WALDORF, Md. – The High Point Rockers dropped the first game of a six-game series at Southern Maryland on Tuesday night, falling 6-1 at Regency Furniture Stadium.

The Southern Maryland pitching staff held the Rockers to just four hits on the night while striking out 12.

With the loss, the Rockers fall to 70-48 overall and 29-26 in the second half while the Blue Crabs improve to 63-55 and 27-28. The Rockers fell to third place in the Atlantic League’s second half standings, four games behind Gastonia and one game behind second place Lexington.

Hits were hard to come by for the Rockers in the early going. Luis Gonzalez led off the game with a single to left to extend his consecutive games on-base streak to 25. Ben Aklinski followed with a single and both runners moved into scoring position. Southern Maryland starter Jason Blanchard was able to wiggle out of the inning without allowing a run.

But High Point would not collect another hit until the sixth inning when they were down 2-0.

The Blue Crabs tallied a single run in the third when High Point starter Jake Gilber issued a two-out walk to catcher Lyle Lin. After singles by Jackson Loftin and Pearce Howard loaded the bases, Lin scored on a wild pitch before Gilbert was able to strike out Ethan Wilson to limit the damage.

SMD added another run in the fourth on a lead-off double by Brett Barrera and a sac fly off Lin.

The Rockers put their first run on the board in the top of the sixth when Alex Dickerson drew a lead-off walk, was sacrificed to second by Drew Mendoza and then scored on a douible off the wall in right by Evan Edwards to make it a 2-1 contest.

The Blue Crabs broke the game open with four runs on just a single base hit in the bottom of the sixth. Rockers reliever Zach Vennaro walked four in the inning, including two with the bases loaded, as Southern Maryland surged ahead 6-1.

Daniel Blair pitched the seventh and eighth innings for the Rockers, setting down all six batters he faced.

Jalen Miller (W, 9-6) earned the victory with two innings of relief of starter Jason Blanchard. Jackson Loftin and Brett Barrera each had a pair of hits for SMD.

Game two of the six-game series is slated for a 6:35 p.m. start on Wednesday at Regency Furniture Stadium. The Rockers will send righty Fin Del Bonta-Smith (2-3, 3.42) to the mound to face Southern Maryland righty Shawn Semple (6-7, 4.06). Rocker fans can catch all the action on FLOBASEBALL.TV and on the MixLR app.

NOTES: The Rockers placed RHP Gabe Klobosits on the 7-day injured list effective Sept. 7. He will be eligible to come off on Sept. 14.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Long Island Ducks scored three runs in the top of the 11^th inning to take a 10-7 decision from the High Point Rockers on Saturday night at Truist Point.

Tied at 7-7 after nine innings, the Rockers held the Ducks scoreless in the top of the tenth then loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half but were unable to push across the deciding run.

In the top of the 11^th, the Ducks scored three runs on a pair of walks and a dropped fly ball along with Troy Viola’s RBI single. The Rockers were unable to answer in the bottom of the 11^th.

The game started as a recreation of home run derby. Long Island’s Leobaldo Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to give the Ducks the early lead. The Rockers responded in the bottom of the first when Evan Edwards hit a three-run bomb for a 3-2 Rockers lead. Luis Gonzalez extended the High Point lead to 5-2 with a two-run blast in the bottom of the second.

Long Island knotted the game in the third with three runs off High Point starter Jonah Scolaro. Cody Thomas hit a sac fly and Viola and River Town contributed run-scoring singles.

Long Island went ahead 7-5 in the sixth on a two-run single by Kole Kaler. High Point forged a 7-7 tie in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run double by Luke Napleton.

Cam Cotter (L, 0-2) pitched the final two innings for the Rockers and allowed three runs, all unearned while walking two and striking out one. Long Island’s Ramon Santos (W, 4-0) held the Rockers to one hit over his two innings of work while fanning three. Braydon Nelson (S, 6) put the Rockers down in order in the 11^th for the save.

The Rockers record falls to 69-77 on the season and 28-25 in the second half. Long Island is now 67-49 overall and 32-21 in the second half.

The Rockers remain three games behind Gastonia (31-22) with 10 games left to play in the regular season. High Point, by virtue of its first half South Division championship, has already secured its berth in the Atlantic League postseason.

The final game of the series is slated for a 4:05 p.m. first pitch on Sunday at Truist Point. The Rockers will send lefty Ben Wereski (2-4, 4.61) to the mound to face Long Island’s Tim Melville (5+4, 5.12). Rocker fans can catch all the action on FLOBASEBALL.TV and on the MixLR app. The Rockers will distribute 2025 team photos to fans coming through the gates and players will be available for autographs. The gates will open early on Sunday at 3 p.m.

 

NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 1:25 due to storms in the area . . . The Rockers had not walked a batter since the fourth inning of Tuesday’s game vs. Southern Maryland , , , The streak ended at 34 consecutive innings when Jonah Scolaro walked Kole Kaler in the third inning . . . The loss snapped High Point’s 10-game winning streak over the Ducks that dated back to a 3-1 Long Island win at Truist Point on June 6, 2024 . . . High Point and York are tied for the best overall record in the ALPB at 69-47.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers took an early 3-0 lead and held on to defeat the Long Island Ducks 3-2 on Friday night at Truist Point. D.J. Burt singled home a pair of runs and Rockers reliever Jameson McGrane set a club record with his 32^nd career save.

The win raises the Rockers record to 69-76 on the season and 28-24 in the second half. Long Island is now 66-49 overall and 31-21 in the second half. The Rockers entered the day three games behind Gastonia which hosted Southern Maryland on Friday night.

Fin Del Bonta-Smith (W, 2-3) went seven innings and held the Ducks to two runs on six hits while walking none. Andre Scrubb made his Rockers debut and allowed a pair of hits in the eighth but escaped without allowing a run. McGrane struck out two in putting the Ducks down in order to earn his 15^th save of the year and the 32^nd of his High Point career. He passed the previous mark of 31 held by Ryan Dull.

The Rockers took a 2-0 lead in the first when Drew Mendoza and Alex Dickerso each singled off Ducks starter Ryan Sandberg (L, 5-5). With two outs, D.J. Burt lined a single to left to score both base runners.

High Point took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth when Aidan Brewer drew a one-out walk from Sandberg and scored from first on a double by Luis Gonzalez.

The Ducks slowly cut into the lead, using a lead-off homer from Aaron Antonini in the fifth and a solo shot from Taylor Kohlwey in the seventh to make it a 3-2 game.

Luis Gonzalez had a pair of doubles and extended his streak of consecutive games on-base to 21.Dickerson added two hits for the Rockers while Kole Kaler, Ivan Castillo and Aaron Antonini each had a pair of hits for the Ducks.

Game two of the three-game set is slated for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch on Saturday at Truist Point. The Rockers will send lefty Jonah Scolaro (9-5, 6.22) to the mound to face Long Island’s Juan Hillman (9-5, 4.80). Rocker fans can catch all the action on FLOBASEBALL.TV and on the MixLR app.

NOTES: The Rockers achieved a milestone on Friday, completing their third consecutive game without issuing a walk . . . The Rockers haven’t walked a batter since the fourth inning of Tuesday’s game vs. Southern Maryland, marking 32 consecutive innings without allowing a walk . . . Long Island’s pitchers retired the final 13 High Point batters . . . The Rockers have now won 10 straight from the ducks dating back to Long Island’s 3-1 win at Truist Point on June 6, 2024.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Drew Mendoza drove in four runs to lead the High Point Rockers to a 7-5 win over the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the final game of a three-game series at Truist Point. Mendoza had a two-run homer in the first and a two-run single in the fourth.

The Rockers improved to 68-46 overall and 27-24 in the second half. Gastonia maintained its three-game lead over High Point the South Division second half race. Southern Maryland fell to 61-53 overall and 25-26 in the second half.

Mendoza’s hitting supported High Point starter Erich Uelmen (W, 5-4) who went five innings and struck out seven without issuing a walk.

After Mendoza drove in the first two runs for the Rockers, High Point added two more in the third on a double by Luis Gonzalez, an RBI double from Ben Aklinski and a run-scoring single from Evan Edwards.

Southern Maryland countered in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs on RBI singles by Alejandro De Aza and Brett Barrera. High Point led 4-2 in fourth when D.J. Burt singled and Bryson Parks drew a walk off SMD starter Shawn Semple (L, 6-7) before Mendoza singled home both runners for a 6-2 advantage.

The Blue Crabs made it a 6-4 game in the sixth when Uelmen allowed a single to De Aza and a triple from Barrera. Barrera would score on a single from Jamari baylor.

The Rockers added an insurance run in the eighth when Luke Napleton was hit by a pitch and came around to score on a bases-loaded ground out by Gonzalez to put High Point ahead 7-4. The Blue Crabs made it 7-5 with Jackson Loftin’s solo homer in the ninth off James McGrane (S, 14).

Gonzalez and Mendoza each finished with two hits for the Rockers who were out-hit 12-9.

The Rockers will open a three-game home series with the Long Island Ducks on Friday, September 5 with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

The Rockers will send righty Fin Del Bonta-Smith (4-4, 3.49) to the mound to face Long Island’s Ryan Sandberg (5-4, 4.10). Rocker fans can catch all the action on FLOBASEBALL.TV and on the MixLR app.

Friday’s game marks the final Fireworks Friday of the season with a postgame fireworks celebration slated for immediately following the game.

NOTES: The game was delayed by rain for an hour and 12 minutes at the start of the game.

 

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs’ Sam Dexter punched an RBI single to left in the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie and give the Crabs a 5-4 win over the High Point Rockers Wednesday night at Truist Point.

The win puts the Rockers at 67-46 on the season and 26-24 in the second half. Southern Maryland improved to 61-52 overall and 25-25 in the second half. The Rockers remain three games behind Gastonia in the South Division second half race with 13 games remaining in the regular season.

Each team put up a run in the first. The Blue Crabs’ Jackson Loftin led off the game with a single to left then scored on a double by Zack Racusin. High Point countered when Luis Gonzalez led off with a ground rule double to right before scoring on Ben Aklinski’s bloop single to right.

Max Viera’s lead-off triple in the second was followed by a sac fly from D.J. Burt as the Rockers took a 2-1 lead.

The Blue Crabs tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the third on Loftin’s solo homer.

Rockers starter Jake Gilbert exited in the fourth after loading the bases on a pair of hits and a hit batter. Gabe Klobosits came in from the bullpen and allowed a sac fly that put Southern Maryland in the lead at 3-2.

High Point got to Southern Maryland starter Jason Blanchard for a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth and took a 4-3 advantage. Drew Mendoza’s bases-loaded two-run double into the right field corner scored Aidan Brewer and Bryson Parks.

Daniel Blair relieved Klobosits in the sixth and yielded a solo homer to Jamari Baylor that tied the game 4-4.

The Crabs got to Rockers reliever Cam Cotter (L, 0-1) in the eighth to take a 5-4 lead. Following back-to-back singles  by Alejandro De Aza and Brett Barrera, Baylor reached on a fielder’s choice and Dexter singled through the left side to score Barrera to give the Crabs the lead.

Endrys Briceno (S, 5_ put the Rockers down in order to earn the save for the second straight night. SMD reliever Cody Thompson (W, 4-6) pitched two innings and did not allow a hit while striking out two.

Aklinski and Brewer each had a pair of hits for the Rockers while Mendoza had two RBI.

Game three of the series is scheduled for Thursday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. The Rockers will send righty Erich Uelmen (4-4, 3.49) to the mound to face Southern Maryland’s Shawn Semple (6-6, 3.75). Rocker fans can catch all the action on FLOBASEBALL.TV and on the MixLR app. Thursday’s game is the annual United Way CANpaign and all fans can gain free admission by bringing three non-perishable food items to the gate and redeem those for a free ticket.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs hit a pair of two-run homers and that was all they needed in posting a 4-3 win over the High Point Rockers Tuesday night at Truist Point.

The homers, from Sam Dexter in the second and Brett Barrera in the sixth, spoiled an otherwise outstanding pitching performance from Rockers starter Ben Wereski (L, 2-4). The first-year lefty went six innings, allowed five hits, walked two and struck out eight.

Dexter’s homer in the third was preceded by a walk to Giovanni Digiacomo while Barrera’s blast came after a double by Dondrei Hubbard.

The Rockers are 67-45 on the season and 26-23 in the second half, trailing Gastonia (29-20) by three games.

The Rockers tallied a run in the fourth to close the margin to 2-1 when Alex Dickerson doubled home Drew Mendoza who had drawn a walk from Blue Crabs starter Kyle Virbitsky (W, 1-0).

Down 4-1 in the seventh, the Rockers scored a pair of runs. After Virbitsky allowed a single by Ben Aklinski and walked Dickerson, Jordan Carr came on in relief. Carr walked Evan Edwards to load the bases. Max Viera’s grounder to third was misplayed, allowing Aklinski to score. Braxton Davidson hit into a triple play. His grounder to second was shuttled to the shortstop for the first out, the relay to first retired Davidson for the second out and Edwards, coming from second base, rounded third too wide and was cut down on a throw from first baseman Jamari Baylor to Barrera at third.

High Point had a shot to tie the game in the ninth when Viera doubled into the left field corner. But Davidson’s line drive single to right was played perfectly by right fielder Pearce Howard who threw home. Baylor cut the ball and threw to the plate in time to beat Viera’s head-first slide.

Endrys Briceno (S, 4) pitched the final inning and two-thirds, striking out two while allowing two hits.

High Point finished the night with eight hits to SMD’s seven.

Game two of the series is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. The Rockers will send RHP Jake Gilbert (1-1, 4.11) to the mound to face Southern Maryland’s Jason Blanchard (0-0, 0.52). Rocker fans can catch all the action on FLOBASEBALL.TV and on the MixLR app.

NOTES: The Rockers released three players prior to the game, all left-handed pitchers in Alex Barker, Win Scott and Sam Clay . . . High Point acquired OF Bryson Parks in a trade from the New Jersey Jackals of the Frontier League . . . Parks played his college baseball at Western Carolina University . . . The Rockers also signed RHP Andre Scrubb, a former High Point University pitcher who spent time in the Major Leagues with the Houston Astros.