HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Gastonia Baseball Club used a pair of home runs to edge past the High Point Rockers 4-3 on Tuesday night at Truist Point.

Josh Stowers smacked a two-run homer in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie and Justin Wylie hit a solo shot in the eighth that provided the key insurance run to the Gastonia Baseball club.

Gastonia opened the scoring in the first inning when Wylie doubled and scored on an RBI ground out. High Point responded with a lead-off triple from Ryan Grotjohn who scored on Evan Edwards’ infield ground out to tie the game.

Stowers’ homer in the third pushed Gastonia ahead 3-1 after Alan Alonso reached on an outfield error by the Rockers. High Point closed the gap to 3-2 in the sixth when Zander Wiel walked moved to second on a ground out by Jake Washer and scored on a Connor Owings single to right.

Wylie’s homer came in the top of the eighth off reliever Jacob Edwards and moved Gastonia in front 4-2.

The Rockers rallied in the ninth inning when Jake Washer’s pop out in shallow center field was dropped for a two-base error. D.J. Burt singled to right to plate Washer and pull the Rockers to within one.

Neil Ramirez (L, 4-5) went five innings for the Rockers and allowed four hits and three runs while walking two and striking out five. Mike Wright, Jr. (W, 1-1) went six innings, yielded four hits and three walks while striking out five. Phoenix Sanders (S, 10) allowed a run in the ninth but earned his 10^th save of the season for Gastonia.

Game two of the series with Gastonia is slated for Wednesday, July 3 at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. Wednesday’s game marks the start of three straight nights of postgame fireworks at Truist Point.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point starter Ben Braymer threw six innings of two-hit baseball as an emotional Rockers team won the series finale from the Charleston Dirty Birds 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at Truist Point. Earlier in the day the club learned that team chairman Coy O. Williard, Jr. had passed away following a long battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease).

“Our players felt his presence here today,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe.

The Rockers players each work a “Coy” patch on their jerseys and a moment of silence was held prior to the game with Coy’s family in attendance.

Braymer (W, 3-2) opened the game by retiring the first nine batters he faced. He issued a lead-off walk to Clint Frazier in the top of the fourth before allowing his first hit, an infield single, with two outs in the fifth. He finished with nine strikeouts while allowing two hits and two walks in his six innings of work.

The Rockers took an early lead in the first inning after Connor Owings drew a walk to score Ben Aklinski. Aklinski advanced to first on a fielder’s choice and a pair of singles from Colin Moran and Jake Washer moved him to third. 

In the third inning, Moran led off with a double and scored on a triple from Jake Washer. Washer was able to score on a sacrifice fly from Owings to push High Point’s lead to 3-0.

High Point tallied another run in the fourth inning for a 4-0 advantage. Ryan Grotjohn led off the inning with a single, stole second and third base and was able to score on an error when Charleston catcher Rusber Estrada tried to throw Grotjohn out at third. Estrada’s throw hit the bat of Aklinski and careened into foul territory, allowing Grotjohn to score. 

Grotjohn’s solo homer in the eighth gave the Rockers a 5-0 lead. 

Charleston did not score until the ninth inning when Keon Barnum smacked a solo home run. It was the only hit allowed by the Rockers bullpen over the final three innings.

The Rockers will enjoy an off-day on Monday and then start a three-game home series with the Gastonia Baseball Club. There will be postgame fireworks shows following each game on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers, behind six innings of shutout pitching by Cooper Casad, shutout the Charleston Dirty Birds 5-0 in the second game of the series at Truist Point on Saturday night.

Casad (W, 1-0), coming off Tommy John surgery that kept him off the mound for two years, has now thrown 11 innings this season without allowing a run or a walk.

The Rockers tallied their first run in the third inning after Ryan Grotjohn laced an RBI double to score DJ Burt who had drawn a walk from Charleston starter Adrian Almeida (L, 2-1). 

Ben Aklinski smacked a homer in the sixth inning to give High Point a 2-0 advantage over Charleston. It was Aklinski’s 13th home run of the season, and tied him with Zander Wiel for the team lead.

High Point scored three more runs in the eighth inning to put the game away. Jake Washer hit an RBI single to score Aklinski who drew a walk. Charleston pitcher Gerald Ogando walked the bases loaded and Colin Moran was able to score after Clayton Mehlbauer was hit by a pitch. The last run came when DJ Burt beat out a potential double play ball for a fielder’s choice. 

Casad (W, 1-0) left after six innings, having allowed three hits while striking out five. Relievers Jacob Edwards, Ryan Meisinger and Jameson McGrane combined to hold the Dirty Birds hitless over the final three innings while striking out six.

The final game of the series between the High Point Rockers and the Charleston Dirty Birds is slated for a 4:05 p.m. start on Sunday. 

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Charleston Dirty Birds erased an early 2-0 deficit and went on to post a 7-4 win over the High Point Rockers at Truist Point on Friday night in front of a crowd of 2,046.

The Rockers took an early lead 2-0 in the second inning. Fritz Genther and DJ Burt walked then advanced on a wild pitch from Charleston starter Mack Lemieux (W, 1-3). Ryan Grotjohn laced a two RBI single to score Genther and Burt.

Charleston erased that deficit in the fifth inning to take a 3-2 lead over the Rockers. Jonathan Soto drew a walk to lead off the inning and Juan Santana followed with a single. Clint Frazier was hit by a pitch before Jared Carr slapped an RBI single to score Soto. Willy Garcia’s two-run single scored Frazier and Santana and put Charleston in front.

High Point loaded the bases in the sixth inning but could not bring in a runner. Connor Owings reached on a fielder’s choice and Jake Washer followed with a double. DJ Burt was walked by Charleston reliever Edison Suriel. The Rockers left the bases loaded when Ryan Grotjohn struck out. 

The Dirty Birds were able to advance their lead in the eighth inning for 4-2. Philip Ervin led off the inning with a double and then stole third base. Soto was hit by a pitch from Zach Vennaro before stealing second. AJ Orrico walked to load the bases before Vennaro walked in a run by issuing a free pass to Philip Ervin. 

Charleston’s Rusber Estrada smacked a three-run homer in the ninth to give the Dirty Birds a 7-2 advantage. A pair of homers from Ben Aklinski and Colin Moran in the ninth cut into the deficit and accounted for the 7-2.

The second game of the series between the Rockers and the Dirty Birds is slated for a 6:35 p.m. start on Saturday night at Truist Point.

GASTONIA, N.C. – Jake Gatewood hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Gastonia Baseball Club a 4-3 win over the High Point Rockers on Thursday night at CaroMont Health Park in Gastonia. It was Gatewood’s second homer of the night and came off Rockers reliever David McKay (L, 3-1).

Gastonia took an early 2-0 lead when Kevin Watson led off the bottom of the first with a single off High Point starter Cam Bedrosian. Gatewood then homered to put the GBC in front.

The Rockers earned one run back in the second when Connor Owings singled to center and moved to third when Gastonia center fielder Joe Gray, Jr. misplayed a ball hit by Jake Washer. Brian Parreira’s sacrifice fly to center cut Gastonia’s lead to 2-1.

GBC increased its lead to 3-1 in the fourth on back-to-back singles by Patrick Mazeika and Justin Wylie. Mazeika then scored from second on Eric De La Rosa’s single to right.

The Rockers tied the game in the top of the fifth when Fritz Genther singled and Evan Edwards hit a two-run homer, his seventh of the season.

Rockers starter Cam Bedrosian went seven innings and allowed six hits and three runs while walking one and striking out four. Zach Muckenhirn pitched a scoreless eighth inning for High Point before turning it over to McKay in the ninth.

Gastonia reliever Phoenix Sanders (W, 3-0) put the Rockers down in order in the ninth to earn the win.

Owings finished with three hits for the Rockers.

High Point will return home and start a three-game series with the Charleston Dirty Birds on Friday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. It will be Strikeout Cancer Night, sponsored by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. Rockers assistant general manager Caroline Cooling, a cancer survivor who has battled Hodgkins Lymphoma over the past eight months, will be honored during the game.

GASTONIA, N.C. – The High Point Rockers may have led from start to finish but not without a season’s worth of drama in defeating Gastonia 14-12 on Wednesday night at CaroMont Health Park in Gastonia.

The Rockers had an 8-2 lead in the fourth that shrank to a 10-9 advantage after six innings. And after going to the bottom of the ninth leading 14-9, Gastonia rallied to score three times before the Rockers recorded the final out on the warning track.

With the Rockers leading 10-9 in the ninth, singles by Evan Edwards and Colin Moran and a walk to Ben Aklinski loaded the bases for Zander Wiel who then deposited Cory Thompson’s pitch over the wall for a grand slam and a 14-9 High Point lead.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and closer Jameson McGrane on the mound for the Rockers, Gastonia used a ground rule double by Dean Miller and a single by Hidekel Gonzalez to set the table for a three-run homer from Kevin Watson, Jr. that pulled Gastonia to within two at 14-12. After allowing a double to Joe Gray, Jr., McGrane was able to get Patrick Mazeika to fly out to Evan Edwards on the warning track in right to seal the win for High Point.

The win leaves the Rockers (34-21) trailing Gastonia (38-17) by four games with eight left to play. The two teams meet again on Thursday night in Gastonia then play a three-game set at Truist Point next week.

The Rockers opened the scoring in their first at-bat when Ben Aklinski doubled off the wall in left field and scored when Colin Moran lined a single down the right field line. Zander Wiel followed with a double to left that moved Moran to third. DH Jake Washer then hit a Texas Leaguer to right where it was bobbled by Eric De La Rosa as both Moran and Wiel scored and Washer took second. Brian Parreira then smacked a two-run homer to left to put High Point ahead 5-0.

Josh Stowers answered back with a solo homer for Gastonia in the bottom of the first, making it a 5-1 game. Watson, Jr.’s solo blast in the bottom of the third narrowed High Point’s lead to 5-2.

The Rockers added two more runs in the fourth to forge a 7-2 lead. A solo homer by Washer was followed by a triple by rookie Fritz Genther. D.J. Burt hit a Baltimore chop that cleared the head of third baseman Dean Miller and reached the outfield as Genther trotted home.

Gastonia’s Jake Gatewood singled in the bottom of the fourth, moved to third on a double by Josh Wylie then scored on an infield groundout by De La Rosa to make it an 8-3 game.

In the fifth inning, a double by Wiel and a single back through the box by Connor Owings increased High Point’s lead to 9-3.

Gastonia tagged High Point starter Neil Ramirez for four runs in the fifth including a three-run homer from Justin Wylie as Gastonia pulled to within two at 9-7.

The Rockers pushed the lead to 10-7 in the top of the sixth when Burt doubled and scored on a fielding error by Gastonia reliever Ian McKinney.

In the bottom of the sixth, Gastonia loaded the bases with one out off reliever Braeden Ogle (W, 1-0). After a walk to Joe Gray, Jr. forced in one run, a fly ball to Wiel in left led to a 7-5 double play and the Rockers escaped with a 10-9 lead.

The Rockers left a pair of runners on board in the top of the seventh and High Point reliever Zach Vennaro was able to pitch out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh to maintain High Point’s 10-9 lead.

Ryan Meisinger pitched around a single in the eighth as the Rockers maintained their 14-9 lead.