WALDORF, Md. – The Atlantic League’s South Division first half championship will be decided on Friday night at Truist Point. The de facto “championship game” will determine the South’s first half winner after both the High Point Rockers and Gastonia Honey Hunters each suffered road losses on Thursday night.

The Rockers were shutout 3-0 at Southern Maryland while Gastonia fell 6-4 at Frederick.

The Rockers will enter Friday’s contest with a 40-22 first half record. They are currently one game behind Gastonia at 41-21. A High Point win on Friday would create a tie for the first half title but the Rockers would own the tiebreaker. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition which, with a High Point win on Friday, would be tied at 5-5. The second tiebreaker is how each team fared within the South Division. High Point has gone 24-10 vs. South Division opponents and a win Friday would make the Rockers 25-10 (.714). Gastonia, with a loss on Friday, would be 25-12 (.676). If Gastonia wins on Friday, they will take the division title with a 42-21 record and the Rockers would finish the first half at 40-23.

On Thursday, the Rockers sent Mickey Jannis (L, 8-2) to the mound, seeking his league-leading ninth win of the year. Southern Maryland countered with former Rocker starter Liam O’Sullivan (W, 4-2).

The game was scoreless through three innings as Jannis and O’Sullivan matched zeroes. The Rockers left the bases loaded in the third when Daikan Yoh grounded out to short.

The Blue Crabs put the first run on the board in the fourth when Braxton Lee reached on an infield single and moved all the way to third on a throwing error by Shed Long, Jr.  Alex Crosby singled to right to bring home Lee. A wild pitch and a passed ball moved Crosby to third and he scored on a sac fly off the bat of Ryan Haug for a 2-0 Blue Crab lead.

So. Maryland made it a 3-0 game in the sixth when Khalil Lee doubled and scored on a single by Braxton Lee.

O’Sullivan allowed four hits and nary a run through his first seven innings of work. After allowing a lead-off single to Long, Jr. in the top of the eighth, O’Sullivan exited for reliever Endrys Briceno (S, 2). Ryan Grotjohn clubbed Briceno’s first pitch off the wall in right as Long, Jr. went all the way to third. But Briceno kept the Rockers off the scoreboard by striking out Wiel, retiring Yoh on a liner to third and getting Ben Aklinski to fly out to left.

The Rockers finished the game with six hits as Long, Jr. collected two of them. So. Maryland was led by Braxton Lee who also had a pair of hits.

Friday night, the Rockers will send right hander Jheyson Manzueta (1-0, 4.82 ERA) to face Gastonia righty Ryan Conroy (1-0, 5.00). Tickets for the game are available online at HighPointRockers.com and also at the Truist Point Box Office. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app. Game time is set for 6:35 p.m. and a fireworks show will follow.

WALDORF, Md. – The High Point Rockers took a massive step forward in their fight to win the Atlantic League’s South Division first half championship with a 6-2 win at Southern Maryland on Wednesday night. The Rockers’ victory, coupled with a Gastonia loss, leaves High Point one game behind the Honey Hunters with a looming meeting on Friday night at Truist Point.

Gastonia fell at Spire City 18-8 and the Honey Hunters are now 41-20 on the season. Wednesday’s win leaves the Rockers at 40-21. Each team has two games remaining on the first half schedule. If High Point wins its final two games of the half, it will claim the first half championship and secure a postseason playoff berth.

For Zander Wiel, the game was a welcome relief for the Rockers slugger who had managed just five hits over the last 11 games. Wiel went three-for-four with an RBI double in the first, a solo homer in the third, a single in the seventh and a walk in the ninth.

High Point went on the attack offensively right from the very start. After Shed Long, Jr. popped out to lead-off the game, Ryan Grotjohn singled and scored on a double by Wiel. Ben Aklinski singled to plate Wiel and give the Rockers a 2-0 lead. After a Brian Parreira single, Michael Martinez slapped another base hit to score Aklinski. Emmanuel Tapia followed with a fourth straight hit, a double to right that plated Parreira though Martinez was thrown out at the plate. When the smoke settled, High Point held a 4-0 lead.

Wiel blasted a solo homer leading off the third, his 16^th homer of the season, to put the Rockers up 5-0.

The Blue Crabs managed their first run in the third when Jack Sundberg doubled and scored on a single by Philip Caulfield.

High Point starter Justin Nicolino (W, 1-0) went five innings and held So. Maryland to four hits while walking two and striking out seven. He departed after walking Khalil Lee to start the sixth and allowed a single to Braxton Lee. A.J. Cole was summoned from the bullpen and walked K.C. Hobson to load the bases. Alex Crosby ripped a line drive that was snagged by Long, Jr. who was able to toss to Grotjohn at second for a double play. Ryan Haug then hit a flare to left to bring in the Blue Crabs’ second run and the Rockers held a 5-2 lead. Cole then struck out Isaias Quiroz to get out of the inning.

Lefty Sam Selman allowed a pair of walks in the seventh but struck out two while Cam Bedrosian struck out the side in the eighth for the Rockers.

High Point added a run in the top of the ninth for a 6-2 lead. Daikan Yoh hit a sac fly to score Long, Jr. who had reached base with a single. Ryan Dull then set down the Blue Crabs in the ninth to secure the win.

The third and final game of the series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Thursday night at Regency Furniture Stadium. A win by the Rockers guarantees they will play for a championship on Friday night at home. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr app.

NOTES: Zander Wiel’s homer was the 48th of his Rockers career and ties him with Quincy Latimore for the franchise career record. Wiel needed 176 games and 617 at-bats to hit 48. Latimore did it in 266 games and 905 at-bats . . . High Point has recorded its second 40-win half-season in club history. The Rockers were 41-30 in the first half of the 2019 season… High Point has not won a half-season championship though they have finished second three times . . . Shed Long, Jr. reached base for the 27^th consecutive game, the second-longest active streak in the Atlantic League.

WALDORF, Md. – The High Point Rockers dropped a 4-1 decision to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Tuesday night at Regency Furniture Stadium.

The loss leaves the Rockers with a 39-21 record on the year. Gastonia, which was defeated by Spire City on Tuesday, is 41-19. The Rockers remain two games back with three games remaining in the first half of the Atlantic League season.

The Blue Crabs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Braxton Lee singled with two outs off High Point starter Ryan Weiss and then scored on a double to right by K.C. Hobson.

In the fourth Alex Crosby hit a solo homer to increase So. Maryland’s lead to 2-0. The Rockers cracked the scoreboard in the fifth when Emmanuel Tapia and Trent Taylor each singled ahead of Shed Long, Jr. whose single to center plated Tapia to make it a 2-1 game.

The Blue Crabs expanded their lead to 3-1 in the sixth when Hobson walked and scored on a double by Ryan Haug. It became a 4-1 contest in the seventh when Blue Crab shortstop Michael Baca walked, stole second, and scored on a fielding error by Rocker first baseman Zander Wiel.

Neil Uskali (W, 3-3), the former Rocker starter, went 7.2 innings for So. Maryland and held the Rockers to five hits while walking one and striking out five. Ryan Weiss (L, 3-2) hurled six innings for High Point and allowed eight hits and three runs while issuing a single walk and striking out three.

Game two of the three-game series is slated for Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Regency Furniture Stadium. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and available on the Mixlr app.

NOTES: Rockers manager Jamie Keefe and centerfielder Ben Aklinski were both ejected in the fourth inning when they disagreed with the umpire that Aklinski had been thrown out at first on a ground ball to third.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point took command of its series with the York Revolution, as the Rockers won their second straight game with an 8-5 victory at Truist Point on Sunday afternoon.

While the Rockers won their 39^th game of the first half and improved to 39-19, High Point did not have any defense for the Gastonia Honey Hunters who scored a walk-off win over Southern Maryland for the second straight day. Gastonia continues to hold onto first place in the Atlantic League’s South Division with a 41-18 record and hold a 1.5 game lead over the Rockers with five games remaining.

The Rockers sent Jheyson Manzueta to the mound for his second start of the season and the veteran right hander got off to a shaky start. Trent Giambrone led off the game with a homer and Manzueta followed by walking Jacob Rhinesmith and hitting Troy Stokes, Jr. with a pitch. Trey Martin singled to score Rhinesmith for the second run of the inning before Manzueta was able to pitch himself out of the jam.

“Manzueta limited the damage in the first inning and that’s just what we needed him to do,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe.  “After the second inning, I just made him pitch from the stretch.  It was really hot out and if you can limit your movement, that’s what we tried to do. He grinded through it and that was good.”

The Rockers cut their defcit to 2-1 as Shed Long, Jr. led off the bottom of the first with a sharp single to left before York starter Carlos Espinal walked Michael Russell. Each runner advanced on a stolen base which led to Daikan Yoh’s sacrifice fly to center to score Long, Jr.  The Rockers scored three more runs in the second to take a 4-2 lead. Ben Aklinski and Brian Parreira each drew a walk and then advanced on a stolen base. Yang delivered a sac fly to tie the game ahead of RBI singles from Long, Jr. and Zander Wiel.

Aklinski put the Rockers up 5-2 in the third with a solo homer, his eighth of the year.

York inched closer with single runs in the sixth and seventh. Richard Urena drew a walk from reliever Austin Ross in the sixth and scored on an RBI single by Ryan January. In the seventh, Troy Stokes, Jr. singled to right and the ball took a crazy spin, getting past rightfielder Michael Martinez, allowing Stokes, Jr. to move to second. He then scored on an RBI single from Trey Martin.

Holding a slim 5-4 advantage in the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Grotjohn coaxed a lead-off walk from York reliever Tasker Strobel and the Revs’ shortstop, Giambrone, misplayed a grounder from Aklinski to put two aboard with nobody out. Parreira then smacked a three-run homer to left to put the Rockers back in front 8-4.

For Parreira, it’s been an exciting month. He hit a three-run homer vs. So. Maryland on June 25 that helped sink the Blue Crabs 6-4. His homer on Sunday increased the Rockers’ lead from a nail-biting one run advantage for a far more comfortable four-run gap.

“Parreira had a heckuva day,” said Keefe. “Not only is he doing good stuff offensively, but he’s probably raised his batting average 50 or 60 points over the last two weeks with all the work he’s doing with (hitting coach) George (Greer). Defensively, he’s been awesome. He’s really grabbed onto this job and taken off with it.”

York’s Nellie Rodriguez hit a solo homer leading off the eighth but the Revs were finished scoring for the day. A.J. Cole allowed one hit in the ninth and struck out one to earn his first save of the season.

The Rockers have five games remaining in the first half and will have the opportunity to shave a half-game off Gastonia’s lead on Monday as the Honey Hunters are idle.

The fourth and final game of the series will be played on Monday, July 3 at 6:35 at Truist Point. Following the game, the Rockers will hold their annual fireworks extravaganza. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr App.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point’s Mickey Jannis became the Atlantic League’s first eight-game winner as he threw six shutout innings and held York to just four hits in leading the Rockers to a 5-1 win over the Revolution in front of a crowd of 2,001 at Truist Point on Saturday night.

The win allowed the Rockers to make up ground on Gastonia which split a doubleheader with Southern Maryland on Saturday. The Rockers are 38-19 in the Atlantic League and trail the Honey Hunters (40-18) by 1.5 games with six contests remaining in the first half.

Jannis (W, 8-1) allowed just four hits and three walks while striking out three over his six innings of work. A.J. Cole struck out the side in the seventh in his lone inning of work while Jameson McGrane set the Revolution down in order in the eighth. Jeremy Rhoades allowed a run in the ninth before Ryan Dull came on to record the final two outs and collect his league-leading 11^th save of the season.

The Rockers scored all the runs they would need with three in the bottom of the second. Dai-Kang Yang led off the inning with single and moved to third on a ground rule double to right by Beau Taylor. Ryan Grotjohn was hit by a pitch by York starter Nick Raquet to load the bases. Ben Aklinski delivered a line drive to center that became an RBI sacrifice fly for High Point’s first run. Catcher Brian Parreira then singled to bring home Taylor and Grotjohn scored on John Daly’s ground out to second base.

The Rockers increased their lead to 4-0 in the fifth when Shed Long, Jr. drew a one out walk and scored from first on Zander Wiel’s double off the left field wall. Michael Russell padded the Rockers’ lead to 5-0 with his sixth homer of the year, a solo shot with one out in the seventh.

York starter Nick Raquet (L, 6-5) gave up four runs in his six innings of work on five hits while walking two and striking out two.

The Rockers had just six hits on the night with Parreira leading the way with two.

Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. on Sunday at Truist Point. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and available on the Mixlr app.