CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Charleston Dirty Birds broke up a close game with a six-run seventh inning and posted an 11-5 win over the High Point Rockers on Saturday night at GoMart Park.

The loss dropped the Rockers to 1.5 games back of Charleston in the Atlantic League’s South Division. The Rockers are 15-10 while Charleston improved to 16-8. Gastonia is 14-10 and was leading Lexington 14-7 on Saturday night before the game went into a rain delay.

High Point took a 3-0 lead in the second inning against Charleston starter Gabriel Rodriguez (W, 2-3). Michael Martinez drew a lead-off walk and Jake Washer doubled to left, moving Martinez to third. D.J. Burt then homered, his fifth of the season, to give the Rockers an early lead.

Charleston knotted the game in the bottom of the third as Juan Santana doubled off High Point starter Neil Ramirez (L, 5-4). Ramirez allowed a sac fly by Delino Deshields before Joseph Rosa followed with a solo homer to make it a 3-2 game. After a Tillman Pugh double, Jared Carr delivered an RBI single that tied the game.

The Dirty Birds took a 5-3 lead in the fourth that started with a walk to Luis Curbelo and a single from Rusber Estrada. Juan Santana’s bunt was mishandled by Connor Owings with Curbelo scoring. Jacob Edwards came in from the bullpen and committed an error to allow Estrada to score.

The Rockers loaded the bases in the sixth and Ben Aklinski was hit by a pitch to bring in a run and cut the deficit to one at 5-4.

But Charleston sent 11 batters to the plate in the seventh and scored six runs to take a11-4 lead.

The Rockers added a run in the ninth on a single by Jake Washer who moved to second on a groundout by Aidan Brewer and scored on a single by Martin Figueroa.

Washer and Figueroa each had a pair of hits for the Rockers while Aklinski drew three walks.

Game three of the series is slated for a 4:05 p.m. start on Sunday at Go Mart Park.

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The Gastonia Baseball Club used a pair of three-run innings to power past the High Point Rockers 8-5 on Thursday night at Truist Point.

Gastonia catcher Hidekel Gonzalez drove in four runs with a solo homer in the second inning and a bases-loaded double in the seventh to lead GBC.

Gastonia took an early lead in the second inning. Gonzalez’s solo homer gave GBC a 1-0 lead. Eric De La Rosa followed with a triple and scored on a Richie Martin single to put GBC up 2-0.

High Point evened the game up on a pair of Evan Edwards solo homers, one in the second and another in the fourth, both coming off Gastonia starter Harrison Francis (W, 1-1).

The game turned in the sixth when Gastonia got to High Point reliever Austin Warner (L, 0-1) for three runs. The key blows were a double by Martin and a two-run double by Josh Stowers. GBC added three more runs in the seventh when Rockers’ reliever Garrett Schilling allowed a single and a pair of walks to load the bases. Gonzalez then doubled to right-center, clearing the bases and giving Gastonia an 8-3 lead.

The Rockers rallied for a pair of runs in the eighth off Gastonia lefty Nick Horvath. Edwards singled, his third hit of the night, and moved to third on a double by Trey Martin. Aidan Brewer brought home a run with a sac fly and Brian Parreira bounced out to short as Martin scored from third.

High Point starter Stephen Ridings went 4.1 innings before leaving with a blister. Gastonia’s Trevor Clifton put the Rockers down in order in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.

High Point (15-8) holds a half-game lead over Charleston (14-8) which was rained out on Thursday. Gastonia is in third at 13-10, two games back of the Rockers

The Rockers return home on August 9th to face off against the Charleston Dirty Birds at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point Rockers defeated the Gastonia Baseball Club 7-6 in 10 innings on Wednesday night at Truist Point.

But that doesn’t tell half the story.

The first half of this tale is that the Rockers were on their way to throwing just the second one-hitter in club history and the first since 2019. Three Rockers hurlers had their way with the Gastonia line-up through the first eight innings. Starter Jeremy Rhoades went five innings and held Gastonia to a single hit and just one run. Lefty Jacob Edwards threw a pair of hitless innings in the sixth and seventh. And righty Zach Vennaro pitched around a walk in the eighth to keep the GBC in check.

Offensively, the Rockers took advantage of some poor Gastonia defense while generating plenty of offense to build a 6-1 lead after eight innings. High Point scored three times in the third on an RBI single from Ben Aklinski, a sac fly from Connor Owings, and an unearned run that came when Martin Figueroa reached on an infield error. The lead grew to 4-0 in the fourth on a sac fly from Gilberto Jimenez.

Gastonia used a walk, a stolen base and a pair of infield groundouts to score its lone run in the fifth.

High Point took advantage of two walks, an error and another sac fly, this one from Evan Edwards, to surge ahead 5-1 in the fifth then added an insurance run in the sixth when Figueroa’s fly ball to right was dropped and he scored on a single by Owings.

High Point tied the club record with three sacrifice flies and used their speed to beat out three infield singles through the first eight innings.

But, there’s always more to the story.

The Rockers brought in closer Dakota Chalmers in the ninth before misfortune hit. Chalmers walked the first two batters he faced before striking out Jake Gatewood for the first out and followed by fanning Marc Flores for the second out. Down to their last out, Gastonia’s Clint Coulter beat out an infield single of his own to load the bases. Jacob Robson then brought home a pair of runs with a double in the left-center gap. With two aboard, catcher Hidekel Gonzalez sent a line drive over the left field fence for a three-run homer to tie the game before Chalmers fanned Alan Alonso to force extra innings tied at 6-6. High Point did not get a runner into scoring position in the ninth,

Nate Griep (W, 2-1) came on the for Rockers in the 10^th with a ghost runner at second in the form of pinch-runner Eric De La Rosa. Richie Martin attempted to bunt De La Rosa to third but he lined the bunt directly back to Griep who fired to second to double off De La Rosa on a 1-6 double play.

The Rockers began their half of the 10^th with Owings at second and Gabe Klobosits (L, 4-4) on the mound for Gastonia. Edwards pulled a grounder to first that resulted in an out but moved Owings to third. After an intentional walk to Trey Martin to set up a potential double play, Jake Washer hit a high chopper to first. Flores leaped and made the grab before stepping on first but was unable to get off a throw to home, allowing Owings to score the winning run.

Figueroa and Burt each had a pair of hits for the Rockers 10-hit attack. Gastonia had four hits in the game and committed three errors leading to four unearned runs. Coulter was the only Gastonia player with two hits.

The Rockers, 15-7 in the second half, will maintain first place in the Atlantic League South. Charleston (13-8) was still playing late Wednesday night and Gastonia (12-10) is in third place.

The High Point Rockers will face the Gastonia Baseball Club in the series finale on Thursday, August 1st at 6:35 p.m. It will be Thirsty Thursday with beverage specials at all concession stands.

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The Gastonia Baseball Club’s Jake Gatewood snapped a 3-3 game with a two-run homer in the eighth inning to lead Gastonia to a 5-4 win over High Point on Tuesday night at Truist Point. The Rockers mounted a furious rally in the ninth but could not complete it.

Gatewood’s homer came with two outs in the eighth inning off Rockers reliever Will Carter. Having entered in the eighth, Carter retired the first two batters on soft infield grounders. After walking Justin Wylie, Gatewood hit a 3-1 pitch out to right to put Gastonia up 5-3.

In the bottom of the ninth, Brian Parreira led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error by Gastonia second baseman Justin Wylie. D.J. Burt followed with a single but Parreira was thrown out at third by rightfielder Eric De La Rosa. After Burt stole second, Martin Figueroa slapped a single up the middle to score Burt and pull the Rockers to within one. But Gastonia closer Gabe Klobosits was able to retire Ben Aklinski to end the game.

The Rockers struck first when Aidan Brewer singled to drive in Trey Martin for a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Martin had previously singled to right and then stole second base.

Figueroa blasted a solo homer, his fourth of the season, in the third inning for a 2-0 Rockers lead.

In the top of the fourth, Gatewood singled home Wylie to put Gastonia on the board. Gastonia scored again in the fifth with a solo homer from Jacob Robson to tie the game at 2-2.

Brewer collected another RBI single, scoring Trey Martin to break the tie in the sixth frame giving High Point a 3-2 advantage. Gastonia responded in the seventh with an RBI single from J.J Schwarz knot the game again at 3-3.

Despite the loss, the Rockers (14-7) remain in first place in the Atlantic League’s South Division, over Charleston (13-8) and Gastonia (12-9).

The High Point Rockers will face the Gastonia Baseball Club for game two of the series on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point Rockers scored seven runs in the first five innings and claimed their second straight win over Gastonia by a final of 7-1 on Thursday night at Truist Point. Jeremy Rhoades, making his first start since May 20, went five innings and scattered six hits while striking out six as he improved to 2-2 on the season.

The Rockers struck in the second inning when Trey Martin singled and scored on a Brian Parreira double.

Ben Aklinksi led-off the third frame for the Rockers by drawing a walk, then advancing to second on a balk by Gastonia starter Mike Wright, Jr. (L, 2-4). Quincy Latimore singled home Aklinski to give the Rockers a 2-0 advantage.

Gastonia scored its lone run in the fourth inning when Eric De La Rosa drove singled home Clint Coulter who had doubled and moved to third on an outfield error.

Gilberto Jimenez launched a three-run homer in the fourth as the Rockers took a 5-1 lead. And a two-run double off the bat of Evan Edwards in the fifth put High Point on top 5-1.

Kyle Halbohn pitched a scoreless sixth for the Rockers and Nate Espelin kept Gastonia from scoring in the seventh and eighth. Newcomer Nate Griep made his first appearance as a Rocker, retiring Gastonia in order in the ninth.

The Rockers are now 12-5 in the second half and in command of first place in the Atlantic League’s South Division. High Point is one game ahead of Charleston (11-6) and three games in front of Gastonia (9-8) this half.

High Point is set to play the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Friday, July 26th with a 7:05 p.m. start. That will launch a three-game weekend series at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Md.

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point Rockers blasted three home runs on Tuesday night to power their way to a 9-4 win over the Gastonia Baseball Club at Truist Point. The Rockers led from start to finish and scored multiple runs in the second, third and fourth innings to secure the win.

Rookie Aidan Brewer hit his first homer with one aboard in the second to put the Rockers in front 2-0. Gastonia’s Richie Martin hit a solo shot in the third to cut the margin to 2-1.

High Point went ahead 6-1 with a four-run outburst in the third. Connor Owings hit a two-run homer and Evan Edwards a solo shot while Brian Parreira brought in a run with a sac fly.

Gastonia responded in the fourth with a solo homer from Justin Wylie and an RBI single by Eric De La Rosa to pull the GBC within three at 6-3.

The Rockers topped off their scoring with three more runs in the fourth. Walks to D.J. Burt and Martin Figueroa put two aboard before Ben Aklinski drove both of them in with a triple to center. Owings added a sac fly to score Aklinski and give High Point a 9-3 lead.

Martin and Clint Coulter each singled in the seventh while Rockers reliever Will Carter walked Jake Gatewood to load the bases. Martin scored on a passed ball but Carter was able to induce Marc Flores into a 3-6-1 double play to end the threat.

Rockers starter Jonah Scolaro (W, 5-1) pitched 5.2 innings before being relieved after his 99^th pitch. Scolaro allowed eight hits and three runs but struck out seven and helped Gastonia strand six men on base in the first six innings.

Zach Vennaro pitched around a walk and a hit batter to keep Gastonia scoreless in the eighth. Dakota Calmers allowed a ninth inning double to Gatewood but he was stranded when Flores went down swinging for the final out of the game.

Gastonia starter Ryan Conroy (L, 4-5) allowed 10 hits and nine runs, eight earned, over his four innings of work with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.

Owings finished the night with three RBI on a single, triple and sac fly. Aklinski and Brewer each drove in two runs for High Point. Wylie, Gastonia’s second baseman, had three hits including a double and homer, and drove in one run.

High Point moved to two games in front of Gastonia in the Atlantic League’s South Division second half pennant race. The Rockers (11-5 in the second half) improved to 47-32 overall while Gastonia fell to 9-7 and 55-24. The Charleston Dirty Birds are now one game back of High Point after starting the second half with a 10-6 record.

Game three of the series will start at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday at Truist Point. It will be Thirsty Thursday with beverage specials at all concession stands.

NOTES: The Rockers turned a double play for the 11th consecutive game, extending a club record… High Point turned a 6-4-3 double play in the first and a 3-6-1 in the seventh… Aidan Brewer hit his first professional home run, a two-run shot to left in the second inning to give the Rockers a 2-0 lead… On Wednesday, the Rockers released RHP Ryder Giles and signed RHP Nate Griep. Griep was with Staten Island earlier this season… RHP Cooper Casad went on the injured list with a toe injury, giving the Rockers six players on the IL… Also on the injured list are RHP Taylor Guerrieri, LHP Braeden Ogle, INF Colin Moran, RHP Jeremy Rhoades and C Jake Washer… Rhoades should come off the list on Thursday and is expected to earn his first start since May 10.. Thursday may be Quincy Latimore’s final game for the Rockers this season as his partner, Yolanda, is expecting a child any day. The only Rocker to appear in a game in all five seasons, Latimore is sitting on 296 hits as a Rocker and 59 home runs, both marks are the third-most in team history.