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High Point 2, Lexington 1

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Quincy Latimore hit a solo homer and a sacrifice fly to account for all of the High Point Rockers’ runs in a 2-1 win over the Lexington Legends on Friday night in front of 2,801 fans at Truist Point.

Latimore blasted a solo homer leading off the seventh inning to tie the game at 1-1. With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth, Latimore lifted a long fly to right field that was caught near the wall by Phillip Ervin. Johnny Field was able to score from third but Ervin’s throw, relayed to the plate by Tillman Pugh, was in time to cut down Ben Aklinski who was trying to score from second.

The late fireworks were a direct contrast to the first six innings which was a classic pitcher’s duel between High Point starter Craig Stem and Lexington’s J.J. Hoover. Neither pitched allowed a run through the first six innings with Hoover yielding just one hit and Stem being touched for only two safeties.

That changed when Isaias Tejeda led off the top of the seventh with a solo homer to left to put the Legends up 1-0. The inning ended on a 6-4-3 double play, the third twin-killing of the night for High Point.

Latimore matched Tejeda’s feat by leading off the bottom of the seventh with a solo shot to right-center. Hoover was able to get through the rest of the inning with no further damage.

Stem set down the Legends in order in the eighth, striking out Manuel Geraldo and Boog Powell.

Tied at 1-1, Field led off the bottom of the eighth and Aklinski followed, both singling through the hole at shortstop. After a walk to Jerry Downs, the Legends brought in reliever Jalen Miller from the pen. He struck out Zander Wiel for the first out before Latimore’s sac fly resulted in a Rockers run and the final two outs of the inning.

“I got the exact same pitch (on both hits) and took them both the opposite way,” said Latimore.

“There’s nothing better than seeing Quincy rounding the bases with that big smile of his,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “We’ve been together a long time and we needed that tonight.

“The energy in here tonight was unbelievable,” said Keefe. “After an 11-hour bus ride (back from Thursday night’s game at Long Island), we couldn’t ask for more than what the fans gave us tonight.

“Stemmer threw the ball great,” continued Keefe.  “The last 19 games have been really hard (3-16 record). But tonight we put the ball in play and kept the walks down and Stemmer did a great job. Lexington can really swing the bats and when (Stem) has his two-seam (fastball) moving, he can play with them.”

Stem (W, 1-2) struck out five over his eight innings of work, allowed just four hits and walked three. Hoover (L, 2-6) went seven innings and struck out eight with four walks while allowing five hits and both High Point runs. Ryan Dull (S, 2) pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the ninth with a pair of strikeouts to earn his second save of the year.

High Point is now 32-25 on the year while South Division-leading Gastonia was rained out at Southern Maryland on Friday and remains 38-17 with 11 games left in the first half.

High Point and Lexington will play the second game of their three-game series on Saturday t 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

Lancaster 11, Long Island 5 (11)

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - The Lancaster Barnstormers started and finished strong on Friday night, but it was the bullpen that saw the team through the extra-inning marathon.

 Lancaster’s relief staff allowed only three hits and one unearned run, and the Barnstormers finally rewarded the effort with a six-run eleventh inning as Lancaster prevailed over the host Long Island Ducks, 11-5, at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 The Barnstormers jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the top of the first as Melvin Mercedes tripled and scored on a bloop single to right by Andretty Cordero.  LeDarious Clark walked, and Colton Shaver sent a three-run homer over the boards in left.

 That lead evaporated over the next three innings.  Deibinson Romero singled home one run off starter Cameron Gann in the second.  Long Island made up the rest of the deficit in the third.  Austin Rei led off with a double down the right field line.  One out later, Vladimir Frias yanked a double into the right field corner.  Alejandro DeAza reached when his swinging third strike bounced away from Anthony Peroni, and Sam Travis made it 4-3 with a single to center.  Gann fanned Romero for the second out, but Rusney Castillo tied the score with a single to center, chasing the starter from the game.  Bret Clarke took over and, following a wild pitch, retired Joe DeCarlo on a liner to short.

 That started the relievers’ brilliant stretch, and, for a while, it appeared that Clarke would get the win thanks to Kelly Dugan’s one-out homer to center in the fifth.

 Things went haywire with one out in the seventh.  Clarke hit L.J. Mazzilli with his final pitch.  With Erik Cha on the mound, Mazzilli stole second, then daringly went to third on a ground out by Frias.  On the play, Cordero tried to make a throw back to third but fired the ball over Trace Loehr’s head, allowing the tying run to score.  Cha walked and hit the next two batters before Tyler Suellentrop came to the rescue and got the final out.

 With the offense stalled, the Barnstormers needed the bullpen to keep the success going.  Chase Johnson survived a pair of singles in the eighth.  West Tunnell erased a walk with a double play in the ninth.

 After the Barnstormers lost their “courtesy” runner on a pickoff in the top of the tenth, Cole Aker (1-1) took over and got three outs with pinch runner Johnni Turbo never moving from second base.

 The Barnstormers tore into Kai-Wei Lin (1-2) in the 11th.  Anthony Peroni tripled to left center to score Anderson Fleiz with the lead run.  Loehr singled Peroni home.  Shawon Dunston, Jr. followed with a perfect bunt single.  Mercedes and Dugan each delivered an RBI single into right.  Mercedes scored on a throwing error, and the inning was capped by Feliz’ RBI single to left.

 Aker slammed the door in the bottom of the inning.

Doubleheader baseball is on tap for Saturday.  Oscar De La Cruz (2-0) and Erik Manoah (1-1) will start for Lancaster against Akeel Morris (3-4) and Cody Breckman (1-1) for Long Island.  Fans may tune into the YouTube Channel at 5:00.

 NOTES:  Dunston stretched his on-base streak to 13 games…Dugan has eight homers and 22 RBI in June…Shaver homered for the third time in four games…Lancaster has won four straight against the Ducks…The Barnstormers used every available position player and all but one reliever in the win…The game took a season-long 4:22. 

York 6, Staten Island 5

(June 24, 2022 – York, Pa.):  Three long balls including two by Connor Lien and a walk-off double by Elmer Reyes pushed the York Revolution to a 6-5 victory over the Staten Island FerryHawks in the weekend series opener on Friday night at PeoplesBank Park as the Revs earned their second walk-off win of the season. 

 Staten Island jumped on York starter Eduardo Rivera early, opening the game with three consecutive extra-base hits including a two-run homer to right by Joseph Reyes for an immediate 2-0 lead.

 York did not wait long to answer as in the home half of the first, Nellie Rodriguez connected on his ninth homer of the year, a two-run blast to left field to tie the game at 2-2.

 Lien added to the power barrage to lead off the bottom of the third inning, blasting a long home run over the Arch Nemesis, his second in three games to give the Revs a 3-2 lead. 

 After Rivera had retired 10 straight, Staten Island gave him problems again in the fourth. After a double and walk with one out, Mariel Bautista poked an RBI single to center field and three batters later, leadoff man Joseph Monge worked a bases loaded walk to put the FerryHawks back on top, 4-3. 

 York chased Staten Island starter Nick Carrell in the fifth inning. After the righty hit Reyes with a pitch with one out, he hung yet another breaking ball that Lien demolished to left center for his second home run of the night, giving the Revs a 5-4 lead. After back-to-back walks followed the homer, Carrell was finally chased as his three starts against York remain his only starts this year in which he has not made it through the fifth inning.

 Righty Brett De Geus relieved Rivera in his York debut, tossing two scoreless frames that included two strikeouts and a double play ball.

 Nick Howard, fresh off a four-strikeout night on Wednesday, pitched the eighth with the one-run lead. Howard started off with a strikeout, but back-to-back walks and a passed ball put two in scoring position with one out. Howard finished strong, forcing a groundout back to the mound and freezing Bautista for another strikeout to end the inning. Five of Howard’s last six outs have come via strikeouts.

 Jim Fuller entered the ninth with a 5-4 lead. After a groundout, nine-hole hitter Javier Betancourt doubled into the left center field gap and advanced to third one batter later on a flyout to right. With two outs and two strikes, pinch hitter Antoine Duplantis doubled to the left center field gap, just over Lien’s outstretched glove to tie the game at 5-5. 

 Troy Stokes Jr. reached with a one-out single in the bottom portion of the ninth, putting the winning run on-base for the Revs. With Reyes at the dish, Stokes Jr. took off for second and Reyes lined a hit toward the left field corner. Stokes Jr. rounded third and raced home, being called safe on a head-first slide despite the relay throw beating him. Staten Island emphatically argued the call while York celebrated with Reyes being chased into the outfield by his teammates.

 The Revs will shoot for the series win on Saturday with Jorge Martinez on the bump against Matt Solter at 6:30 p.m.  It is Go Green Night featuring a Silicone Pint Glass Giveaway presented by York County Solid Waste Authority.  Postgame Fireworks are presented by Give Local York.  Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.

 Notes: Carlos Franco reached on a walk in the first inning, extending his on base streak to 37 consecutive games, bringing him within eight of Nate Espy’s franchise record of 45 set during the inaugural 2007 season.  York is now 21-16 since May 13 and 8-4 in the last 12 games.  Lien’s two-homer game is the seventh by a Revs hitter this season and the seventh of Lien’s career; his most recent came on June 3, 2021 at Wichita, with Double-A Arkansas in the Seattle Mariners organization.

Kentucky 4, Charleston 3

Gastonia at Southern Maryland, postponed