HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers’ five-game winning streak came to a halt on Wednesday night as the Charleston Dirty Birds took game two of the series by a 12-5 margin at Truist Point.

The Rockers were held without a hit for the first time this season, collecting 12 hits to Charleston’s 18.

The Rockers found themselves trailing for the first time this year when the ‘Birds tallied three runs in the third inning on a two-run double by Drew Ellis and an RBI single from Jared Carr.  The Rockers scored a pair of runs in the fifth when Ryan Grotjohn tripled and scored on a sac fly from D.J. Burt. After Martin Figueroa singled, a pair of Charleston errors moved him to third where he scored on a sac fly from Connor Owings.

Charleston tallied nine times over their final four at-bats, Rusber Estrada hit a three-run homer in the seventh, and tallied three times in the ninth on three consecutive hits.

The Rockers made their last gasp at taking the lead with two runs in the seventh. A single by Figueroa and a walk to Ben Aklinski led to a two-run double from Owings.

While Aklinski was held without a hit for the first time this year, Owings continued his hot streak, collecting a pair of hits, including a double and drove in three runs.

Peter Solomon (l, 0-1) started and went four innings and allowed six hits and three runs while striking out eight. Charleston’s Kyle McGowin (W, 1-0) went five innings, yielding six hits and two runs while fanning four.

The loss leaves the Rockers at 5-1 on the season.

The third and final game of the series will take place on Thursday night at Truist Point. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.

 

RECAP: High Point Rockers 8, Charleston Dirty Birds 0
Tuesday, April 30, 2024

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Five High Point pitchers held Charleston to just three hits as the Rockers opened their home season with a rousing 8-0 win over the Dirty Birds in front of a crowd of 2,029 on Tuesday night at Truist Point.

The Rockers have now started the season at 5-0 and are the only undefeated team in professional baseball.

Lefty Brandon Leibrandt went four innings and allowed just one hit while striking out seven. David Mckay allowed a hit in the fifth and then Southwest Guilford High grad Jacob Edwards tossed a pair of scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out four. Zach Muckenhirn didn’t allow a hit in the eighth and Austin Ross closed it out by pitching around a walk in the ninth.

Offensively, the Rockers came out hot right from the start. Connor Owings slugged an RBI single in the first and Zander Wiel knocked home a run on an infield groundout to stake the Rockers to a 2-0 lead.

Owings and Wiel led off the third with back-to-back homers to push the Rockers to a 4-0 advantage. The lead ballooned to 7-0 with Aklinski rocketing a three-run homer, his fourth of the year. D.J. Burt hit a solo homer in the eighth to complete the scoring.

Charleston’s hits came on a double by Jared Carr in the second, a single by Carr in the fifth and a single by Gabriel Cancel in the seventh.

Aklinski finished with three RBI, Connor Owings had three hits, a pair of doubles and two RBI, and Wiel finished with two RBI. Burt had two singles and a homer for a three-hit night.

The Rockers and Dirty Birds will play game two of the three-game series on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

NOTES: The Rockers are 5-0 to start the season for the first time in club history . . . Ben Aklinski leads the Atlantic League with four homers and 15 RBI . . . High Point has hit 15 homers through the first five games . . . Gastonia has 15 homers through its first 8 games . . . High Point has hit multiple homers in every game this season . . .  Here are High Point’s previous 5-game homer totals: 2019-2; 2021-2; 2022-3; 2023-5 . . . The Rockers, at 5-0 are the only undefeated team in professional baseball . . . Aklinski has a hit in all five games, a homer in three of five contests and an RBI in four of five . . . Connor Owings has a hit in all five games, a homer in three of five and an RBI in three of five . . . This marked the 20^th time in 529 all-time games that High Point pitchers have held the opponents to three hits or fewer.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Nick Longhi and Zander Wiel each hit home runs on Sunday to lead the High Point Rockers to a 4-2 win over Lexington and a season-opening four-game sweep of the Legends at Legends Field.

The Rockers are now 4-0 for the first time in club history and will put that mark on the line when they open the home season on Tuesday night against the Charleston Dirty Birds.

Longhi led off the top of the fourth with an opposite field homer to right, marking his third consecutive game with a home run.

The Rockers put up three runs in the sixth inning. Zander Wiel hit a solo homer with one out to put High Point up 2-0. It was Wiel’s first homer of the year and his 62^nd as a Rocker, extending his club record.

Longhi followed with a single before Lexington starter David Reckers (L, 0-1) walked Brian Parreira. A wild pitch moved the runners up a base before Jake Washer delivered an RBI single for a 3-0 lead. After the Legends brought in Joe Joe Rodriguez from the bullpen, he threw a wild pitch that allowed Parreira to score, extending the lead to 4-0.

High Point starter Jeremy Rhoades (W, 1-0) had a sterling outing, throwing five scoreless innings while allowing just four hits and a walk while striking out six.

Neil Ramirez came on in the sixth inning and held the Legends scoreless through the seventh. In the eighth, Lexington’s Ryan Davis tripled before Payton Robertson singled to bring home Lexington’s first run. After stealing second, Robertson scored on a double by Matt Bottcher to make it a 4-2 Rockers lead.  Rockers manager Jamie Keefe turned to the bullpen and Austin Ross who retired Brady Whalen on one pitch to end the threat.

High Point’s Jameson McGrane walked Ryan January, the lead-off hitter, and Tristian Pompey to start the bottom of the ninth. A grounder to Parreira at first led to Pompey being retired at second but left runners on the corners with one out. McGrane fanned Wilmin Candelario for the second out and then struck out Ryan Davis looking for the final out, giving McGrane his first save of the year.

The Rockers will have a day off on Monday and then open the home season at Truist Point on Tuesday, April 30 at 6:35 p.m. against the Charleston Dirty Birds. High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson will be joined by a pair of 100-year old World War II veterans in Frank Meyers and Jim “Tank” Deal in throwing out the first pitch.

 

NOTES: The Rockers’ club record for consecutive games with a home run is four set by Zander Wiel during the 2022 season . . . High Point is 4-0 to start the season for the first time in the club’s five-year history . . . Rockers rotation for the Charleston series is expected to be LHP Brandon Leibrandt on Tuesday followed by RHP Peter Solomon and RHP Kyle Barraclough.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ben Aklinski blasted a pair of home runs and drove in a club record eight runs as the High Point Rockers blasted the Lexington Legends 19-7 on Saturday night at Legends Field. With the win, the Rockers move to 3-0 on the season for the first time in team history.

Aklinski hit a three-run homer in the fifth and a grand slam in the ninth as part of a five-homer night by High Point. In addition to 17 hits, the Rockers drew a team record 17 walks from Lexington pitchers.

The game marked the third-most runs ever scored by a Rockers team.

Aklinski finished with four hits as did Connor Owings. Martin Figueroa tied the club record with four walks and added his first homer as a Rocker.

The Rockers started the scoring with a pair of runs in the second. Ben Aklinski singled home a run and Connor Owings made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly.

Jake Washer provided an RBI single in the third before the roof fell in on the Legends in the fourth. Evan Edwards singled home one run before Nick Longhi unloaded a three-run homer, his second of the year, to give the Rockers an 8-0 lead.

Lexington got on the board in the fourth with a pair of runs off Rockers’ starter Ryan Weiss. Keenan O’Brien hit a two-run single to center with the bases loaded to score two and cut the Rockers’ lead to 8-2.

The Rockers tacked on three more runs in the fifth when D.J. Burt led off with a single and Lexington reliever Parker Bugg walked Figueroa. Aklinski then unloaded a three-run homer for an 11-2 homer. And, for the second time this year, Owings made it back-to-back homers with a solo shot for a 12-2 advantage.

Drew Jemison hit a lead-off homer off Weiss I the bottom of the fifth to make it a 12-3 contest before Matt Bottcher added a solo shot of his own to make it 12-4. Following a Brady Whalen double, Rockers manager Jamie Keefe turned to lefty Jacob Edwards out of the bullpen who was able to escape the frame without any further damage.

The Rockers extended their lead to 13-4 with a run in the seventh. Owings walked, moved to third on a double by Wiel and scored on a swinging bunt base hit by Longhi. Owings added an RBI single in the eighth to put High Point up 14-4.

Zach Muckenhirn allowed a pair of hits and a walk in the eighth inning to load the bases before walking in a run. An infield grounder resulted in the Rockers committing a pair of e5rrors on the play, allowing two runs as Lexington pulled to within 14-7.

With the Rockers up 15-7 in the ninth, Aklinski added his sixth career grand slam to make it a 19-7 game. Aklinski is High Point’s all-time leader with six grand slams.

Weiss went 4.1 innings and allowed seven hits and four runs while walking one and fanning seven. Edwards pitched 2.2 innings and allowed just one hit while striking out two. Zach Muckenhirn came on in the eighth and Ryan Meisinger mopped up in the ninth.

Tomorrow’s series finale is slated for a 2 p.m. start at Legends Field. The Rockers open their home season on Tuesday night at 6:35 pm against the Charleston Dirty Birds.

 

NOTES: Figueroa drew four walks on the night, tying the club record . . . Ryan Meisinger has now pitched two complete innings for the Rockers and retired six hitters, all by strikeout.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Nick Longhi blasted a two-run homer in the seventh inning to lead the High Point Rockers to a 5-2 win over the Lexington Legends on Friday afternoon at Legends Field. The Rockers are now 2-0 to start the season.

Longhi’s homer, his first as a Rocker, broke a 2-2 tie and came as part of a three-run seventh inning outburst.

Rockers’ reliever Taylor Guerrieri (W, 1-0) earned the victory with three innings of hitless relief. Guerrieri fanned five of the nine men he faced and did not allow a base runner. Lexington reliever Clinton Hollon (L, 0-1) was credited with the loss after allowing three runs in his lone inning of work. Lexington starter Aaron Perry struck out 12 hitters in six innings while High Point starter Kyle Barraclough went four innings, allowing five hits and striking out six. Austin Ross worked around a single in the ninth to earn the save for High Point.

Brian Parreira staked the Rockers to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when he hit his first home run of the year. Luis Acevedo, making his first start as a Rocker, reached first on a dropped third strike and promptly stole second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Ben Aklinski’s bloop single to right.

Lexington tied the game in the bottom of the fourth when Ryan January homered off Barraclough with Tristian Pompey aboard to tie the game at 2-2.

The Rockers put the game away with three runs in the top of the seventh. Ryan Grotjohn led off the inning with a walk, then Longhi hit a two-run homer to left center to make it a 4-2 game. Parreira then doubled into the rightfield corner and took third on an infield error by Lexington third baseman Jesus Tavarez. Acevedo then drew a walk before D.J. Burt hit a sac fly to center to score Parreira and give the Rockers a 5-2 lead.

The Rockers pitching staff retired 16 straight the fourth and ninth innings.

Game three of the four game series is set for a 7 o’clock start on Saturday at Legends Field.

NOTES: The Rockers are off to a 2-0 start for the second consecutive year… No previous Rockers team has won its first three games of the season… Ben Aklinski leads the Rockers with a .500 average after going 4-for-8 in the first two games . . . He is also the team leader with four RBI . . . Nick Longhit (4-for-9) is hitting .444 . . . Rockers pitchers have recorded 26 strikeouts in the first 18 innings while yielding just 15 hits and five walks.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – D.J. Burt scored the winning run on a passed ball in the top of the 10^th inning to help the Rockers to a 7-6 win over the Lexington Legends Tuesday night at Legends Field on Opening Night in the Atlantic League.

Burt’s run wiped out memories of a club-tying six-run blown lead that nearly came back to haunt the Rockers.

High Point built a 6-0 lead through the first 5 and one-half innings behind a two-run homer from Ben Aklinski and a solo shot from Connor Owings. Trailing 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Legends ralled with a ingle run in the fifth, two runs in the eighth and three in the ninth including a game-tying two-run homer from Jesus Tavarez.

With Burt as the ghost runner on second to start the 10^th, Martin Figueroa lined a shot off reliever, Logan Campbell, who recovered and retired Figueroa at first while Burt moved to third. The Legends opted to intentionally walk Owings and face Zander Wiel with runners on the corners. Campbell walked Wiel to load the bases before a wild pitch to Evan Edwards went to the backstop and allowed Burt to score the go-ahead run.

Ryan Meisinger took the mound for the Rockers in the 10^th and struck out the side to earn the save.

The Rockers broke the ice in the top of the second when Nick Longhi singled, moved to second on a walk to Brian Parreira and scored on a single to right by Burt.

The Rockers extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth when Figueroa legged out an infield hit to second before Aklinski hit the first offering from Lexington starter Dustin Beggs out to left field for his first homer of the year. Owings then made it 4-0, following Aklinski’s blast with one of his own.

High Point starter Peter Solomon kept the Legends hitless until Kingston Liniak doubled with two outs in the fourth. Solomon struck out the side in the first and fourth innings and finished with seven Ks. Over his four innings, Solomon allowed just one hit and one walk while fanning seven of the 13 batters he faced.

The Rockers added a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Longhi reached on a fielder’s choice before Ryan Grotjohn drew a two out walk off reliever Jeff Johnson. A wild pitch put runners on second and third and was followed by a walk to Burt. Figueroa then drew an RBI walk ahead of Aklinski who singled to score Grotjohn but Burt was thrown out at the plate trying to score.

Matt Solter came on in the fifth for High Point and allowed a single to Tristian Pompey and a double to Brady Whalen. Keenan O’Brien grounded out to Burt at second as Pompey crossed the play for Lexington’s first run of the game, making it a 6-1 contest before Solter was able to escape any further damage.

Solter allowed a single to Payton Robertson to lead off the sixth but then retired three in a row. The Legends went down in order in the seventh but put runners on second and third with one out in the eighth. Rockers manager Jamie Keefe went with lefty Zach Muckenhirn in relief of Solter. Matt Botcher singled to score Tavarez. In clearly the strangest play of the night, the Legends scored when Liniak singed to left, plating one run. But the Rockers caught Liniak trying to stretch the hit into a double and then were able tag out Bottcher off third for an inning-ending double play.

Muckenhirn walked Ryan January to start the ninth before Pompey doubled to put runners on second and third. The Rockers turned to Jameson McGrane who retired Whalen on a foul out to third for the first out. O’Brien made it a 6-4 game with a sac fly to right but Tavarez tied the game with a two-run homer that sent the game into extra innings tied at 6-6.

Aklinski finished with three hits and three RBI while Owings added a pair of hits. Longhi, in his first game as a Rocker, had three hits and two runs scored.

The Rockers and Legends will take the field at 10:15 a.m. on Friday for game two of the four-game season-opening series.

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