Gastonia 5, High Point 3

HIGH POINT, N.C. - Reece Hampton scored three times and Joseph Rosa hit his 15th homer of the season to lift the Gastonia Honey Hunters to a 5-3 win at Truist Point on Saturday night.

Mason McAlister got the ball for Gastonia tonight, trying to pick up where he left off with the Wild Health Genomes. The Oklahoma right hander picked up a win on July 6th against Lexington, going 5.1 innings to earn his first Atlantic League win.

Tonight, McAlister was pretty much on-form, as the debut lasted five innings. McAlister sprinkled three hits over the five frames, walking two Rockers on the night.

Fortunately for McAlister, the Honey Hunters picked up a run in the fourth inning to tie the game, followed by a sixth inning run that showed off the value of Reece Hampton at the top of the order.

In the sixth. Hampton turned a single into a double, sliding in ahead of the throw from Jay Gonzalez. After a flyball from Jack Reinheimer advanced Hampton to third, Rosa hit a flyball to center field, scoring Hampton to give Gastonia a 2-1 lead.

Randall Delgado, Chad Sobotka and Quintin Torres-Costa maintained the Gastonia lead going into the ninth.

In the eighth, Gastonia built on the lead, plating three runs on a pair of extra-base hits.

Hampton opened the eighth with a walk and scored on a double to left center field that was reminiscent of the Cardinals of the early 1980s. As the ball was cut off prior to splitting the gap, Hampton turned on the burners, finishing the 90-yard sprint sliding around the tag of High Point catcher Dakota Mulcay and over the bat lying six feet from the plate.  

With Reinheimer at second, Rosa teed off on a Kyle Mott offering that cleared the wrought-iron fence that marks the property at Truist Point. The home run put Gastonia up 5-1 and looked to end the brief two game losing skid.

In the ninth, Jesus Balaguer would finish off the game, but it wasn´t without some harrowing moments.

Balaguer gave up three straight hits, allowing Jerry Downs and Quincy Latimore to score, closing the gap to 5-3. With Tyler Ladendorf at first and High Point a home run shy of tying the game, Balaguer toughened, striking out Jay Gonzalez and Cesar Trejo. A Giovanny Alfonzo fly out to Jake Skole secured the final out and set up a rubber game for the series finale. 

The first four hitters for Gastonia went 7 for 17 with four extra- hits and all five runs scored. Zach Jarrett, Reinheimer and Hampton had multi-hit games, with Rosa adding the power in the eighth.

Tomorrow, Gastonia looks to take game three, as John Anderson goes against the High Point Rockers at 4:05pm. The Honey Hunters Radio Network brings the pregame show at 3:50pm. The game can be heard on am1450 WGNC and 101.1fm, with a streaming option available at www.gohoneyhunters.com.

Lancaster 5, York 4

(July 23, 2022 – York, Pa.):  A late rally by the York Revolution was not quite enough on Saturday night, as a fantastic outing from Austin Nicely went by the wayside in a 5-4 loss to the Lancaster Barnstormers at PeoplesBank Park. Down to their final out, two deep drives came just shy of potentially tying or winning the game in the ninth inning.

 York plated the first run of the game in the second, albeit unconventionally. The Revs loaded the bases with two outs after back-to-back walks from Yefri Perez and Lenin Rodriguez. JC Encarnacion swung overtop of an Erik Manoah slider, but the ball snuck past catcher Anthony Peroni to the backstop, allowing Melky Mesa to come across for a 1-0 lead. 

 Lancaster finally got their first hit in the fourth inning against Nicely on a line drive to left field by Melvin Mercedes who tied a Barnstormers record with a hit in a 20th consecutive game. Nicely immediately erased it, however, as he got Andretty Cordero to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

 The Barnstormers put runners on the corners with two out against Nicely in the sixth, but the lefty got Cordero to ground into a force at second base to escape again.

 Lancaster finally tied the game with two outs in the seventh. With two strikes, Jake Hoover golfed a down-and-in pitch off the Arch Nemesis in left to score Trayvon Robinson with an RBI double, deadlocking things at 1-1. Duke von Schamann entered the game in relief of Nicely, escaping any further damage as Devon Torrence flied out to center field on the second pitch of the at-bat, stranding two.

 Nicely’s book closed after 6.2 innings, allowing just the one run on four hits while striking out three.

 Lancaster took the lead an inning later. After a single from Mercedes and a wild pitch by reliever Nick Howard (0-2) that moved him to second, Lancaster took the lead on a base hit to right field from Cordero going on top 2-1. That was all they could manage as Howard caught a screaming line drive from Anderson Feliz and doubled off Cordero at second to end the inning, keeping the Lancaster lead at one run.

 Carlos Ventura pitched the top of the ninth, retiring the first two he faced rather quickly. Hoover followed with his third hit of the night to keep the inning alive, however, on a double to right-center, and scored when Devon Torrence hit a soft tapper in front of the plate which saw Lenin Rodriguez make a throwing error trying to get the out at first. Shawon Dunston Jr. followed with an RBI double to right field, and suddenly it was 4-1 Lancaster. Dunston Jr. scored one batter later, this time on a single from Mercedes, giving Lancaster four straight two-out hits and a 5-1 lead. 

 York did not go down without a fight in the ninth, however, as JC Encarnacion lined the first pitch he saw into right center field for a leadoff triple. After back-to-back strikeouts, Telvin Nash kept the game alive by working a walk, and Nellie Rodriguez followed with an RBI single to center. Mesa followed and came feet shy of tying the game with a two-run double high off the right field fence to bring the Revs within one at 5-4. Troy Stokes Jr. followed with a drive of his own deep into the right-center gap, but the ball hung up just enough for Ariel Sandoval to make the running catch against the wall, securing the victory for Lancaster

York collectively left 12 runners on base throughout the night, including 10 in the first five innings against Manoah who maneuvered around six walks on the night to prevent the Revs from extending their lead.

 Eduardo Rivera will take the mound for the Revs in the rubber match on Sunday at 2 p.m., opposite Lancaster’s Oscar De La Cruz. 

Long Island 3, Southern Maryland 2

(Central Islip, N.Y., July 23, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 3-2 on Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game series before a past-capacity crowd of 7,011 at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 Southern Maryland took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Alex Crosby’s RBI single to right field off Ducks starter Stephen Tarpley. Long Island jumped in front in the third on a two-run home run to left-center by L.J. Mazzilli off Blue Crabs starter Mitch Lambson. Jack Sundberg’s RBI single to center in the fifth tied the ballgame at two apiece. However, a Sam Travis RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the frame put the Ducks back in front 3-2.

 Tarpley (4-4) earned the win, tossing five innings of two-run ball, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out four. Lambson (5-6) took the loss, giving up three runs on eight hits and three walks over six and two-thirds innings with two strikeouts. Edubray Ramos picked up his first save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

 Alejandro De Aza led the Flock at the plate with two doubles, a run and a walk. Carlos Castro also collected a hit and reached base safely three times.

 The Ducks and Blue Crabs wrap up their three-game series on Sunday evening. Game time is slated for 5:05 p.m., with the Fairfield Properties Ballpark gates opening at 4:05 (3:50 for full season ticket holders). The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive Ducks Baseballs, courtesy of Yellow Dog Lawn Care. It’s a Sunday Family Funday, presented by Bethpage Federal Credit Union! Prior to the game, fans will be invited down for a Catch on the Field from 4:10 to 4:30. After the game, fans of all ages are also invited to take part in Kids Run the Bases. Right-hander Scott Harkin (6-6, 4.72) toes the rubber for the Ducks against Blue Crabs righty Eddie Butler (7-2, 4.67).

Lexington 5, Staten Island 3

Charleston 7, Kentucky 2