Southern Maryland 2, Lancaster 1

LANCASTER, Pa. - Daryl Thompson once again frustrated the Lancaster Barnstormers on Tuesday night, pitching the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs to a 2-1 win in the opener of the best-of-five Northern Division series.

Frustrated may be an understatement.  Seven different Barnstormers flied out to the warning track in the first seven innings as Lancaster managed only two hits off the right-handed ace, who shut out Lancaster over the Labor Day Weekend and also in the playoff opener in 2015.

Oscar De La Cruz (0-1) matched Thompson’s scoreless effort into the fifth inning when catcher Ryan Haug belted a two-out solo homer off the left field foul pole, staking the Blue Crabs to a 1-0 lead.

De La Cruz left with the bases loaded in the sixth, following a one-out triple by Michael Wielansky and a pair of walks.  Brandyn Sittinger got him out of the jam, retiring Santiago Chirino on a line drive to center for the final out.  Sittinger yielded a pair of singles in the seventh, but was again able to escape with a strikeout and a foul fly ball.

In the eighth, it was Cam Booser’s turn to pitch out of trouble. The lefty allowed a one-out double to left by David Harris before striking out Joe DeLuca and retiring Chirino on a slow grounder to third.

Southern Maryland finally picked up an insurance run in the top of the ninth.  With one out, Haug singled to left off West Tunnell.  Michael Baca followed, and with Haug running, the shortstop delivered a single to center, sending Haug to third.  Baca headed to second as the throw from Ariel Sandoval skipped away from Trace Loehr.  Jack Sundberg got the run home with a sacrifice fly to left.

It turned out the run was needed.  Shawon Dunston, Jr. picked up a one-out walk, the only one allowed by Thompson (1-0) in his 8 2/3 innings of work.  With two gone, ‘Stormers MVP Andretty Cordero slugged a double to right center that barely missed tying the game, catching the far edge of the 16’ high fence before it drops to eight feet.

Instead, Cordero had to settle for an RBI double, forcing Blue Crabs manager Stan Cliburn to use his closer Endrys Briceno to face Trayvon Robinson.  Cordero stole third on the at bat, during which Haug also saved a pitch in the dirt.  Briceno caught Robinson looking on a 3-2 fastball to end the night.

Brooks Hall (6-1) will face Mitch Lambson (8-9) in the second game of the series, Wednesday at 6:30.  Tickets remain on sale.  Fans may also tune into the Barnstormers YouTube channel, starting at 6:25.

NOTES:  This marks Lancaster’s seventh trip to the playoffs…The Barnstormers have not made it to the finals since 2014…Only Robinson and Anderson Feliz have been with the club in the playoffs previously among those on the active roster…Thompson shut the Barnstormers out in Game One in 2015.

Gastonia 12, High Point 1

GASTONIA, N.C. – The High Point Rockers will look to rebound on Wednesday after dropping Game One of the Atlantic League South Division Championship series by a score of 12-1 on Tuesday night at Gastonia’s CaroMont Health Park. Five Gastonia pitchers held the Rockers to just five hits in the contest.

The best-of-five series will continue Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. as the Rockers will send RHP Craig Stem (7-6, 4.01) to the mound against Gastonia RHP Alex Sanabia (7-5, 3.88).

The Honey Hunters were paced by Herlis Rodriguez who had four hits including a grand slam, and Jack Reinheimer who collected three hits.

Gastonia took a 1-0 lead in the second when Luis Castro hit a solo homer to left to give the Honey Hunters the early lead. The Rockers tied the game on a Jerry Downs solo homer to right off starter John Anderson in the top of the fourth. After Quincy Latimore flew out to the wall in right, Anderson walked Logan Morrison and hit Zander Wiel in the front foot with a pitch to put runners on first and second. Ben Aklinski slapped a single to left but Reece Hampton threw Morrison out at the plate as he tried to score from second.

In the fifth, Gastonia scored six times to take a 7-1 lead. Hampton drew a lead-off walk from Jannis and Reinheimer singled to put runners on the corners. After Reinheimer stole second, Joseph Rosa singled to center to plate Hampton. Following a mound visit from pitching coach Frank Viola, Jannis fanned Zach Jarrett but Jake Skole countered with an RBI single. Castro drew a walk to load the bases and Rodriguez then hit a grand slam to right to give the Honey Hunters a 7-1 advantage.

Skole hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh off High Point reliever Seth Frankoff to increase the margin to 8-1. That lead extended to 10-1 when Zach Jarrett hit a two-run homer off Liam O’Sullivan in the bottom of the eighth and then to 12-1 following a two-run single by Cole Freeman, also in the eighth.

Jannis went five innings and allowed eight hits and seven runs while walking four and striking out two. O’Sullivan allowed four hits and four runs in his lone inning of work.

Anderson held the Rockers to just three hits in his five innings of work while walking one and fanning five. Four Gastonia relievers each threw a shutout inning, giving up just two hits over the final four innings.

Notes: Game 2 will be played Wednesday night at 6:15 p.m. at CaroMont Health Park while Game 3 will be at Truist Point on Friday at 6:35 p.m.