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Long Island 9, York 4

(Central Islip, N.Y., April 24, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the York Revolution 9-4 on Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

Both sides traded zeroes until the bottom of the fourth inning when Daniel Fields hit an opposite-field three-run home run off Revolution starter Jorge Martinez. The Revolution tied the game at three in the fifth inning on a run-scoring error and a two-run single by Troy Stokes Jr. 

Long Island took the lead back in the sixth when Dustin Woodcock scored from third on a throwing error by Carlos Rivero. However, a two-out solo homer to left by Stokes Jr. in the seventh tied the game once again at four.

The Ducks took the lead back for good in the seventh when Vladimir Frias raced home from third on a wild pitch. Four more runs in the eighth put the game out of reach. Deven Marrero’s sac fly to right, Joe DeCarlo’s RBI double, Rusney Castillo’s RBI single and a bases loaded walk to Sam Travis did the damage. 

Neither starter factored into the decision. Scott Harkin threw four scoreless innings for the Ducks, allowing just two hits while striking out four. Martinez lasted four innings, yielding three runs (two earned) on four hits with six strikeouts. Hunter Caudelle (1-0) picked up the win, allowing a run on two hits and a walk with three strikeouts in two innings of relief. Johsson Arias (0-1) took the loss, conceding the go-ahead run on two hits in one inning. Tyler Webb collected his first save of the season, striking out three and giving up three hits in one and one-third innings. 

Castillo and Michael Wielansky had two hits apiece. Fields finished with a homer, two walks, three RBIs and two runs.

The Ducks kick off a nine-game road trip on Tuesday night when they open a three-game series against the Charleston Dirty Birds. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Appalachian Power Park. Fans can follow all the action on the Long Island Ducks Broadcast Network. Live streaming HD video and audio will be available via BoxCast on LIDucks.com as well as on the Ducks official Facebook page and YouTube channel. Right-hander Akeel Morris gets the start for the Ducks against a Dirty Birds starter to be determined.

Gastonia 13, Lancaster 4

A series of mishaps led to the Gastonia Honey Hunters pulling away early, and the host club cruised to a 13-4 victory over the Lancaster Barnstormers Sunday afternoon at CaroMont Health Park in North Carolina.

It was Gastonia’s third straight win after the Barnstormers grabbed Thursday’s season opener.

Johnny Davis led off with a single into right against Brent Teller (0-1) and promptly stole second.  One out later, Joseph Rosa rapped a base hit into right for the first run.  Luis Roman walked with Rosa on the move.  Rosa, thinking he had been tagged out on his slide into second, began to leave the field.  Melvin Mercedes touched him, and, after a conference, Rosa was ruled out.

However, Reece Hampton walked to add a second runner.  Then, the Barnstormers simply could not reach anything the Honey Hunters put into play for the next four batters.  Jake Skole dumped an RBI single into shallow center in front of a diving Devon Torrence.  A desperation throw home by Mercedes allowed runners to advance to second and third.  Alex Holderbach followed with a slow grounder on the left side which ticked off the end of Andretty Cordero’s glove while the third baseman raced to his left.  The ball deflected past shortstop Trace Loehr as two runs scored.  Connor Owings dropped a base hit into left center, and Holderbach scored the fifth run as the ball jumped past Anderson Feliz.  To add the proverbial insult to the injury, Eric Jones dunked a bloop single barely fair down the right field line, and it was 6-0.

A triple by Jack Reinheimer and Roman’s Sac fly created the seventh Gastonia run.  The eighth and ninth tallies scored when Mark Zagunis lost Holderbach’s two-out fly ball to right in the sun.

Gastonia capped its scoring with back-to-back homers by Rosa and Roman with nobody out in the third.  The damage was done; Gastonia managed only an infield single for the remainder of the game.

Cordero was responsible for the entire Lancaster offense.  The third baseman belted a three-run homer to left center in the second, bounced a single off the left field screen in the seventh and capped the day with a solo shot to left center in the ninth.

Spencer Bivens (1-0) fired three shutout innings for the win.

The Barnstormers are off on Monday then open a three-game series against the High Point Rockers on Tuesday at 6:35 from Truist Point.  Cam Gann (0-0) will make the start for Lancaster against fellow right-hander Jheyson Manzueta (0-0).  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube Channel, starting at 6:30.

NOTES:  Cordero is 6-for-15 with the two homers and five RBI…Feliz singled in the eighth to become the only Barnstormer to have hit safely in all four games…The Barnstormers played with only nine available position players for the third straight game…Gastonia did not commit an error in the final 33 innings of the series. 

High Point 7, Kentucky 2

 (April 24, 2022) HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers limited the Kentucky Geomes to three hits on Sunday afternoon as High Point scored a 7-2 win in front of 1,996 fans at Truist Point. The win gives the Rockers a split in the four-game series with Kentucky.

High Point tallied three unearned runs in the first before Jerry Downs blasted a three-run homer in the second as the Rockers took a quick 6-0 lead. 

“We learned a few things this weekend,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “We know we need to swing the bats better. We need to get into more hitter’s counts. But we know that we can pitch and we know that we can play defense and with those things, that will keep us in a lot of games. The bats will come around and we’ll be fine.”

The Rockers scored three runs in the bottom of the first, all unearned against Kentucky starter Aaron Blair. With one out, Michael Russell’s ground ball to third was fielded cleanly by Luke Becker but his throw to first sailed over Carson McCurdy’s head. A walk to Downs put runners on first and second before Blair struck out Quincy Latimore for the second out. Zander Wiel then lined a double off the wall in right-center, scoring Russell and Downs. Ben Aklinski followed with a sharp single to left to plate Wiel and give the Rockers a 3-0 lead.

High Point added another three runs in the second. After Blair hit Johnny Field and Mike Gulino with pitches, Downs cleared the bases with a three-run shot to right-center and stake the Rockers to a 6-0 lead.

Kentucky got on the board in the fourth when Riley Mahan walked and scored from first on a double by Felix Pie.

The Genomes tallied a run in the eighth when High Point reliever Adam Choplick walked three and hit a batter with Cleuluis Rondon getting an RBI after receiving a free pass.

High Point’s final run came in the ninth when Gulino singled to left, moved to second on a wild pitch by Kentucky reliever Andrew Keefer, moved to third on an infield groundout by Jay Gonzalez then scored on another Keefer wild pitch.

Downs finished the game with three RBI while Wiel had two hits as did Ben Aklinski and Gulino.  Kentucky’s hits came off the bats of Pie, Chris Shaw and Becker.

Neil Uskali (1-0) earned the win with five innings of work in which he allowed two hits while walking two and fanning two. Four relievers limited the Genomes to one hit while striking out five.  Blair took the loss for the Genomes, allowing four hits and six runs in two innings of work.

The Rockers will have Monday off before starting a three-game series with the Lancaster Barnstormers on Tuesday, April 26, at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

Southern Maryland 5, Lexington 2

(Lexington, KY, April 24, 2022) The Blue Crabs powered past the Lexington Legends in game four of the series, homering three times to win 5-2.  Meanwhile, Blue Crabs’ pitching was lights out, allowing two hits the entire game.  

Jeff Thompson (L, 0-1), who started for Lexington, ran into trouble in the first inning.  Matt Hibbert led off the game with a walk.  The next batter, Rubi Silva, smashed an opposite-field homer to left-center, giving Southern Maryland a 2-0 lead.  The Blue Crabs kept the rally going.  Jared Walker lined a base hit into center field, before David Harris blasted a home run to left field, putting the Blue Crabs up 4-0 before Lexington ever came to the plate. 

Eddie Butler pitched a 1-2-3 first but ran into trouble in the second.  Jose Briceno reached on a throwing error by Alex Crosby.  The next batter, Tillman Pugh launched a home run to right-center field, cutting the Blue Crabs' lead to 4-2. 

In the third inning, the Blue Crabs added an insurance run.  Jared Walker led off the third inning by ripping a solo home run to right-center field, giving the Blue Crabs a 5-2 lead. 

Southern Maryland held that 5-2 lead the rest of the way.   Eddie Butler pitched a clean third inning before exiting the game. Dario Polanco (W, 1-0) pitched two innings, allowing no hits and striking out three.  Alex Merrithew and Nick Wells both pitched 1-2-3 innings for the Blue Crabs.   

Endrys Briceno pitched a clean eighth inning for Southern Maryland to set up a save situation for Mat Latos (SV, 1), with the Blue Crabs still leading 5-2.  Latos walked Tillman Pugh to lead off the inning.  Two batters later, with one out and Pugh on first base, Montrell Marshall grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game. 

Jared Walker and Tillman Pugh both homered in today’s game.  They are tied for the Atlantic League lead with three home runs in their first four games. 

With today’s win, the Blue Crabs move to 3-1 on the season and remain in first place in the North Division.  The Blue Crabs are back in action on Wednesday for their home opener against the Staten Island FerryHawks. 

Charleston 6, Staten Island 4

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Charleston exploded for five runs in the fifth inning and went on to defeat Staten Island 6-4 Sunday at Appalachian Power Park.

In the fifth, Anfernee Seymour delivered an RBI single while Connor Justus drove in two runs with a single. Yovan Gonzalez added a run-scoring single and the fifth run of the inning scored on a balk.

Staten Island rallied with three runs in the seventh to make it a 5-4 game as Angel Aguilar hit a three-run homer.

Charleston’s Scott Kelly singled home an insurance run in the eighth.

Charleston starter Dominic DeMasi earned the win with five innings of work in which he allowed six hits and struck out one. Walker Weickel earned the save.

The FerryHawks’ Williams Jerez fell to 0-2 with the loss. He allowed four hits and four runs in two-thirds of an inning of work.