determined toes the rubber for the Ducks against Revolution southpaw Aaron Fletcher (3-2, 3.26).
Tickets for the game, and all Ducks games, are available by visiting the Fairfield Properties Ballpark box office, calling (631) 940-TIXX or CLICKING HERE. Those unable to make the gmae can follow all the action live on FloBaseball by CLICKING HERE.
High Point 4-4, Staten Island 3-2
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Shortstop Ryan Grotjohn went six-for-seven and Zander Wiel hit a tie-breaking home run to help the High Point Rockers sweep a doubleheader from Staten Island on Wednesday, winning 4-3 in the opener and 4-2 in the nightcap.
Along with his six hits, Grotjohn scored three runs and added an RBI.
Wiel slammed a solo homer in the top of the seventh inning of the opening game to lead the Rockers to a 4-3 win.
In the opener, the Rockers took a1-0 lead in the second when Grotjohn singled, stole second and scored on a single by D.J. Burt. The ‘Hawks tied the game in the bottom of the second with a solo homer from Abiatal Avelino.
Back-to-back doubles from Ben Aklinski and Colin Moran leading off the top of the third gave the Rockers a 2-1 lead. Staten Island forged ahead 3-2 in the fourth on a single by Joe Dunand and a two-run homer from Luis Castro.
Grotjohn led off the sixth with a double to center and scored on a single by Burt to knot the game at 3-3.
Jonah Scolaro went five innings for the Rockers , scattering five hits. David McKay (W, 3-0) pitched a scoreless sixth inning to earn the victory with Jameson McGrane earning his seventh save.
In the nightcap, the Rockers scored all four runs in the fourth inning. Singles by Clayton Mehlbauer and Burt put two men on before Martin Figueroa singled to score Mehlbauer with Burt caught trying to move from first to third. Grotjohn followed with a triple to right that scored Figueroa for a 2-0 lead. Aklinski’s sac fly to right delivered Grotjohn to the plate and a 3-0 advantage. Colin Moran then homered to dead center field, his sixth of the year, for a 4-0 High Point advantage.
A Ben Norman homer in the sixth pulled the FerryHawks to within three at 4-1. Norman singled home another run in the seventh to make it a 4-2 game.
Ryan Weiss (W, 3-4) tossed six strong innings for the Rockers, allowing just four hits while striking out eight. Garrett Schilling (S, 1) earned his first save of the year by pitching the seventh inning.
The Rockers are three games back of South Division-leading Gastonia. High Point is 27-16 and has won four straight games while Gastonia is 30-13 and has won eight straight games.
The third and final game of the series with the FerryHawks is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start at SIUH Community Park on Thursday.
Gastonia 11, Lexington 3