Lancaster 4, Gastonia 3

The Lancaster Barnstormers went through a gamut of emotions in a very short period of time on Friday evening at CaroMont Health Park.  There was a gut punch with a serious injury, anger over a couple of calls, and finally exhilaration at a narrow, extra inning, 4-3 victory.

With the score tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the ninth, Loehr went on a mad dash after a wind blown foul pop up by Carlos Franco toward the third base dugout.  Loehr made the catch while slamming into the railing and had to be removed from the field on a stretcher.  Preliminary reports list it as a leg injury.

After both clubs scored in the tenth, the Barnstormers got the break they needed.  Oddly that break occurred on another wind blown foul pop up, this one misjudged by Franco.  That mistake kept Kelly Dugan alive, and the Lancaster DH looped a single into left off Bryan Blanton (0-1) to score Yeison Coca with the go-ahead run.

With pinch runner Luis Curbelo at second to open the home half of the inning, Cole Freeman dropped a bunt back to the mound.  Donald Goodson made a slightly errant throw that was ruled to have pulled Coca off the first base bag.  Lancaster manager Ross Peeples argued the call and got the umpires to confer, but Calvin Baker’s original call stood.  Jack Reinheimer was hit in the arm by a Goodson pitch but had to perform CaroMont Health Park’s first ever strip tease to prove it.

With the bases loaded, Cristian Inoa hit a one-hopper into Loehr’s replacement at third, Andretty Cordero, who initiated a 5-2-3 double play.  Goodson retired Zach Jarrett on a grounder to short to end the game.

The Barnstormers had taken a 2-0 lead in the second on four hits, including an RBI single by Jake Hoover and the first of two RBI doubles by Melvin Mercedes in the game.  Freeman homered in the third to cut the Lancaster lead to 2-1.  Jarrett singled home Inoa with two outs in the sixth to tie the game.

Andrew Lee (2-1) threw two shutout innings to earn the win.

Lancaster and Gastonia are scheduled to take the field again on Saturday at 6:35.  Lancaster will send Dominic DiSabatino to the mound against right-hander Zach Mort.  Fans may tune into FloBaseball, beginning at 6:30, weather permitting.

NOTES:  The win makes Lancaster 1-9 in one-run games and 1-2 in extra inning games this season…For the fourth straight game, Lancaster scored the first run(s) and did not score again in regulation…Hoover had his second two-hit game of the season…Mercedes is 5-for-8 in the last two games…The loss of Loehr leaves the Barnstormers with only eight fully healthy position players and Dugan, who is limited to the DH role.

Frederick 12, High Point 4

After dropping four of their last five including being swept by Gastonia, Frederick surged back in a big way on Friday, launching five home runs to knock off High Point 12-4.

The Rockers threatened early, getting two on with one out against Winston Lavendier, but a diving catch by Jimmy Paredes at third base resulted in a double play to end the threat.

In the bottom of the first inning, Frederick got their first two on courtesy of a Luke Becker walk and Starlin Castro single, before Craig Dedelow lined a base hit into right field to score Becker and kickstart the scoring.

High Point scored on a throwing error in the second inning, but Frederick answered back quickly to start the second when Raudy Read blasted a home run to left field to make it 2-1.

After Lavendier went 1-2-3 in the third inning, Jimmy Paredes hit his first home run with Frederick to add make the game 3-1. 

In the fourth inning, it was Luke Becker who added to the barrage, hitting his second home run of the year to also score Kole Cottam to bring the lead to 5-1.

Lavendier was chased from the game in the sixth after allowing a one-out solo home run to John Nogowski, and replaced by Tai Tiedemann. Tiedemann allowed a double and a walk which prompted a mound visit from Elih Villanueva. Whatever was said seemed to work, as Tiedemann forced a groundout to first base to strand a pair. 

At that point, the game was tight. After the sixth inning... not so much.

Starlin Castro led off the inning, and despite fouling a ball off his leg, beat out an infield single. Craig Dedelow followed with a home run, bringing him into a tie for the league led with his 11th. After loading the bases, Kole Cottam grounded out to knock in a run, before Leobaldo Cabrera unloaded on his ninth home run of the year, a three-run blast to cap off a six run sixth inning. Suddenly, it was 11-2 Frederick. 

After Dedelow tripled in the seventh inning, he scored on an error to give Frederick their 12^th run. 

High Point scored two runs off of Jeff Johnson in the eighth inning, but Max Tannenbaum closed the door with a scoreless ninth inning including two strikeouts to cap off a 12-4 victory.
 

Frederick ended their three-game losing skid and got their first win of the season over the first place Rockers.

So. Maryland 5, Long Island 4

(Central Islip, N.Y., May 26, 2023) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 5-4 on Friday night in the opener of a four-game series at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

Sam Travis put the Ducks in front early with a first inning three-run home run to left-center field off Blue Crabs starter Jared Burch. Ian Yetsko’s RBI double to right off Ducks starter Joe Iorio in the second closed the gap to 3-1, but Boog Powell’s solo homer to right in the bottom of the inning pushed Long Island’s lead back up to four. 

Southern Maryland tied it at four with two runs in the third and one in the fourth on sac flies from Michael Wielansky and Michael Baca plus a solo homer to right by K.C. Hobson. A solo homer to left by Wielansky in the fifth put the Blue Crabs in front 5-4. 

Burch (3-2) collected the win despite allowing four runs on six hits and seven walks over five innings while striking out five. Iorio (2-3) took the loss, giving up five runs on eight hits and two walks over five innings with two strikeouts. Andre Scrubb picked up his sixth save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. 

Daniel Murphy led the Ducks offense with two hits and a run scored. 

The Ducks and Blue Crabs continue their four-game set on Saturday with a day/night doubleheader. Game time for the opener is slated for 1:35 p.m., with the ballpark gates opening at 12:35 (12:20 for full season ticket holders). It’s Bark in the Park, presented by Total Pet Care and Natural Balance, and the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive Ducks Pet Can Lids. Fans will be permitted to bring their dog to the ballgame with them. 

Game two is scheduled to begin at 6:35 p.m., with the 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, which will light the sky over the center field fence. It’s also a Lucky Seat Saturday, presented by Long Island MacArthur Airport. During the game, the Ducks will be selecting a lucky fan in the ballpark, who will win two roundtrips on Breeze Airways to any of their six non-stop destinations from Long Island MacArthur Airport. 

Lexington 4, Staten Island 3

LEXINGTON, KY – The Lexington Counter Clock’s defeated the Staten Island FerryHawks with a score of 4-3. This game marked the first of the series at Counter Clock Field.

Lexington’s right-handed pitcher Jerad Eickhoff would start and pitch seven innings in total for the Clock’s allowing five hit and three runs. However, Eickhoff would redeem himself after giving up the three runs in the first inning by not allowing another run for the FerryHawks the remain innings he pitched. Eickhoff was rewarded with the win advancing his personal record to 3-3.

The FerryHawks started the game with hot bats at the plate. Angel Aguilar would start Staten Island’s productive inning with a ground-rule double on a fly ball to center field. The double would score Ricardo Cespedes for the first FerryHawk run of the game. Jack Elliot would also pick up an RBI in the top of the first on a line drive to right field. Aguilar scores on the play as well as Jeffrey Wehler giving Staten Island a 3-0 to start out the game.

However, the Clock’s started to chip away at the lead with a run of their own. JC Encarnacion made it to second base on a line drive to centerfield. Manuel Geraldo made it all the way home on the play starting the Clock’s comeback campaign.

The campaign would continue, but not until the bottom of the fourth inning when Ronnie Dawson hit a line drive of his own to center field. Lexington’s Hector Roa made it home on the play from third cutting Staten Island’s lead to one run going into the top of the fifth inning.

JC Encarnacion doubled on a high fly ball to the warning track. Many fans in the stadium thought the ball would be a homerun but the ball would drop just shy of the wall. The play was huge for Lexington, tying the score late in the game. Thomas Dillard also did his part with a ground rule double of his own. Encarnacion scores on the play walking from third to Homeplate.

The FerryHawk’s Adrian Sanchez steals second base in the top of the eighth inning. Second baseman Brandt Broussard couldn’t hold onto the throw on the play. However, Sanchez would eventually be thrown out when he attempted to steal third as well. Lexington’s catcher Logan Brown threw a bullet on the play, perfectly executing the out at third base, ending the top of the eighth inning.

Neither team would score for the remainder of the game, leaving the score at 4-3 in favor of the Lexington Counter Clocks. The Clock’s look to take the second game of the series tomorrow in Lexington at 6:45 p.m.

York 4, Charleston 2

May 26, 2023 – Charleston, WV):  The York Revolution stifled the Charleston Dirty Birds, winning 4-2 in their series opener behind a combined two-hitter from the pitching staff on Friday evening at GoMart Ballpark.  The victory marked the 900th career win for Revs manager Rick Forney. It is also the third straight win for the Revs and fourth in the last five.

Denson Hull allowed just two hits in five strong innings while three relievers combined to hold the Dirty Birds without a hit over the final four frames as the Revs improved to 13-12 overall and 8-2 in games decided by two runs or fewer.

The story early on was both starting pitchers as Hull and Derrick Adams traded scoreless frames into the fifth.  Hull retired his first eight batters and 12 of his first 13 while Adams set down 10 in-a-row to start the game and 13 of his first 14 batters as the two lefties breezed through the first half of the contest.

Adams’ first blemish occurred after a four-pitch walk to Jhon Nunez with one out in the fifth. Richard Urena cashed in, driving a two-out RBI double to deep right center for the game’s first run and a 1-0 York lead.

Charleston responded in the bottom of the fifth as Justin O’Conner took a leadoff walk and Diego Goris singled to left. Hull absorbed a line drive comebacker, throwing to first base for the first out of the inning. Hull struck out the next two batters, but a passed ball and a wild pitch brought home two runs for a 2-1 Dirty Birds lead.

Trent Giambrone wasted no time in squaring things, squaring up Adams’ second pitch of the sixth inning for a game-tying homer to left-center, knotting things at 2-2.

York went in front with two runs in the seventh. Urena sparked the rally with a one-out single to right and Jacob Rhinesmith followed with a base hit into shallow right. Urena took third on an error and a wild pitch brought home Urena with the go-ahead run. Alejandro Rivera later smacked a two-out RBI single up the middle for another run, making it a 4-2 game.

Nelvin Correa (2-0) handled two no-hit innings out of the bullpen in the sixth and seventh.

Andrew Gross twirled his third consecutive 1-2-3 outing with a perfect eighth.

Derek Holland picked up the fourth save of his pro career with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Notes: Each of the Revs’ four victories in the last five games have come by two runs or fewer. They have scored the go-ahead runs in the sixth inning or later in seven of the last eight victories.  The two-hitter marks the fewest hits allowed in a game by the Revs since a combined two-hitter on June 24, 2021 vs. Southern Maryland. The bullpen has allowed just one run in its last 11 innings. Holland has not allowed a hit in 2.1 inninags since joining the squad. Gross has been scoreless in seven of nine total outings. Correa has been scoreless in seven of his last eight. At two hours and 16 minutes, the Revs have now played six of their last seven games in 2:41 or quicker. York will go for a fourth straight win on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. as lefty Nick Raquet (3-1, 1.65) faces Charleston’s Kit Scheetz (1-3, 4.50). Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and FloBaseball.TV beginning at 6:15 p.m. with Darrell Henry on the call.