HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers dropped the middle game of their three-game series with Staten Island by a 5-1 score on Wednesday afternoon at Truist Point.

High Point lead-off hitter Trent Taylor started the first inning in a positive fashion, nursing a walk from Staten Island starting pitcher Nick Beardsley (W, 2-0). After another walk to Ben Aklinski, Taylor scored on an RBI single from Daikan Yoh.

But that was all the scoring the Rockers would muster against Beardsley and three FerryHawk relievers. High Point was held to six hits on the afternoon while also receiving six walks. But Staten Island helped its cause by turning two double plays, stranding eight Rockers runners and limiting High Point to just one hit with runners in scoring position over eight at-bats.

“That was ugly,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe following the game. “It was one of those days where we were off-balance all day. Their pitcher, Beardsley, did a heckuva job. We lined out a lot but we had our opportunities early and didn’t take advantage of them. We need to put it behind us and come out and win the series tomorrow.”

High Point starter Mickey Jannis (L, 8-3) leads the league in wins and allowed four runs on seven hits over his six innings while walking two and striking out five. Jeremy Rhoades and Taylor Guerrieri threw scoreless innings in relief though lefty Sam Selman was touched for a run in the ninth on a walk to Justin Williams, a sac bunt, and a run-scoring single from Kevin Krause.

“Mickey threw the ball well, should have given up two runs at the most but we made some mistakes in the field,” said Keefe. “We’ve played good baseball up to this point and this was probably our ugliest game of the year. We were flat the whole day. We just didn’t get it done.”

The FerryHawks grabbed hold of the lead with two runs in the second off Jannis. Roldani Baldwin singled to center and Jack Elliott followed with an infield single. A walk to Luis Castro loaded the bases before Mike Wilson delivered an RBI single. Garrett Kueber then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play that allowed Elliott to score for a 2-1 Staten Island lead.  The ‘Hawks increased the lead to 3-1 in the third on a walk to Brandon Pugh who took on a single by Ricardo Cespedes and scored on a groundout by Angel Aguilar. Aguilar added a solo homer in the sixth off Jannis to complete the scoring.

The Rockers were held hitless after a lead-off single from D.J. Burt leading off the seventh. Staten Island finished off the game by retiring the final nine Rockers batters in order, seven on strikeouts. Yoh was the lone Rocker with a pair of hits.

The Rockers are now 2-2 in the second half of the Atlantic League season.

The third and final game of the Rockers-FerryHawks series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on Thursday at Truist Point. It will be a Thirsty Thursday with specials on all drinks. The game will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and on the Mixlr app.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers built a big lead early in the game then held on in the final innings in taking an 11-9 decision from the Staten Island FerryHawks in the first game of the series on Tuesday night at Truist Point.

Ryan Grotjohn blasted a pair of home runs for the Rockers to lead the way in a game that saw a total of seven home runs, four by Staten Island and three by the Rockers.

The Rockers shortstop drove in four runs on the night with a three-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the sixth. He also walked twice and scored three runs. Michael Martinez drove in three runs on a solo homer and a two-run single as High Point starter Justin Nicolino improved to 2-0 on the mound.

Ricardo Cespedes blasted a solo homer off Nicolino to lead off the second inning and put the FerryHawks on the scoreboard, 1-0.

The Rockers answered in the third inning with a five-run outburst. Staten Island starter Ivan Pineyro (L, 3-3), a former Rocker, hit D.J. Burt with a pitch to start the frame and then allowed a single to Michael Russell. Grotjohn went the opposite way for a three-run homer, his ninth of the season. Beau Taylor followed the blast with a double before Pineyro walked Daikan Yoh and Ben Aklinski to load the bases. Martinez then hit a two-run single to right to complete the inning and give the Rockers a 5-1 lead.

High Point added four more runs in the bottom of the fourth, using a sac fly from Taylor, a two-run single from Yoh and an RBI double from Aklinski to take the lead to 9-1.

Staten Island used the long ball in the fifth with Mike Wilson leading off with a solo shot, and Angel Aguilar hitting a two-run homer following a Nicolino walk to Ricardo Cespedes. That pulled the FerryHawks to within five at 9-4.

Nicolino (W, 2-0) exited after the fifth with a 9-4 lead, having allowed eight hits and four runs while walking one and striking out five.

Martinez’s homer in the fifth put the Rockers up 10-4 before Grotjohn hit his second homer of the game, and his 10^th of the season, leading off the sixth as the Rockers extended their lead to 11-4.

Austin Ross put Staten Island down in order in the sixth but allowed two runs in the seventh as the ‘Hawks cut the lead to 11-6. Lefty Bryce Hensley pitched a shutout eighth, thanks to a nifty play at the plate on a Yoh to Grotjohn to Taylor relay that cut down Luis Castro trying to score from first on a double to left by Brandon Pugh.

In the ninth, the ‘Hawks touched High Point’s Kyle Halbohn for three runs, all coming on a three-run homer by ex-Rocker Roldani Baldwin. Ryan Dull came out of the bullpen with one on and two outs and struck out Jack Elliot for the final out of the game in earning his league-leading 13^th save of the year.

“We swung the bats well but you can tell we’re tired,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “We just came off a tough 13-day stretch and Friday night’s (division clinching win) was an emotional game. But it was good to get the series opener and we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

Game two of the three-game series is slated for a 12:05 p.m. first pitch at Truist Point on Wednesday.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – For the High Point Rockers and Gastonia Honey Hunters on Sunday, a game of home run derby would not suffice. Instead, the two Atlantic League South Division rivals engaged in an enhanced version, called Grand Slam Derby. At the end of the day, the Rockers prevailed 14-13 at Truist Point.

Gastonia hit two grand slams in the game, the Rockers just one. The Honey Hunters’ Braxton Davidson, who hit a grand slam on Saturday vs. the Rockers, added a second on Sunday along with Eric De La Rosa. High Point’s Ben Aklinski blasted a grand slam of his own in the sixth inning.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen three grand slams in a game before,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe.

Aklinski had six RBI for the Rockers while Davidson finished with seven RBI and De La Rosa drove in five runs for the Honey Hunters. Four Honey Hunters managed three hits apiece while High Point was led by Ryan Grotjohn with three base hits.

Gastonia scored first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first when Johnni Turbo led off with a single, and scored on a single by Davidson. The Rockers answered in the bottom half of the first when Grotjohn delivered an RBI single and Brian Parreira drew a bases loaded walk as High Point went up 2-1.

Davidson, who hit a grand slam on Saturday night, then hit his second in as many games, clearing the bases with two outs in the second inning as part of a five-run rally by the Honey Hunters who took a 6-2 lead.

The score remained that way until the Rockers erupted for six runs in the fifth. Grotjohn drove in one with a single, Aklinski hit a two-run triple and Parreira had an RBI sing. Moments later, Emmanuel Tapia smacked his first homer as a Rocker, lining a two-run shot over the fence in left to regain the lead for High Point at 8-6.

In the sixth, the Rockers put up another six spot. Taylor singled in one run before Aklinski unloaded his grand slam. Tapia, who had hit a solo homer in the fifth, singled in the sixth and scored on a Michael Martinez double as the Rockers went ahead 14-6.

But that lead wasn’t safe for long. De La Rosa’s grand slam in the seventh pulled the Honey Hunters to within four runs at 14-10. After the Rockers went down in order in the seventh, Rockers manager Jamie Keefe sent Jameson McGrane to the mound in the eighth. Gastonia put together four hits, a walk and a sac bunt to score three more runs and pull to 14-13 before McGrane fanned the final two batters of the inning.

The Rockers sent Dull to the mound in the ninth and he retired Gastonia in order to earn his 12^th save of the year.

“That’s a dog fight between two really competitive teams,” said Keefe. “We were cruising with an eight-run lead and before you can breathe, it’s a one run game. That’s a good ball club over there (referring to Gastonia). We’ll take the series win. We got a W and we’ll move on.”

The Rockers will be off on Monday, July 10 before starting a three-game homestand with the Staten Island FerryHawks on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at Truist Point.

NOTES: Three of the four home runs hit on Sunday were grand slams . . . Emmanuel Tapia’s solo homer was the only non-grand slam . . . Shed Long, Jr. reached base with three walks and a hit to extend his on-base streak to a league-best 31 games . . . The combined 27 runs are the most in an ALPB game this season, surpassing Spire City’s 18-8 win over Gastonia on July 5.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The day after winning the Atlantic League’s South Division first half championship, the High Point Rockers were still feeling a little bit of a hangover, falling 7-2 to Gastonia on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 2,074 at Truist Point.

A number of key contributors to the Rockers’ first half title run were given the night off, including Beau Taylor, Brian Parreira, Michael Martinez , Ryan Grotjohn, and Daikan Yoh.

High Point starter Craig Stem (L, 0-1) went four innings and allowed six hits and seven runs while walking six and striking our four. Gastonia’s Zack Godley (W, 5-3) tossed five innings for the Honey Hunters and yielded just two hits while walking three and striking out eight.

Gastonia tallied its first two runs in the top of the second when Eric De La Rosa Drew a walk and moved to second on a single by Pedro Gonzalez. Johnni Turbo’s ground out to second sored one before Kevin Santa singled to bring home the second run.

In the third, Scott Manea singled and scored on an RBI  single by De La Rosa to put the Honey Hunters up 3-0.

Gastonia increased its lead to 7-1 in the fourth inning when Stem walked the bases loaded then allowed a grand slam to Braxton Davidson.

High Point’s first run came in the third when John Daly singled, moved to second when Shed Long, Jr. was hit by a pitch, and took third on a walk to Michael Russell. Zander Wiel’s infield grounder went for an RBI as Daly scored. In the eighth, Daly reached on a two-base fielding error by shortstop Kevin Santa and would eventually scored on a passed ball.

Besides Daly’s third inning single, the only other Rocker hit was a liner through the hole at short by Ben Aklinski leading off the fourth. He was erased on the first of two Gastonia double plays on the night. Scott Manea and De La Rosa each had a pair of hits for Gastonia.

Game three of the series is slated for Sunday at 4:05 p.m. at Truist Point. The contest will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and also available on the Mixlr App.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers secured their place in the Atlantic League playoffs by winning the South Division’s first half championship on Friday night with an 8-1 win over the Gastonia Honey Hunters. The Rockers triumphed in front of 2,006 fans at Truist Point.

High Point broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning with a five-run outburst before adding two more runs in the eighth. The Rockers put up the five spot on an RBI triple by Ryan Grotjohn, a sac fly from Brian Parreira and run-scoring singles from Shed Long, Jr. and Zander Wiel.

A.J. Cole (W, 3-2) earned the win with 1.1 innings of relief behind starter Jheyson Manueta. Michael Russell, Zander Wiel, and Brian Parreira each drove in a pair of runs.

“Hats off to the guys, they’ve been grinding and it’s been a long ride,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “We thought we were down and out last night and then we walked into the dug out and (trainer) Joe Geck had a big smile on his face and said ‘we’ve got another breath.’”

The Rockers had faced elimination from the South Division title race on Thursday night when they were shutout 3-0 at Southern Maryland. But Gastonia’s loss at Spire City kkept the Rockers alive.

Both High Point and Gastonia finished the first half with identical 41-22 records. But the Rockers held a tiebreaker by having posted the top winning percentage among South Division opponents.

The Rockers took a 1-0 in the bottom of the third when Parreira sliced a double to left. Long, Jr. sent a ground ball to short that was misplayed by Gastonia’s Kevin Santa, allowing Long, Jr. to reach first and sending Parreira to third. Michael Russell then grounded through the hole at short to score Parreira and give the Rockers a 1-0 lead.

Braxton Davidson blasted a solo homer to right center with one out in the sixth to tie the game at 1-1.

High Point starter Jheyson Manzueta went 5.2 innings, exiting in favor of Cole in the sixth with the score tied at 1-1. Cole recorded the final out of the sixth and put the Honey Hunters down in order in the seventh.

Gastonia starter Ryan Conroy went six innings and yielded just four hits while walking one and striking out four. He left after six in favor of reliever David Richardson who walked Ben Aklinski leading off the seventh. Ryan Grotjohn tripled off the wall in right center, bringing Aklinski across the plate. Richardson then walked Daikan Yoh to put runners on the corner when Gastonia manager Goose Gozzo again went to the bullpen and brought in Bryan Blanton. The first batter he faced, Parreira, hit an 0-2 pitch to the deepest part of left field, resulting in a sac fly that easily scored Grotjohn and gave the Rockers a 3-1 lead. Yoh moved to second on a single by Long, Jr. before Michael Russell singled home Yoh for a 4-1 advantage. Zander Wiel’s single, the third consecutive hit of the inning, scored both Long, Jr. and Russell and left the Rockers with a 6-1 lead.

Lefty Sam Selman came on for the Rockers and walked a pair before leaving with two outs in the eighth. Cam Bedrosian struck out Luis Curbelo to end the threat.

In the bottom of the eighth, Nick Wells started the inning for Gastonia and allowed a single to Aklinski and an infield single to Grotjohn. Yoh then lined a shot up the middle that hit Wells in the chest and he walked himself to the dugout as the Honey Hunters turned to Gabe Klobosits. Parreira bounced a grounder on the right side for the second out of the inning but it allowed Aklinski to score for a 7-1 Rockers lead. A Martinez double into the left field corner plated Grotjohn to extend High Point’s advantage to 8-1.

 

Game two of the series will be played on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. The game will feature a performance from Ed’s Dinosaurs. The contest will be streamed live on FLO Baseball and will also be available on the Mixlr app.

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.