Lexington 17, Kentucky 16 (11 innings)

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Isaias Tejeda singled to score Trey Hunt and give the Lexington Legends a 17-16 win Wednesday afternoon at Wild Health Field. There were three grand slams in the game and seven total home runs.

Kentucky’s Jimmy Paredes hit a three-run homer in the top of the first but Lexington’s Montrell Marshall countered with a grand slam in the bottom half of the inning. Courtney Hawkins hit a solo homer in the fourth, his 42^nd homer of the season. Kentucky’s Chris Shaw hit a grand slam in the sixth and teammate Chase Vallot added a solo shot in the seventh. Felix Pie hit a solo homer in the eighth to give Kentucky a 15-10 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Gabriel Cotto cut the deficit to 15-11 with a sacrifice fly. But the Genomes walked the bases loaded and Hawkins hit a two-out grand slam to tie the game. It marked Hawkins’ 43^rd homer of the year.  Each team scored a run on a sac fly in the 10^th before Tejeda’s game-winning single in the 10^th.

Hawkins and Marshall each finished the game with five RBI with Marshall added a pair of doubles to his three hits. Kentucky was led by Shaw and Parades who each had four RBI in the game. Lexington’s Daniel Gibson (W, 5-1) earned the victory while Kentucky’s Josh Martin (L, 1-3) took the loss.

Lancaster 12, Long Island 3

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - Andretty Cordero rapped out three hits and drove in three runs to lead a 16-hit attack as the Lancaster Barnstormers drilled the Long Island Ducks, 12-3, in the middle game of a three-game series.

 The win kept the Barnstormers four games ahead of Southern Maryland in the North Division race and also extended the wild cards leads over High Point to 1 ½ games and Kentucky to three.

Trace Loehr gave the Barnstormers a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the second off emergency starter Rafael Monsion (0-1), but it was in the top of the third when Lancaster took control.  Melvin Mercedes led off with a bloop single to center, and Trayvon Robinson followed with a bunt single.  Cordero ripped a double inside the bag at third to drive in his franchise record 104th run of the season.  Colton Shaver made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly.  Anderson Feliz walked before Chris Proctor ripped a two-run triple down the right field line for a 5-0 lead.  Anthony Peroni capped the scoring with a double to left.

 Long Island scored all three of its runs off starter Brooks Hall (4-1) in the bottom of the third.  Anfernee Seymour tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by L.J. Mazzilli.  After Alejandro de Aza flied out for the second out of the inning, Deibinson Romero and Jose Sermo singled.  Carlos Castro belted a long double to left center.

 The Ducks managed only two hits the rest of the night. 

 Colton Shaver blasted a two-run triple to left center in the sixth to stretch the lead to 8-3.  In the top of the seventh, Trayvon Robinson hit the chalk behind third base with an RBI double, and Cordero followed with a two-run single to right for an 11-3 lead.  Lancaster’s final run scored on a single by Jacob Barfield in the top of the eighth.

 Oscar De La Cruz (9-2) will make the start for the Barnstormers on Thursday against Joe Iorio (9-4).  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube channel, starting at 6:30.

 NOTES:  Cordero’s 106 RBI place him among the top ten seasons in Atlantic League history, but he trails Lexington’s Courtney Hawkins this year…He also had 162 hits, 12 from the franchise record and 27 from the league mark…Lancaster’s bullpen has allowed only two runs in the last 20 innings…The Barnstormers struck out 10 opposing batters for the 50th time.

Gastonia 2, High Point 0 (Game 1)
High Point 8, Gastonia 7 (Game 2, 8 innings)
 

GASTONIA, N.C. – Quincy Latimore hit a seventh inning grand slam in the nightcap and allowed the High Point Rockers to salvage a split of a doubleheader with Gastonia on Wednesday night at Caromont Health Park. The Rockers dropped the opening game 2-0 before rebounding with an 8-7 win in eight innings in the nightcap.

The Rockers had entered the seventh (and final inning) of the second game trailing the Honey Hunters 5-1 before erupting for six runs to take a 7-5 lead. The key blow was Latimore’s grand slam, his second of the season, that brought the Rockers from a 5-3 deficit to a 7-5 lead.

The critical seventh inning started when, with one out, Tyler Ladendorf and Michael Martinez singled before Michael Russell singled to center to score Ladendorf and make it a 5-2 game. Ben Aklinski then hit a chopper to third and the throw to second was dropped by second baseman Joseph Rosa, allowing Martinez to score and make it a 5-3 game. Jerry Downs then singled to load the bases and set the stage for Latimore’s grand slam to left center and put the Rockers up 7-5.

The lead was short-lived as the Honey Hunters tied the game in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. Ryan Dull (W, 4-1) came on to work the bottom of the seventh and allowed singles to Jake Skole and Cole Freeman before Herlis Rodriguez flew out to right with Skole moving to third. Jack Reinheimer then delivered an RBI single to score Skole to make it a 7-6 Rocker lead. Rosa’s bloop single to center then scored Reinheimer to knot the game at 7-7.

In the eighth, Russell chopped an infield single to score Joe Johnson and give the Rockers an 8-7 lead. Tyler Higgins then set the Honey Hunters down in order to preserve the win and earn his second save of the year.

The Honey Hunters started the nightcap by striking for four runs in the bottom of the first off starter Neil Uskali and held the lead until the seventh inning. Uskali walked the first two hitters in the Gastonia line-up then hit Zach Jarrett with a pitch to load the bases. Luis Roman then drove in three runs with a triple and scored on a sac fly by Luis Castro.

Logan Morrison cut into the lead with a solo homer leading off the second for the Rockers to make it a 4-1 game. Gastonia extended the lead to 5-1 in the third on doubles by Jarrett and Castro with Castro claiming the RBI.

In game one, Gastonia lefty John Anderson (W, 12-4) handcuffed the Rockers, holding High Point to just five hits while striking out five in a 2-0 Honey Hunter win. Aklinski and Downs each managed a pair of hits for the Rockers.

Scoreless through three innings, Gastonia got on the board in the fourth when Freeman and Emmanuel Tapia each singled before Castro singled to right to score Freeman.  In the sixth, it was another single by Freeman and a double by Tapia that led to Alex Holderbach’s sac fly to score Freeman and put Gastonia ahead 2-0.

Craig Stem (L, 5-6) threw a complete game for the Rockers, yielding eight hits while striking out one.

With the split, the Rockers now stand at 61-55 on the season and 22-28 in the second half of the Atlantic League season. With Kentucky losing to Lexington earlier in the day, High Point takes a 1.5-game lead over the Genomes in the Wild Card race. Gastonia, the South Division first half champion, continues to lead the second half race with an eight-game lead over Lexington.

High Point and Gastonia will conclude the three-game series on Thursday at 6:15 at Caromont Health Park with the Rockers sending Mitch Atkins to the mound to face Zack Godley.

Southern Maryland 8, Charleston 4

8/31/2022, Charleston, WV) After splitting the doubleheader, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs took game three from the Charleston Dirty Birds.  The Blue Crabs’ bats were quiet across the first three innings, but they tallied eight runs over the final six innings of the game en route to an 8-4 victory. 

 The Blue Crabs turned to Alsis Herrera (W, 1-2) for the start.  Herrera pitched seven innings, allowing only two runs on six hits while striking out six. 

 The Charleston Dirty Birds got the bats going in the second inning, when Yovan Gonzalez singled to right, scoring Devon Torrence.  But the Blue Crabs responded in the fourth, when Jack Sundberg smashed a home run of the year over the wall in right-center, tying the game and extending his on-base streak to 33 games. 

 In the top of the fifth, Jared Walker drove in Alex Crosby on a double to give the Blue Crabs the lead.  Then, Ian Yetsko ripped one into center field, scoring Walker to put Southern Maryland ahead 3-1. 

 In the seventh inning, with a runner on second base, Joe DeLuca shot a double into right field, giving the Blue Crabs a 4-1 lead.  The Dirty Birds got one back in the seventh, but the Blue Crabs responded in the bottom of the eighth inning.  Braxton Lee dribbled a double down the left field line before David Harris hit a ground-rule double to left, giving the Blue Crabs a 5-2 edge. 

 Cody Strayer entered the game in the eighth inning.  After retiring two out of the next three batters, he ran into trouble.  Diego Goris singled up the middle, putting two on with two out.  Devon Torrence then roped one into right-center, scoring two runs and cutting the deficit to 5-4. 

The Bule Crabs added three insurance runs in the ninth inning.  With a runner on second and two outs, four consecutive batters reached, as Jack Sundberg, Braxton Lee, and David Harris all picked up RBI singles to give the Blue Crabs an 8-4 lead.  Dario Polanco pitched a scoreless ninth, solidifying the 8-4 victory. 

 The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs move to 77-38 on the season and 29-20 in the second half.  The Blue Crabs play game four of the series with the Charleston Dirty Birds tomorrow at 6:35 pm.  

Staten Island 15, York 13

(August 31, 2022 – York, Pa.): On a night where Cannonball Charlie was given the night off for Sensory Awareness Night, the York Revolution delivered the biggest power display in team history, launching eight home runs in Wednesday’s contest. That would not be the only history made, however, as the Staten Island FerryHawks marched back from a 13-1 deficit to win the game, 15-13 in 10 innings at PeoplesBank Park.

 Troy Stokes Jr. was the first to get the scoring started, launching a two-run home run over the Arch Nemesis in the bottom of the second. JC Encarnacion followed suit with a two-run homer of his own later in the inning, spotting the Revs an early 4-0 lead.

 The next inning, Jhon Nunez and Yefri Perez went back-to-back, making it 6-0. It was the first time York hitters had launched back-to-back homers since Lenin Rodriguez and Encarnacion did it on August 7 against Charleston. 

 Staten Island reliever Eric Marinez got the first two outs of the fourth rather quickly before issuing a walk to Telvin Nash. Nellie Rodriguez followed with a blast of his own, his second in as many nights and 20th of the season. With the two-run shot to right, Rodriguez joined Chris Nowak and Melky Mesa as the only players in club history with multiple 20 HR seasons. That made it 8-1 York, as the Ferryhawks had plated a run in the top half on a groundout.

 After a quiet fifth inning, the Revs offense reemerged to make history in the sixth. It started with Nash who drove a fastball to the lawn in right center, his 10th of the year and 104th of his Atlantic League career. With that homer, he moved into a tie with Jesse Hoorelbeke for eighth on the ALPB’s all-time leaderboard. 

 After Rodriguez was hit by a pitch, Nunez followed with his second home run of the night, uncorking a drive to right center, bringing his season total to five and York’s game total to seven, which tied a franchise record.

 That record would last two more batters, as Stokes Jr. unloaded on his second of the game, a no doubt blast over the Arch Nemesis, making it 13-1. It set a new franchise record for homers in a game by York at eight and established a single-game high for any Atlantic League team this season. Stokes Jr. and Nunez also combined to become the seventh pair of Revs teammates with multiple homers in the same game and the first since Mesa and Nash did so in 2019.

 Carlos Ventura entered to start the seventh, relieving Courtney Mack after a gem. Mack went six innings allowing just one run on two hits.

 Ventura had a rough outing, however, getting just two outs before Chris Cespedes and Javier Betancourt unloaded back-to-back homers of their own to left field. With Cespedes’ being a three-run shot, Staten Island was able to cut the lead to 13-5 and end Ventura’s night. Tuck Tucker relieved him, getting his first batter to pop out and end the threat. 

 Disaster struck the Revs in the top of the eighth as the FerryHawks got two on with one out, setting the stage for Ricardo Cespedes to plate one with a single and Justin O’Conner to drive in two with a double, suddenly cutting the lead to 13-8. Doug Olcese walked in one more, and another scored on a popup that Perez could not squeeze at second with the infield fly rule in effect. Roniel Raudes entered to get a groundout on one pitch to end the frame, but not before the lead was cut to 13-10.

Ricardo Cespedes made a huge defensive play in the bottom of the eighth, robbing Nunez of what would have been his third home run of the night, a potential two-run shot to right center.

 Staten Island completed the unthinkable in the ninth, scoring three runs to tie the game at 13-13. Two scored on an infield single coupled with an errant throw by closer Jim Fuller, and the tying run finally came around on a single up the middle from Chris Cespedes with two outs. 

 York got two on with two outs in the ninth but came up empty after Nash struck out swinging. 

 With the automatic runner on second to start the 10th, York snuffed out a bunt attempt as Nunez fired a bullet to nail the runner at third. That would not detract Staten Island, however, as a two-run double by Angel Aguilar capped off a 14-unanswered stretch of runs, putting the FerryHawks ahead 15-13. 

 The Revs were unable to score in the 10th, capping off the largest lead surrendered in a loss in franchise history, as York fell in devastating fashion.  York’s 13 runs scored marked the most in a loss in franchise history as well.

 York will try to have a short memory and regroup on Thursday as they aim to take the rubber match. Duke von Schamann will get the ball for the Revs in his final start before departing for Team Germany at the World Baseball Classic qualifiers with first pitch at 6:30 p.m.