HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning on a Logan Morrison RBI single and went on to take a 5-3 win from the Gastonia Honey Hunters Saturday night in front of 2,044 fans at Truist Point.

Morrison’s line drive to left in the seventh scored Jerry Downs who was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame. Zander Wiel followed Downs with a double to put runners on second and third and set the table for Morrison’s RBI single. Gastonia replaced Onas Farfan with Euclides Leyer following Morrison’s hit and Leyer induced Quincy Latimore to ground out. Jay Gonzalez was intentionally walked to load the bases before Leyer walked Giovanny Alfonzo to force in Wiel and give the Rockers a 5-3 advantage.

High Point reliever Tyler Higgins struck out two Honey Hunters in shutting down Gastonia in the eighth. Ryan Dull allowed a double in the ninth but retired Gastonia on a strikeout and pair of infield pop outs to earn his 11^th save of the year.

Neil Uskali started for the Rockers and went six innings, walking just one and striking out five. Junior Rincon (W, 1-1) pitched a scoreless seventh for the Rockers before handing it off to Higgins in the eighth.

The Rockers took an early 1-0 lead when Michael Russell led off the game with a single and stole second before scoring on a Downs double. High Point extended that to 2-0 in the second when Alfonzo singled, stole second and scored on Russell’s RBI double.  Gastonia tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth on a two-run single by Alex Holderbach.

The Rockers went ahead 3-2 in the fourth as Alfonzo doubled and scored on a groundout by Downs.  Gastonia knotted the game at 3-3 on Zach Jarrett’ solo homer in the sixth inning.

High Point is now 13-22 in the second half and 52-49 on the season. Gastonia stands at 25-10 in the second half and 70-31 overall.

High Point and Gastonia will conclude their three-game series at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday at Truist Point.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Gastonia Honey Hunters scored five runs in the fifth inning to erase a 3-0 High Point lead and went on to defeat the Rockers 9-4 Friday night in front of a crowd of 2,188 at Truist Point.

Both starting pitchers cruised through the first three innings. High Point’s Bryan Quillens allowed four hits through four innings while striking out five and keeping the Honey Hunters off the board. Gastonia starter Dakota Chalmers struck out six Rockers in his three innings of work.  Chalmers left after the third and the Rockers greeted reliever Reilly Hovis with a three-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, the Rockers put together five straight base hits. Giovanny Alfonzo and Mike Gulino singled before Michael Russell doubled to score Alfonzo. Ben Aklinski beat out a slow chopper to short for an infield hit that scored Gulino. Jerry Downs then lined an RBI single up the middle to plate Russell and give High Point a 3-0 advantage.

Quillens exited after the fourth inning due to an injury and Cole Aker was summoned from the bullpen. After a lead-off single by Stuart Levy, Jake Skole hit a two-run homer. Aker walked Reece Hampton and Jack Reinheimer beat out an infield single. Gabriel Castellanos took over for Aker and allowed an RBI fielder’s choice to Zach Jarrett and also scored two runners on wild pitches as the Honey Hunters took a 5-3 advantage.

Levy doubled to lead-off the sixth for Gastonia and scored on a sac fly by Hampton to give the Honey Hunters a 6-3 lead. A triple by Joseph Rosa in the seventh followed by a run-scoring single from Jarrett and a sac fly by Levy put Gastonia up 8-3.

The Rockers rallied in the eighth, putting two runners on before Russell stroked an RBI double to make it an 8-4 game. But the rally died and Gastonia added another run on a single, an error and a wild pitch in the ninth.

Aker (L, 2-3) took the loss while Hovis (W, 6-5) earned the victory.

High Point is now 51-49 on te season and 12-22 in the second half. Gastonia improved to 70-30 and 25-9.

High Point and Gastonia meet in the second game of the three-game series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.

WALDORF, Md. – The High Point Rockers and Southern Maryland Blue Crabs split a doubleheader Thursday afternoon at Regency Furniture Stadium with Southern Maryland winning the first game 2-0 and the Rockers taking the nightcap 5-4.

With the split, the Rockers improve to 12-21 in the second half and 51-48 on the season.

In the first game, starting pitchers Ivan Pineyro (L, 4-3) of High Point and Mitch Lambson (W, 6-7) of Southern Maryland both came out firing. Pineyro did not allow a hit until SMD’s Alex Crosby reached on a Texas Leaguer to left in the fifth. But a Rockers double play eliminated the threat. High Point’s Ben Aklinski doubled in the first but the Rockers did not get another hit until Quincy Latimore doubled in the fifth.

Southern Maryland scored both of its runs in the bottom of the sixth. Ryan Haug was hit by a pitch from Pineyro and Michael Baca singled to center to put runners on the corners. Jack Sundberg singled home one run and Ian Yetsko’s ground out scored Baca for a 2-0 Blue Crab lead.

Lambson put the Rockers down in order in the seventh to preserve the Southern Maryland win.

In game two, the Rockers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Tyler Ladendorf singled, moved to second on an infield grounder by Jay Gonzalez and scored on a single by Mike Gulino.

But the Blue Crabs scored four times in the second to taka a 4-1 lead. High Point starter Mitch Atkins, making his first start of the season and his first since Sept. 9, 2021, allowed a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases to start the inning. Jack Sundberg doubled home two runs, Michael Wielansky grounded out allowing a third run to score before Braxton Lee singled home the fourth and final run of the inning.

The Rockers pulled within a run after scoring twice in the fourth to make it a 4-3 game. Logan Morrison led off the inning with a single and Ladendorf followed with a double. Jay Gonzalez then produced a swinging bunt that was fielded by Southern Maryland pitcher Eddie Butler, allowing Morrison to score. Gulino’s sacrifice fly brought home Ladendorf.

Aklinski tied the game in the fifth when he doubled to bring home Michael Russell who had led off the inning with a single. High Point took a 5-4 lead in the sixth when Ladendorf doubled off reliever Dalton Geekie (L, 1-3), moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Gonzalez and scored on Gulino’s sacrifice fly.

Tyler Higgins (W, 2-0) came on in relief and earned the last out of the fifth and set the Blue Crabs down in order in the sixth to earn the win.

Ryan Dull set the Blue Crabs down in order in the seventh to earn his 10^th save of the year.

Atkins went 1.2 innings in his season debut and allowed five hits and four runs while walking three.

The Rockers will return home to begin a three-game home series with South Division-leading Gastonia on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point with a fireworks show following the game.

WALDORF, Md. – Southern Maryland’s Braxton Lee hit three triples and drove in three runs to lead the Blue Crabs to a 7-3 win over High Point in the opening game of a three-game series at Regency Furniture Stadium.  SMD’s Alex Merithew (W, 4-2) earned the win by holding the Rockers to just three hits over eight innings while striking out 11.

The lead see-sawed back and forth early with the Rockers taking a 1-0 advantage on a Jerry Downs solo homer in the first. Southern Maryland’s David Harris and Alex Crosby each collected RBIs in the bottom of the first to give the Blue Crabs a 2-1 lead.

Tyler Ladendorf hit his 16^th homer of the year with Quincy Latimore aboard in the second as the Rockers went up 3-2.

But Ladendorf’s homer was High Point’s final hit of the night as Merithew stiffened and didn’t allow the Rockers another hit before leaving after the eighth inning. Endrys Briceno set the Rockers down in order in the ninth to secure the win.

The Rockers managed just two base runners over the final seven innings of the game, both in the third inning, when Downs was hit by a pitch and Zander Wiel reached on an error with each being stranded on base.

Southern Maryland tied the game in the bottom of the third on Lee’s first triple of the night to score Jack Sundberg. Lee then tripled again with two men on in the fifth to put the Blue Crabs up 5-3 before Alex Crosby grounded out to bring home Lee for a 6-3 Southern Maryland advantage. Lee’s third triple came leading off the seventh but he was stranded at third.

The Blue Crabs added an insurance run in the eighth when  Michael Baca doubled following a Jared Walker double.

High Point starter Liam O’Sullivan (L, 1-4) went 4.1 innings and allowed five hits and six runs while walking four and striking out three. Reliever Cam Cotter pitched two-thirds of an inning and did not allow a run while Devin Fontenot hurled two scoreless innings. Joe Johnson allowed SMD’s final run in the eighth.

Sundberg added three hits for the Blue Crabs including a double and Crosby finished the night with two RBI.

The Rockers are now 11-20 in the second half and 50-47 on the season.

High Point and Southern Maryland will continue the three-game series on Wednesday at  6:35 p.m. at Regency Furniture Stadium.

GASTONIA, N.C. – The first two batters of the game for the High Point Rockers belted home runs and set the tone for the Rockers’ 11-5 win in the final game of the four-game series over Gastonia at Caromont Health Park.  The win gave High Point the series win by a 3-1 count and High Point’s six home runs tied a club record for homers in a game.

Third baseman Michael Russell went five-for-five with three doubles and a homer while Ben Aklinski and Tyler Ladendorf each collected three hits as part of High Point’s 14-hit attack. Ladendorf hit homers in the fifth and ninth innings.

High Point improved to 50-46 overall and 11-19 in the second half of the Atlantic League season.

Russell led off the game with his fourth home run of the year to stake the Rockers to a 1-0 lead. Aklinski followed with his 17^th homer of the season to put High Point up 2-0.  In the ninth, Logan Morrison and Ladendorf would also hit back-to-back homers.

Gastonia’s Zach Jarrett brought home the Honey Hunters’ first run with a sac fly that plated Jack Reinheimer.

High Point added two more runs in the second RBI singles by Russell and Giovanny Alfonzo. Gastonia made it a 4-2 game in the third on a Luis Roman RBI single. The Rockers tallied three times in the fourth to take a 7-2 lead.  Mike Gulino pounded a two-run homer and Aklinski singled to score Russell who had doubled. Tyler Ladendorf’s solo homer in the fifth gave High Point an 8-2 lead.

High Point starter Craig Stem (W, 4-3) allowed a three-run homer to Jarrett in the fifth Gastonia pulled within three at 8-5.  But High Point went back up at 95 in the eighth when Russell walked, stole second and third and scored on a double by Aklinski.

Ladendorf and Morrison’s homers in the ninth gave the Rockers an 11-5 lead.

Stem went five innings and allowed eight hits and a walk while striking out three and giving up five runs. Junior Rincon shut the Honey Hunters down in the sixth and seventh while Cole Aker threw a shutout eighth inning. Tyler Higgins kept Gastonia scoreless in the ninth. Gastonia’s Roger Bernal (L, 2-1) allowed eight hits and seven runs in 3.1 innings of work.

The Rockers will have an off-day on Monday and then play at Southern Marylaned in a three-game set starting on Tuesday, August 9.