Gastonia 2, Southern Maryland 0

WALDORF, Md. - When Deck McGuire is on his game, things get really simple for the eight guys around him. However, It gets demonstrably harder for the opposition.

McGuire proved that Tuesday night, going eight very strong innings, scattering two hits while striking out five batters in the Gastonia Honey Hunters 2-0 road win over Southern Maryland.

McGuire was dominant. Efficiently, clinically dominant. In his 99 pitch gem, he threw 63 strikes, with a level of acuity that would draw the praise of the most discerning baseball aficionado.

Denson Hull(1-1) was a worthy opponent tonight, tossing six innings, allowing four hits and one earned run. The runs, scored in the fourth inning, would be enough to leave Hull a tough-luck loser.

The difference in this contest for Gastonia was the fourth inning.

Jack Reinheimer led off the fourth inning with a soft line drive to center, moving to third on a soft liner from Joseph Rosa.

Zach Jarrett would avoid a double play, beating the relay at first to pick up a RBI, scoring Reinheimer, to give Gastonia a 1-0 lead.

Jarrett stole second and third after the fielder´s choice to put himself in position to score on any Southern Maryland miscue.

That effort loomed large, as he was able to score on a misplayed ground ball off the bat of Rayder Ascanio to extend the lead to 2-0.

From there, McGuire(3-0) worked with a precision that is the envy of pitchers at any level.

Ronald Pena would come on to close out the contest, posting his fifth save of 2022.

With the win, Gastonia owns the best record in the Atlantic League at 14-2 and maintains their 1.5 game lead over High Point.

Tomorrow, John Anderson will be on the bump against Mitch Lambson in the second game of the series. Game time is slated for 6:35pm. The games will be carried on WGNC, am1450 and 101.1fm, as Voice of the Honey Hunters Brian Rushing will bring the call. You can also catch the action at www.gohoneyhunters.com, where a live audio stream will be offered.

Lancaster 6, Long Island 3

LANCASTER, Pa. - Home was once again sweet for the Lancaster Barnstormers.

Melvin Mercedes went 4-for-5 with a homer, and Andretty Cordero chimed in with a three-run triple as the ‘Stormers kept their home record perfect, beating the Long Island Ducks, 6-3, in the opener of a three-game series.

It was the fourth straight win for the club at home.

After falling behind, 2-0, over the first 2 ½ innings, the Barnstormers rallied in the third.  Jake Hoover led off the inning with a single into right center, and Mercedes followed with a perfect hit-and-run single into left.  LeDarious Clark got the first run on the board with a ground single through the left side.  One out later, Colton Shaver produced a nearly identical single to tie the game.  Mark Zagunis produced the second of his three singles, a pop fly that dropped into shallow center.  Cordero then found the gap in right center to clear the bases.

Mercedes drilled his first homer of the year onto the picnic deck off Scott Harkin (1-2) in the fourth to build a 6-0 lead.

Dominic DiSabatino (1-2) worked the first five innings for the Barnstormers.  The right-hander yielded five hits and two runs while walking one and striking out three. 

Tyler Suellentrop allowed a run in the sixth on a Joe DeCarlo two-out single to right.  Marc Rzepczynski whiffed Jake Zarello for the final out that inning.  Chase Johnson pitched a perfect seventh with some assistance from Hoover, who made a dazzling catch on Vladimir Frias’ shallow fly to left for the third out.  Josh Graham worked out of two-out danger in the eighth.  Scott Shuman fired a perfect ninth for his third save.

The Barnstormers entertain the Ducks again on Wednesday night.  Brent Teller (1-1) will make the start for Lancaster against fellow right-hander Hunter Caudelle (0-0).  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube Channel at 6:25.

NOTES:  The Barnstormers had 14 hits on the night and are now batting .381 at home on the year while swinging only at a .209 pace on the road…Mercedes started the night at .204 and finished at .254…Zagunis opened at .205 and finished at .262…Cordero went from .241 to .274…Lancaster’s starting pitchers have a composite ERA of 2.36 over the last nine games.

High Point 7, Charleston 2

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers overcame an early 2-0 deficit and scored seven unanswered runs as they opened a three-game series with Charleston with a 7-2 win at Truist Point on Tuesday night.

The Rockers welcomed back first baseman Logan Morrison and infielder Giovanny Alfonzo, each of whom had spent considerable time on the injured list. Morrison blasted a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Rockers a 3-2 lead that they would never relinquish. Alfonso had a walk and scored a run while playing flawless defense at third base including turning a rocket off the bat of Charleston’s Mile Williams into a routine 5-3 groundout.

Andrew Church, making his second start for the Rockers, gave up a pair of runs in the first on four hits but the Dirty Birds would not score again.

“After the first few hitters, Andrew settled in,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “We played very good defense behind him. It was good to get Logan back. That home run is just what he needed. And it was good to have Gio out there. I’m excited about what’s to come.”

Church allowed singles to each of the first three Charleston hitters with Connor Justus’ driving home Anfernee Seymour with the first run of the game. Juan Perez doubled home a run from his clean-up spot but the Rockers were able to escape after giving up just the two runs.

Morrison walked to lead-off the second and scored on a single by Chris Proctor. In the fourth, Quincy Latimore was hit by a pitch and Morrison followed with his homer to give High Point a 3-2 lead.

In the fifth, Ben Aklinski walked and took third on a single by Jerry Downs then scored on Latimore’s sacrifice fly to give High Point a 4-2 lead.

The Rockers salted the game away in the sixth when they loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a Proctor single. A wild pitch brought home one run and Michael Russell was hit by a pitch to force home a second run. Aklinski’s sac fly gave High Point a 7-2 lead.

Church improved to 2-0 with the win, going 5.1 innings and allowing seven hits while striking out four. He left in the sixth after allowing a pair of singles as Jonathon Crawford came out of the bullpen to extinguish the fire. Adam Choplick, John Hayes and Bryce Hensley each threw scoreless innings to close out the game.

Charleston’s Stephen Chamblee (0-1) started and went four innings, allowing five hits and three runs.

Justus finished the night with three hits for the Dirty Birds while Perez had two hits, both doubles.

Proctor finished with three hits for the Rockers as they improved to 13-4 on the season while Charleston fell to 9-8.

The Rockers and Dirty Birds will play the second game of their three-game series on Wednesday night at 6:35 at Truist Point. It will be Healthcare Appreciation Night with all Healthcare professionals receiving half-price tickets with a valid ID.

Staten Island 8, York 2

Kentucky 7, Lexington 2

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky and Lexington had their game suspended in the sixth inning with the Wild Health Genomes leading 7-2.

Kentucky’s Riley Mahan hit a three-run homer in the sixth and Jimmy Paredes hit a two-run homer in the third inning.

The game was suspended due to a player safety issue with the playing surface.