HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth but came up short in a 6-5 loss to Gastonia in front of 2,704 fans on Saturday night at Truist Point. The Rockers loaded the bases in the ninth and plated two runs on Zander Wiel’s double before Roldani Baldwin’s final fly ball was caught by Gastonia centerfielder Jake Skole.

The Rockers are now 59-54 overall and 20-27 in the second half of the Atlantic League season. The Rockers are 1.5 games out of the Wild Card slot.

The Rockers went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first when Logan Morrison drew a walk and scored on Baldwin’s RBI single. Gastonia scored four times in the second off High Point starter Liam O’Sullivan (L, 3-5). Reece Hampton picked up an RBI single before Herlis Rodiguez hit a three-run homer to put the Honey Hunters up 4-1.

After the second inning, O’Sullivan shut down Gastonia’s offense, not allowing a hit again until Emmanuel Tapia led off the seventh inning with a double.

The Rockers cut into the 4-1 deficit with two runs in the sixth. Baldwin doubled with one out, Tyler Ladendorf walked and both runners scored on Ben Aklinski’s double to make it a 4-3 contest.

Gastonia added a run in the eighth without the benefit of a base hit. High Point reliever Gabriel Castellanos walked Cole Freeman before retiring the next two hitters. With Freeman on second following a wild pitch, Castellanos walked Hampton and hit Tapia with a pitch to load the bases. Junior Rincon was called in from the bullpen and walked Stuart Levy to force in a run as Gastonia went up 5-3.

The Honey Hunters went with ace closer Jesus Balaguer in the ninth. Jay Gonzalez led off with an infield single and Giovanny Alfonzo struck out. Michael Russell singled before Morrison lined out to center. Balaguer then walked Latimore to load the bases, leading to Wiel’s two-run double before Baldwin was retired for the final out.

Gastonia starter Ian McKinney (W, 6-3) earned the win, going six innings and allowing five hits and three runs while walking five and striking out two. Balaguer earned his 23^rd save of the season.

High Point and Gastonia will play the rubber match of the three-game series on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. at Truist Point. The Rockers will send Ivan Pineyro (5-3, 3.48 ERA) to the mound to face Dakota Chalmers (1-1, 5.00).

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Logan Morrison had five hits and the High Point Rockers exploded for five runs in the seventh inning in an 8-3 win over Gastonia on Friday night in front of a crowd of 2,124 at Truist Point.

The Rockers trailed the Honey Hunters 3-1 going into the seventh before scoring five runs on just two hits to take a 6-3 lead.  The Rockers used four walks, a pair of hits and a hit batter to tally their runs. Morrison started the scoring with a bases-loaded RBI single before pinch-hitter Michael Martinez beat out an infield single to score the second run. With the bases still loaded, Quincy Latimore was hit by a pitch, Roldani Baldwin drew a walk and Tyler Ladendorf plated the final run with a fielder’s choice.

The Rockers added two insurance runs in the eighth inning on a single by Giovanny Alfonzo and an RBI double by Michael Russell. Morrison then blooped a single to center that scored Russell.

In the top of the ninth, Gastonia’s Luis Roman lined a potential extra base hit into the gap in left-center but Aklinski made a remarkable diving catch to keep the Honey Hunters off the bases.

Junior Rincon (W, 2-1) earned the win by pitching a shutout inning in the seventh. Mitch Atkins started and went four innings, allowing five hits and three runs while striking our four. Knuckleballer Mickey Jannis tossed two scoreless innings in relief of Atkins while Tyler Higgins shut down Gastonia with a pair of strikeouts in the eighth. Ryan Dull closed the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning aided by Aklinski’s highlight catch.

Gastonia jumped to an early 1-0 when Herlis Rodriguez opened the game with a triple and scored on a sac fly by Jack Reinheimer. Morrison’s solo homer in the bottom of the first tied the game at 1-1.

Gastonia went up 3-1 in the fourth on a double by Zach Jarrett and a two-run homer from Luis Roman.

Zack Godley started and went four innings for the Honey Hunters, allowing just three hits and striking out four before suffering an injury while warming up for the fifth inning. Enrique Zabaleta tossed two scoreless innings before Euclides Leyer (L, 4-3) started the seventh inning and lasted just one-third of an inning. He yielded two hits and five runs while walking three.

The win puts the Rockers at 59-53 overall and 20-26 in the second half of the Atlantic League season. The Rockers started the evening one-half game back of Kentucky in the league’s wild card race. Kentucky kept that margin with a 6-1 win over Lexington on Friday night.

The Rockers and Honey Hunters will meet in the second game of the three-game series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Four Lexington pitchers combined to shutout the High Point Rockers Thursday night in front of a crowd of 2,636 at Truist Point. The Rockers were held to four hits and were only able to advance four runners to second base.

The loss leaves the Rockers with a 58-53 overall record and a 19-26 mark in the second half of the Atlantic League season.

Lexington starter Jose Santamaria (W, 2-1) kept the Rockers scoreless through his five innings of work while High Point starter Craig Stem (L, 5-5) was pitching to contact but keeping the Legends from scoring.

Lexington broke the ice in the fourth when Manual Geraldo reached on an infield single and moved to second on a walk to catcher Henderson Perez. DH Jesus Tavarez singled to bring home Geraldo with the first run of the game.  The Legends added two runs in the fifth when Courtney Hawkins led off the frame with a single and moved to second on a walk to Isaias Tejeda. Tillman Pugh singled to score one run and Geraldo’s infield out scored a second as the Legends took a 3-0 lead.  High Point reliever Bryce Hensley came on in the sixth and allowed a lead-off homer to Montrell Marshall in the eighth as Lexington went up 4-0.

Michael Russell had a pair of hits and was able to reach second on both occasions before being stranded. Zander Wiel reached second on a single and misplayed ball in the outfield to start the seventh but only advanced as far as third on Ben Aklinski’s single. Aklinski then stole second to become the fourth Rocker to get into scoring position. Aklinski’s single in the seventh was High Point’s final hit of the night.

Hawkins finished with three hits for the Legends while Russell was the only Rocker with two hits.

High Point will start a three-game series with Gastonia on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. The Rockers will send righty Mitch Atkins (0-0, 6.35 ERA) out to face Gastonia’s Zack Godley (3-0, 5.28 ERA). Friday’s game will be followed by a fireworks show as fans are invited to watch the show from the field.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Ben Aklinski hit a sacrifice fly to center field and Quincy Latimore beat the throw home to give the High Point Rockers a 5-4 win in 10 innings over the Lexington Legends on Wednesday night at Truist Point.

With the game tied at four, High Point closer Ryan Dull struck out the side in the top of the 10^th. With Latimore starting the bottom of the 10^th on second, he moved to third on a fly ball to right by Roldani Baldwin. Aklinski then worked Lexington reliever Aneuris Rosario to a 3-1 count before hitting a fly ball to shallow center. The Legends centerfielder Darian Sandford made the catch as Latimore tagged but the throw was up the third base line, allowing Latimore to score the winning run.

The sac fly marked Aklinski’s fourth walk-off hit of the season. He singled home the winning run vs. Staten Island on May 20 and beat the FerryHawks with a home run on May 22. The Rockers beat Gastonia on August 21 on an Aklinski grand slam.

Dull earned the win to improve to 4-1 while Rosario absorbed the loss, his first decision of the year.

The win keeps the Rockers a half-game in front of the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes who shutout Staten Island 4-0 on Wednesday.

High Point starter Neil Uskali went six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits including a solo homer from Manuel Geraldo.  The Rockers had trailed 3-0 before tying the game in the fourth on a double by Michael Martinez, an infield single by Jay Gonzalez, and RBI singles from Michael Russell and Logan Morrison.

Trailing 4-3 in the eighth, Aklinski opened the inning with a walk, stole second, moved to third on a ground out by Martinez and scored on a base hit by Gonzalez.

The Rockers are now 58-52 overall and 19-25 in the second half of the season.

The third and deciding game of the series between the Rockers and Legends will be played on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Lexington Legends scored eight times in the third inning and went on to post an 11-3 win over the High Point Rockers on Tuesday night at Truist Point.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI double from Montrell Marshall, the Legends used a three-run homer from Courtney Hawkins to go ahead 4-0 in the third. Isaias Tejeda followed with a solo homer and later in the third, Teodoro Martinez hit a grand slam to give the Legends a 9-0 lead.

The Rockers started Austin Parsley (L, 0-1) on the mound. The former UNCG pitcher, who went 10-5 for the Spartans this past spring, started off strong, striking out the first two batters he faced and setting the Legends down in order in the first. Parsley struck out the side in the second and allowed a single run. It was in the third that Parsley ran into trouble.

High Point turned to knuckleballer Mickey Jannis who came on in the fourth and pitched five shutout innings, holding the Legends to just one hit and striking out four.  Cam Cotter pitched the ninth for the Rockers and allowed a pair of runs on two hits.

High Point was held to just one hit through the first five innings by Lexington starter Daniel Corcino (W, 5-10) before the Rockers’ offense scored three times in the sixth. Jerry Downs and Quincy Latimore reached on singles before Roldani Baldwin blasted a three-run homer, his fourth round-tripper in the last seven games.

The Rockers are now 57-52 overall and 18-25 in the second half.

The Rockers will host the Legends again on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. High Point will send righty Neil Uskali (4-4, 4.13 ERA) to the mound to face the Legends’ David Lebron (6-3, 4.66).

GASTONIA, N.C. – The High Point Rockers set a club record by hitting seven home runs in Sunday’s 13-4 win over Gastonia at Caromont Health Park. Quincy Latimore blasted two home runs to become High Point’s career leader in home runs while Zander Wiel’s home run tied the season home run mark.

The Rockers started off quickly, plating three runs in the first and building a 4-0 lead after two innings. With one out in the first, Ben Aklinski doubled and Jerry Downs walked before Latimore hit his 16^th homer of the year to give the Rockers a 3-0 lead. That homer was the 43^rd of Latimore’s career and pushed him past the career mark of 42 set by Stephen Cardullo during his two-year tenure of 2019 and 2021.

In the second, Michael Martinez reached on a throwing error by Gastonia shortstop Jack Reinheimer and moved to third on a ground out by Jay Gonzalez. Giovanny Alfonzo then singled to center to score Martinez with High Point’s fourth run.

Latimore’s solo homer leading off the fourth was his 17^th of the season and 44^th of his career.  High Point then tied a club record with three homers in the fifth inning. Michael Russell, Downs and Wiel all hit solo shots to put the Rockers up 8-0.

Gastonia scored three in the fifth on a three-run homer by Jack Reinheimer and one in the sixth on a Zach Jarrett homer.

Martinez’s solo homer in the sixth stretched the High Point lead to 9-3. In the seventh, Roldani Baldwin singled home a run and Wiel scored on a balk by Gastonia pitcher Reilly Hovis. Downs’ solo homer in the eighth was the 20^th of his career and the seventh of the game for High Point as the lead grew to 13-4.

Liam O’Sullivan improved to 3-4 on the year by throwing 5.2 innings and allowing six hits and four runs while walking two and striking out two. Gastonia starter Ian McKinney (L, 5-3) allowed seven hits and eight runs in his seven innings while striking out eight.

High Point now stands at 57-51 on the season and 18-24 in the second half of the Atlantic League season.

The Rockers will have Monday off and then start a six-game homestand. High Point will host Lexington on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

NOTES: While Latimore broke Cardullo’s mark for career home runs and now has 44 in his career, Downs is close behind, hitting his 41^st and 42^nd of his career on Sunday… Rockers tied club mark for consecutive innings with a home run as they hit blasts in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.