Lancaster 3, Staten Island 1

STATEN ISLAND, S.C. - For the second consecutive start, Oscar De La Cruz dominated the opposition.  This time, the Barnstormers held on for the win.

 De La Cruz (8-2) threw a season-high eight innings to pitch the Lancaster Barnstormers to a 3-1 victory over the Staten Island Ferryhawks on Friday evening at Community Park.

 The win kept the Barnstormers 4 ½ games ahead of Southern Maryland in the second half North race.

 De La Cruz yielded six hits while walking one and striking out eight.  He found minor trouble in the second as Ricardo Cespedes blooped a double inside the left field line.  Rusney Castillo’s grounder advanced the runner to third.  Christopher Cespedes lined to second, and Ramon Osuna struck out to end the threat.

 The Ferryhawks broke through in the fourth.  Dilson Herrera dropped a fly ball in front of center fielder Melvin Mercedes.  The ball bounced past Mercedes’ diving effort for a double.  A wild pickoff throw sent Herrera to third, and Ricardo Cespedes grounded a single to the hole at shortstop to produce the run.

 Osuna produced the third hit of the inning, a two-out single on a smash back off De La Cruz’ body.  The right-hander then retired 13 of the remaining 15 batters he faced.

 Lancaster only scored in the fifth, but it proved to be enough.  Mercedes reached when Christopher Cespedes dropped a throw at first base.  Trayvon Robinson laid a bunt down but was ruled to be out of the running lane at first.  He was called out, and Mercedes was returned to first.  The runner stole second and scored in front of Andretty Cordero’s 14th home run of the season, a blast to left center, the deepest part of Community Park, off Anthony Rodriguez (4-8).  Colton Shaver singled to right center, and he scored when Anderson Feliz doubled into the left center gap.

 Staten Island’s bullpen shut down the ‘Stormers’ offense over the final four innings, but De La Cruz held on before turning the ball over to Josh Graham in the ninth.  Graham yielded a two-out single to Osuna before getting Andres Noriega on a pop to short to end the night for his seventh save.

 Erik Manoah (3-2) will take the hill for the Barnstormers on Saturday.  He will match up against right-hander Hector Guance (4-6).  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube channel, starting at 6:25.

 NOTES:  Cordero crossed the 100-RBI mark becoming the fastest player in Lancaster history to get to 100…He did it in 111 games…Earlier this year, Kelly Dugan reached 100 career Lancaster RBI in his 112th contest…Cordero stands at 101 RBI, two shy of Aaron Herr’s team record…He added three hits for the night and has 158 on the year, 16 away from that club mark…De La Cruz has walked one and struck out 17 in 15 innings over his last two starts while allowing only one run…Anthony Peroni went 0-for-4 to lose a hitting streak at 13 games.

Southern Maryland 8, York 1

(August 26, 2022 – Waldorf, Md.):  The York Revolution saw a two-game winning streak slashed with an 8-1 loss to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Friday night at Regency Furniture Stadium.

 The Blue Crabs opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning as Zack Collier cracked an RBI double down the right field line for the game’s first run, then made it a 3-0 lead in the second as ninth place hitter Ian Yetsko connected on his second two-run homer to left field in as many nights.

 Revs starter Ben Herrick rebounded with a 1-2-3 third inning but ran into trouble in the fourth as Matt Hibbert bounced an RBI single up the middle, and Raul Shah parked a two-run homer to left as the lead expanded to 6-0.

 Offensively the Revs were held to just two hits through the first four innings, an Elmer Reyes double in the first and a Troy Stokes Jr. triple in the fourth, as Crabs starter Alex Merithew retired 10 straight at one point.

 The Revs mounted a big threat in the fifth as Jhon Nunez (eight-game hitting streak), Connor Lien, and Magglio Ordonez Jr. loaded the bases with singles, but Merithew wiggled out with a strike out and a double play ball to keep the Revs off the board.

 York cracked into the run column in the sixth as Josue Herrera ripped a one-out RBI single up the middle to make it a 6-1 game. It drove home Nellie Rodriguez who worked a walk earlier in the inning, his 97th of the year which moves him within eight of the Atlantic League single-season record set by teammate Telvin Nash in 2019.

 Herrick had retired seven straight batters before Hibbert struck a solo homer to left, his third of the year, with two outs in the sixth as the Blue Crabs got that run back, extending it to 7-1.

 Herrick (0-2) was hurt by the long ball as Southern Maryland’s three home runs were their most in a game since July 27, accounting for five of the seven runs charged to the lefty.

 Franklin Van Gurp made his Revs debut with two strike outs in a scoreless seventh.

 Lefty Josh Norwood also debuted out of the York bullpen, allowing a two-out RBI single to Hibbert (3-for-4, three RBI) with two outs in the eighth, providing the final margin.

 Merithew (6-2) lasted 7.1 innings, allowing just one run on eight hits.  It marked his seventh consecutive start going at least seven innings and his fifth consecutive win, improving to 5-0 with a 2.49 ERA over his last six outings.

 Patrick Baker retired all five batters faced out of the Southern Maryland bullpen to close it out.

 The Revs will look to rebound on Saturday night as lefty Austin Nicely gets the ball against fellow southpaw Mitch Lambson at 6:35 p.m. 

Long Island 12, Charleston 0

(Central Islip, N.Y., Aug. 26, 2022) – Los Ducks shut out the Charleston Dirty Birds 12-0 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

The Ducks took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning on Alejandro De Aza's RBI double, Deibinson Romero's run-scoring groundout and Carlos Castro's RBI single off Dirty Birds starter Denson Hull. Castro’s second RBI single of the night extended Long Island’s advantage to four in the third.

 A five-run fourth inning pushed the Ducks lead to 9-0. Joe DeCarlo’s two-run home run to left, an RBI double to left by Anfernee Seymour, an RBI single to center by L.J. Mazzilli and a sac fly to center off the bat of Romero did the damage. A three-spot in the sixth, highlighted by Castro’s RBI double to right and Jose Sermo’s two-run single to center made it a 12-0 ballgame.

 Ducks starter Joe Iorio (9-4) was fantastic in earning the win, tossing seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and no walks while striking out a season-high eight batters. Hull (2-9) suffered the loss, surrendering nine runs on 13 hits and a walk in four innings of work.

 Castro led the Flock offensively with three hits, three RBIs and run scored. Sermo added three hits, two RBIs, a run and a walk, while Mazzilli also had three hits plus an RBI and two runs.

 The Ducks and Dirty Birds continue their three-game set on Saturday night. 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). Following the game, all fans in attendance will be treated to a Fireworks Spectacular, presented by PSEG Long Island. It’s also a Lucky Seat Saturday, presented by Long Island MacArthur Airport, and a Lemonade Stand at Main & Vine Wine Down Saturday. Right-hander Scott Harkin (9-7, 4.85) takes the mound for the Ducks against Dirty Birds lefty Kit Scheetz (5-1, 3.09).

High Point 8, Gastonia 3

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Logan Morrison had five hits and the High Point Rockers exploded for five runs in the seventh inning in an 8-3 win over Gastonia on Friday night in front of a crowd of 2,124 at Truist Point.

The Rockers trailed the Honey Hunters 3-1 going into the seventh before scoring five runs on just two hits to take a 6-3 lead.  The Rockers used four walks, a pair of hits and a hit batter to tally their runs. Morrison started the scoring with a bases-loaded RBI single before pinch-hitter Michael Martinez beat out an infield single to score the second run. With the bases still loaded, Quincy Latimore was hit by a pitch, Roldani Baldwin drew a walk and Tyler Ladendorf plated the final run with a fielder’s choice.

The Rockers added two insurance runs in the eighth inning on a single by Giovanny Alfonzo and an RBI double by Michael Russell. Morrison then blooped a single to center that scored Russell.

In the top of the ninth, Gastonia’s Luis Roman lined a potential extra base hit into the gap in left-center but Aklinski made a remarkable diving catch to keep the Honey Hunters off the bases.

Junior Rincon (W, 2-1) earned the win by pitching a shutout inning in the seventh. Mitch Atkins started and went four innings, allowing five hits and three runs while striking our four. Knuckleballer Mickey Jannis tossed two scoreless innings in relief of Atkins while Tyler Higgins shut down Gastonia with a pair of strikeouts in the eighth. Ryan Dull closed the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning aided by Aklinski’s highlight catch.

Gastonia jumped to an early 1-0 when Herlis Rodriguez opened the game with a triple and scored on a sac fly by Jack Reinheimer. Morrison’s solo homer in the bottom of the first tied the game at 1-1.

Gastonia went up 3-1 in the fourth on a double by Zach Jarrett and a two-run homer from Luis Roman.

Zack Godley started and went four innings for the Honey Hunters, allowing just three hits and striking out four before suffering an injury while warming up for the fifth inning. Enrique Zabaleta tossed two scoreless innings before Euclides Leyer (L, 4-3) started the seventh inning and lasted just one-third of an inning. He yielded two hits and five runs while walking three.

The win puts the Rockers at 59-53 overall and 20-26 in the second half of the Atlantic League season. The Rockers started the evening one-half game back of Kentucky in the league’s wild card race. Kentucky kept that margin with a 6-1 win over Lexington on Friday night.

The Rockers and Honey Hunters will meet in the second game of the three-game series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.