Kentucky 13, York 2

(August 14, 2022 – York, Pa.):  The York Revolution endured a rough display on both sides of the ball on Sunday, dropping a tough rubber match to the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes, 13-2 at PeoplesBank Park. 

 The Genomes plated an unearned run in the first inning against Revs starter Courtney Mack as Luke Becker, who led off the game with a walk, came across to score on a fielding error by shortstop Yefri Perez with two outs in the inning.

 York knotted the game in the bottom of the second, courtesy of an RBI double down the third base line by Melky Mesa, scoring Carlos Franco who had reached on a walk. 

 The Genomes took the lead right back on a single by Gavin Johns in the third, before Mesa evened things up again for York in the fourth with another double, this time to the right center gap to bring the game to a 2-2 tie. 

 Mack ran into trouble in the fifth, loading the bases with one out on his sixth walk of the afternoon. Carlos Ventura relieved him, striking out the first two he faced to evade any danger and keep the game tied.

 Ventura stayed on for the sixth, striking out Chris Shaw for the second out before another walk to Jimmy Paredes. With two on and two away, Ventura allowed a Moises Sierra RBI double down the left field line to give Kentucky the 3-2 lead. Ventura walked Samir Duenez to load the bases before being lifted from the game.

 Roniel Raudes escaped the bases loaded jam he inherited by getting Austin Rei to ground out to second base to end the inning, keeping it a one-run margin.

 Despite two walks, Kyle Zurak worked a scoreless seventh inning for the second consecutive game, thanks to two strikeouts and a diving catch by Perez at short as it remained a one-run contest.

 Luis Guzman entered in the seventh in place of Genomes starter Elih Villenueva (9-8) who allowed just two York hits while striking out 11. The lefty Guzman worked a perfect seventh inning with a strikeout. 

 Tuck Tucker entered to pitch the eighth inning, having worked scoreless ball in 16 of his first 18 professional outings. The Genomes got to him, however, as the first five batters reached including four hits. The Genomes got runs on a two-run double from Austin Rei, immediately followed by a two-run triple from Johns off the top of the LED board in left center field. After a sacrifice fly by Demetrius Moorer, it was suddenly 8-2 Genomes. Shaw capped the seven-run frame with a two-run home run to right field, making it a 10-2 game. It was just the second home run allowed by Tucker on the year and the first surrendered to a left-handed hitter. 

 Johns plated another run in the ninth inning against Yoel Espinal on his third hit and fourth RBI of the day. A Clayton Mehlbauer single and Becker RBI groundout made it 13-2. 

 York went down with a scoreless ninth inning despite hits by Franco and Mesa, dropping the rubber match to the Genomes.

York walked a franchise record 15 batters, and offensively struck out a season high-tying 17 times, one shy of the franchise record for a nine-inning game.

 The Revs will host Lancaster for a midweek series, getting underway on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

High Point 6, Gastonia 3

HIGH POINT, N.C. - The High Point Rockers defeated the Gastonia Honey Hunters 6-3 on Sunday afternoon, taking their second straight series against Gastonia at Truist Point.

The Rockers sent Craig Stem to the mound against Ian McKinney in the rubber game, with the Rockers trying to tighten the gap between the top and bottom of the South Division´s second half.

Gastonia got going early as Joseph Rosa launched his 17th homer of the year against the video board in right field at Truist Point, putting Gastonia on top 1-0.

High Point responded quickly in the bottom of the first, with a three-run rebuttal, taking a 3-1 lead. A pair of walks opened the frame for High Point, who capitalized on a two-run single by Jerry Downs to take a 2-1 advantage. A Jay Gonzalez grounder to first plated Downs, closing the scoring for the Rockers in the first.

In the third, Jake Skole tripled to left-center off Stem, opening the door for a Gastonia comeback. Darian Sandford doubled down the first-base line to score Skole, trimming the lead in half at 3-2.

In the fifth, Luis Roman singled, scoring Jack Reinheimer to level the score at 3-3. The hit was part of a multi-hit game for the Gastonia third baseman.

High Point wasted little time retaking the lead, as Jay Gonzalez picked up a RBI base hit with two outs in the fifth to push High Point ahead 4-3.

Craig Stem would pitch his finest baseball of the day in his last two frames, retiring Gastonia in order to conclude his outing by going seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits, striking out ten Honey Hunters on the evening.

In the seventh, High Point would tack on some insurance as Quincy Latimore lifted a two-run homer off Quintin Torres-Costa to close out the scoring for both clubs, taking a 6-3 lead into the eighth.

Tyler Higgins and Ryan Dull preserved the win for High Point, as Stem moved his record to 5-3. McKinney, who pitched six innings for Gastonia, was saddled with the loss to move to 5-2. Dull picked up his 12th save of the year with a scoreless ninth.

The win for the Rockers gives them seven victories in the last ten against Gastonia, as the club looks to draw closer to Gastonia, which opened with 11 wins in the first 12 contests between the two clubs.

Gastonia (70-32,25-11) will return home for a six-game homestand against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Tuesday, The Honey Hunters Radio network will air at 6pm with the Honey Hunters pregame show on WGNC am1450 and 101.1fm. The audio stream can be found at www.gohoneyhunters.com.

Charleston 10, Long Island 6

(Central Islip, N.Y., Aug. 14, 2022) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Charleston Dirty Birds 10-6 on Sunday evening in the rubber game of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

 Lew Ford launched the Ducks in front early with a two-run home run to left field in the first inning off Dirty Birds starter Joe Testa. Charleston answered with four runs in the second off Ducks starter Joe Iorio to take a 4-2 lead. RBI doubles by Anfernee Seymour and Nick Heath plus a two-run homer to left by Alfredo Gonzalez did the damage. Joe DeCarlo’s RBI single to left-center in the bottom of the frame trimmed the Ducks deficit to one.

 Yovan Gonzalez increased the Dirty Birds lead to 6-3 in the third with a two-run homer to left. Long Island got both runs back in the bottom of third on Carlos Castro’s RBI single and DeCarlo’s run-scoring fielder’s choice. Ford then tied the game at six in the fourth with a solo homer over the left-center field fence.

 Charleston took the lead back in the sixth on a sac fly to center off the bat of Seymour, and Devon Torrence scored on a balk in the seventh to make it an 8-6 game. Yovan Gonzalez’s two-run single to right in the ninth rounded out the scoring.

 Iorio did not factor into the decision but lasted three innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and three walks with two strikeouts. Testa (1-5) picked up the win despite allowing six runs over five innings, yielding eight hits and a walk while striking out five. Chris Cepeda (3-1) suffered the loss, conceding an unearned run on one hit and one walk over two innings with one strikeout.

 Ford led the Flock offensively with two homers, three RBIs and two runs scored.

 The Ducks continue their homestand on Tuesday night when they open a three-game series against the Staten Island FerryHawks. 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). It’s a Triple Play Tuesday! If the Ducks turn a triple play during the game, one lucky fan will win $25,000. Simply sign up prior to first pitch at the Ticket Kiosk on the main concourse to be eligible. Right-hander Scott Harkin (8-6, 4.70) gets the start for the Ducks against FerryHawks righty Hector Guance (3-5, 6.92).

Lancaster 4, Lexington 1

Oscar De La Cruz fanned nine in six innings, and the Lancaster bullpen provided nearly flawless backup as the Barnstormers defeated the Lexington Legends, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

 The victory gave the Barnstormers the series win and capped a 7-2 homestand.  Lancaster will head onto the road with at least a 3 ½ game lead over Southern Maryland, pending the outcome of the Blue Crabs’ game at Staten Island.

De La Cruz (7-2) was reached for the lone Lexington run in the top of the second.  With one out, Phillip Ervin doubled inside the third base bag.  He promptly stole third and scored on Montrell Marshall’s deep fly to right.  Manuel Geraldo and Pete Yorgen followed with singles before De La Cruz escaped the inning with a strikeout of T.K. Koontz. 

 Ariel Sandoval tied the game in the fourth with a long homer onto the left field hillside, and the Barnstormers went ahead to stay in the fifth.  Anthony Peroni drilled a leadoff single off Thomas Dorminy (5-7) into left center.  One out later, Peroni took third on a single toward the right field corner by Trace Loehr.  Melvin Mercedes hit a grounder toward the middle that slowed down off the mound, and the Lexington defense could only get a force at second as the run scored.

 Lexington threatened De La Cruz in the sixth.  Ervin led off with a walk, and Marshall followed with a single into center.  The ‘Stormers’ right-hander retired the next three to hold the lead.

 Cam Booser worked around a pop fly that dropped in the infield to get through the seventh, and Josh Graham threw a perfect eighth.

 The Barnstormers gave closer West Tunnell some breathing room in the bottom of the eighth.  Jacob Barfield belted a double off the vinyl in center and advanced to third on a single by Sandoval.  Anderson Feliz drew a walk from Yaramil Hiraldo to load the bases.  The inning got sidetracked when Dondrei Hubbard lined into a double play at third.  However, Sandoval and Feliz pulled off a double steal with Sandoval scoring when the throw to second deflected into left center.  Lancaster reloaded the bases, and Loehr made it 4-1 with a bases loaded walk.

 West Tunnell retired the side in order in the ninth for his ninth save.

 Lancaster will open a three-game series at York on Tuesday.  The Barnstormers will send Gray Fenter (2-0) to the mound against lefty Austin Nicely.  Lancaster needs one win in the remaining six games in the War of the Roses to reclaim possession of the Community Cup.

 NOTES:  Sandoval extended his hitting streak to 10 with the three-hit game…Feliz lost a nine-game streak…Loehr has hit safely in eight straight and Peroni six…Andretty Cordero went a fourth straight game without an RBI for only the second time all season…De La Cruz fired his club-leading eighth quality start…Tunnell pitched scoreless baseball for the 11th time in the last 12 appearances…The pitching staff reached 10 strikeouts for the 41st time in 101 games.

Southern Maryland 3, Staten Island 2

(8/14/2022, Staten Island, NY) The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs trailed the Staten Island FerryHawks from the start on Sunday afternoon but chipped away at the deficit.  In the top of the eighth inning, Braxton Lee drove in the go-ahead run, giving the Blue Crabs a 3-2 lead that they would hold the rest of the way.  

 Southern Maryland gave the ball to Alex Merithew (W, 5-2) on Sunday.  After surrendering a two-run home run in the first inning, he battled back, keeping the FerryHawks off the board for the remainder of his start. 

 The Staten Island FerryHawks got the offense going in the first inning.  Joseph Monge picked up a base hit before Angel Aguilar destroyed a two-run shot over the wall in left-center. From there, the FerryHawks picked up hits, but could not score another run. 

 With two outs in the fourth, the Blue Crabs got on the board.  David Harris bounced a single through the left side.  The next batter, Alex Crosby, sliced a double into the left-center field gap, scoring David Harris to cut the deficit to 2-1.  In the fifth inning, with two outs, Jack Sundberg drilled a triple to the wall in center field before Raul Shah singled him in to tie the game 2-2. 

In the eighth inning, David Harris walked before advancing to second base on a wild pitch.  Two batters later, Braxton Lee, who pinch hit for Matt Hibbert, lined a single into right field, scoring Harris to give the Blue Crabs a 3-2 lead. 

 From there, Endrys Briceno (Sv, 8) entered the ballgame, pitching two scoreless innings, striking out a trio of FerryHawks’ batters to secure the 3-2 victory. 

 The Blue Crabs picked up their 69th win of the season in their 100th game. The Blue Crabs move to 21-13 in the Second Half and remain 3.5 games behind the Barnstormers for the Second Half lead.