HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point starting pitcher Brandon Leibrandt made his best start of the season, going five innings and limiting Long Island to just three hits as the Rockers took game two of the series by a 6-1 final score in front of a crowd of 2,045 at Truist Point on Saturday night.

Leibrandt (W, 1-2) went five innings and yielded just three hits while walking one and striking out three. Neil Ramirez came on in the sixth and allowed a single run in the eighth before Cam Bedrosian and Austin Ross recorded the last four outs of the game.

Zander Wiel put the Rockers on the scoreboard when he led off the bottom of the second with a double to left-center and scored on a single by Michael Martinez to give the Rockers a 1-0 lead.

The Rockers put up four runs in the fourth to increase their lead to 5-0. Franklin Van Gurp replaced Ducks’ starter Justin Courtney (L, 0-2) to start the inning and hit Beau Taylor in the foot with a pitch then walked Daikan Yoh. A single by Brian Parreira put the Rockers up 2-0. Michael Martinez then grounded back to Van Gurp whose throw to second to try and start a double play sailed into center field, allowing Yoh to score. D.J. Burt followed with a single that brought home both Parreira and Martinez for a 5-0 lead.

Long Island plated its lone run in the eighth inning when Brian Goodwin slapped a one-out double and scored on a single by Brantley Bell. Ben Aklinski saved another run with a diving catch of a sinking line drive in right to rob Alejandro De Aza of a base hit that would have scored another run. After Ramirez hit Sam Travis with a pitch, Bedrosian was summoned from the bullpen and he struck out pinch-hitter Boog Powell to end the inning.

High Point added an insurance run in the eighth when Taylor singled and pinch-runner John Daly stole second. Yoh then singled up the middle as Daly raced home to give the Rockers a 6-1 lead.

Courtney (L, 0-2) went three innings and allowed four hits and one run with no walks and two strikeouts.

Taylor was the only Rocker with two hits in the nine-hit attack. Burt’s two RBI were also a team-best.

The Rockers improved to 56-31 overall and 15-9 in the second half while Long Island, the North Division first half champion, fell to 11-13 and 48-39.

With Gastonia’s win over Lexington on Saturday night, the Honey Hunters are now 13-10 in the second half, 1.5 games behind High Point.

The third and final game of the series between the Rockers and Ducks is slated for a 4:05 p.m. start on Sunday at Truist Point. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Long Island lefty Robert Stock held High Point to just one run over eight innings of work while the Ducks’ defense turned five double plays in a 7-1 win over the Rockers in front of a crowd of 2,309 on Friday night at Truist Point.

Stock allowed the Rockers just two hits through the first five innings while relying on his infield defense to turn a double play in each of the first four innings. In the first inning, Stock allowed a lead-off single to D.J. Burt but Quincy Latimore grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. In the second, Beau Taylor started the inning with a walk but was erased on another 6-4-3 twin killing. Brian Parreira was hit by a pitch to start the third but eliminated on a 6-3 double play. Shed Long, Jr. singled to start the fourth but a 4-6-3 double play ball from Ben Aklinski cut the inning short. The fifth double play came in the ninth inning when Zander Wiel lined out sharply to Carlos Castro at first who stepped on the bag to double off Taylor.

Long Island’s Ruben Tejada hit a solo homer off High Point starter Justin Nicolino in the first and the Ducks were never headed. Long Island added a run in the third when Boog Powell singled and scored on a double in the right-center gap by Lew Ford. It marked the 500^th career Atlantic League RBI for the 46-year-old Ford.

A two-run homer from Castro in the fourth gave Long Island a 4-0 advantage and then a two-run triple by Wilson Ramos in the sixth helped the Ducks to a 7-0 lead.

The Rockers got on the board in the eighth when Parreira singled with one out. He moved to second on a single by Burt and scored on a Long, Jr. single that cut the margin to 7-1.

Nicolino (L, 4-1) went seven innings and yielded 11 hits without allowing a walk and striking out one. Bryce Hensley and Joe Johnson each threw a scoreless inning in relief of Nicolino. Stock (W, 7-2) completed eight innings and scattered seven hits with two walks and a strikeout.

Long, Jr. led the Rockers with three hits while Burt added a pair of safeties.

The five double plays hit into by High Point set a Rockers record, eclipsing the former mark of four set vs. the Sugar Land Skeeters in 2019.

The Rockers are now 14-9 in the second half and 55-31 overall.

Game two of the three-game series is slated for a 6:35 p.m. start on Saturday at Truist Point. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app. It will be Margaritaville Night at Truist Point with the Rockers wearing specialty jerseys that will then be auctioned off with the proceeds going to benefit Hospice of the Piedmont.

GASTONIA, N.C. – After going hitless for six innings, the High Point Rockers’ bats came alive in the seventh inning, scoring four runs, and going on to win their second straight game over Gastonia with a 7-3 victory on Wednesday night at CaroMont Health Park.

The win helped the Rockers increase their lead over the Honey Hunters in the Atlantic League’s South Division. The Rockers are now 55-30 overall and 14-8 in the second half. The loss dropped Gastonia to 11-10 and 2.5 games behind High Point in the second half.

High Point starter Mitch Atkins (W, 1-1) got off to a rough start, allowing three first inning runs before settling in and shutting out the Honey Hunters over the next five innings. In the first, Scott Manea singled with one out and then scored on a Zach Jarrett homer, his 21^st of the year. After Atkins walked Braxton Davidson, Eric De La Rosa doubled off the netting in left to plate Davidson and stake Gastonia to a 3-0 advantage.

Gastonia starter Brett Daniels and reliever Kelvin Gonzalez kept the Rockers hitless through the first six innings. Daniels went four innings and walked one while striking out four. Gonzalez allowed a walk and fanned two in his two innings of work.

The Rockers waited until the seventh inning to start their rally. Trent Fennell (L, 0-1) came on for Gonzalez and hit Ben Aklinski with a pitch before Quincy Latimore reached on an error by Gastonia second baseman Kevin Santa. Fennell then loaded the bases by walking Beau Taylor. After inducing a pop fly from Zander Wiel for the first out, Daikan Yoh singled to score Aklinski, marking High Point’s first hit of the night. That set the stage for Michael Martinez to double to left field, scoring Latimore, Taylor and Yoh and giving the Rockers a 4-3 lead.

The Rockers increased their lead to 5-3 in the eighth when Gastonia’s Harry Rutkowski allowed a single to Aklinski before issuing a one-out walk to Taylor. Wiel then singled to center to score Aklinski and pad the Rockers’ lead.

The Rockers added two more runs in the top of the ninth. Gastonia’s Harry Rutkowski walked Martinez and D.J. Burt and then hit Shed Long, Jr. with a pitch to load the bases. Aklinski lined a double off the netting in left to score two and increase High Point’s lead to 7-3.

Atkins went six innings and walked two and struck out four while scattering seven hits. Taylor Guerrieri tossed a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh and Jeremy Rhoades pitched around a one-out single in the eighth to continue Gastonia’s scoreless streak. Kyle Halbohn kept the Honey Hunters at bay in the ninth, leading to the 7-3 final.

Aklinski had two hits and two RBI on the night while Martinez led all hitters with three RBI. Jarrett finished with three hits and a pair of RBI for Gastonia.

NOTES: D.J. Burt has reached base in 40 consecutive games thanks to a ninth inning walk… It is the second-longest streak in the Atlantic League in the last two years, trailing only a 50-game streak set in 2022 by Carlos Franco with York… Aklinski continues to lead the ALPB with 75 runs scored.

FREDERICK, Md. – Spire City broke open a 3-3 game with three home runs in a four-run fifth inning and went on to defeat the High Point Rockers 10-8 on Monday night at Nymeo Field.

The Rockers continue to own the best overall record in the Atlantic League at 53-29 on the season and they are in first place in the South Division with a 12-8 second half record. Gastonia is a half-game back at 11-8.

High Point starter Brandon Leibrandt (L, 0-2) allowed a single to Leobaldo Cabrera leading off the bottom of the first. After Cabrera stole second and third, Jimmy Paredes grounded a ball to short and a throwing error by Shed Long, Jr. allowed Cabrera to score from third to give the Ghost Hounds an early 1-0 lead.

The Rockers tied it in the second when Zander Wiel walked and scored from first when Brian Parreira singled to center and the ball was misplayed by Cabrera. That tied the game at 1-1.

The Rockers took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third when Long, Jr. drew a walk from Spire City starter David Kubiak (W, 7-4) and scored on Ben Aklinski’s 14^th home run of the year. But the Ghost Hounds knotted the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third on an RBI double from Jose Marmolejos and a run-scoring single from Paredes.

Spire City unleased its power in the fifth when Leibrandt allowed three home runs in the frame. Cabrera singled and scored on a two-run homer by Marmolejos. After retiring Paredes, Kole Cottam and Raudy Read hit back-to-back solo homers to stake the ‘Hounds to a 7-3 lead. That lead grew to 10-3 in the seventh when Read hit a sac fly and Scott Kelly delivered a two-run double.

High Point mounted a comeback in the eighth. Aklinski knocked in a run with a sac fly, Long, Jr. scored on a wild pitch and Quincy Latimore and Zander Wiel each hit solo homers to pull the Rockers to within three at 10-7. A Michael Martinez homer in the top of the ninth made it a 10-8 game but Spire City’s Victor Capellan was able to pitch the ‘Hounds out of the frame to finish off the 10-8 win.

Aklinski continued his hot streak, driving in three runs on a 1-for-3 night. Latimore picked up a pair of hits as well. Marmolejos led the Ghost Hounds with three RBI. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for Spire City.

The Rockers will start a three-game series at Gastonia on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at CaroMont Health Park. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app.