HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point Rockers pitcher Yuhi Sako today was named the Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week for July 7-12.

Sako, 26, made two starts for the High Point Rockers last week, posting a 1-0 record and a 1.29 ERA. He received a no-decision on July 7, leaving a tied game at Staten Island after six innings, having allowed one walk and five strikeouts. In his start on Sunday, July 12, Sako was perfect through four innings and allowed just two hits and no runs over eight innings. He struck out a career-high 10 batters and did not issue a walk. For the week, Sako fanned 15 in 14 innings, allowing just eight hits, two runs and a single walk while holding opposing batters to a .163 batting average.

Sako, who hails from Osaka, Japan, has been outstanding over the past month. On the morning of June 18, Sako was 2-5 with a 6.06 ERA. Since then he has gone 3-1 with a 1.875 ERA. The only Atlantic League pitcher with a better ERA over that time is Long Island’s Tanner Jacobson who owns a 1.21 ERA. Sako has thrown 34 innings, allowed 23 hits, seven runs, three earned, while walking just three and striking out 33.  Opponents have managed just a .192 batting average against him and for the season, Sako is now 5-5 with a 4.50 ERA.

The Rockers open a six-game homestand against the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars tonight at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. High Point will send former North Carolina pitcher and ACC Pitcher of the Year Kent Emanuel vs. the Boxcars to open the series.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The High Point Rockers used three-hit performances from right fielder Ryan McCarthy and shortstop Aidan Brewer to win their third straight game, defeating the Staten Island FerryHawks 7-3 on Friday night at SIUH Community Park.

The Rockers improve to 3-4 in the second half while the FerryHawwks fall to 1-6.

Ryan McCarthy doubled to lead-off the game and scored on a ground out by Ivan Melendez to spot the Rockers a 1-0 lead, a lead they would not relinquish. In the second, Braxton Davidson hit a solo homer, and McCarrthy and Aidan Brewer each delivered run-scoring doubles as High Point went up 4-0. Brewer smacked another RBI single in the fourth and McCarthy added an RBI single in the sixth as High Point led 6-2 after six.

High Point added an insurance run in the ninth when Mikey Kane lined an RBI single to left to score Luke Napleton as the Rockers grabbed a 7-3 lead.

High Point starter Justin Jarvis (W, 2-4) went 6 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs while not issuing a walk and striking out seven. Nick Timpanelli, Kyle Halbohn and Ryan Chasse finished up on the mound for High Point and did not allow a base runner.

Game five of the six-game series is set for 6:30 on Saturday at SIUH Community Park. The Rockers will lead with RHP Matt Colucci (2-2, 6.44) who will face Staten Island’s Juan Fernandez (0-4, 12.18). Rocker fans can catch all the action on DugoutTV or listen to the audio broadcast on the MixLR app.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Cam Cotter, a right-handed pitcher who has pitched with the High Point Rockers since 2022, has signed a contract with the Cincinnati Reds organization. He has reported to the Reds’ Class AA team in Chattanooga where he and former Rocker pitcher Ben Wereski will be reunited as teammates.

A native of Summerfield, N.C. who pitched at Northern Guilford High and N.C. State, Cotter initially joined the Rockers in 2022. While his college career was hampered by multiple injuries, Cotter earned his first professional contract with the Rockers and appeared in 38 games over his four seasons, going 1-2 with one save and a 1.99 ERA.

In 2023, Cotter’s contract was purchased by the San Francisco Giants and he pitched at three different levels of the organization including Class AAA Sacramento in 2024. He returned to the Rockers in 2025 and had made one appearance in High Point this season.

A former all-state pitcher at Northern Guilford, Cotter was 13-1 with a 0.89 ERA as a senior in 2017 in helping lead his team to the North Carolina 3-A state championship.

There are now 59 former Rockers who have moved onto a Major League-affiliated club or international league since the team was founded in 2019. Ten players who have appeared for the Rockers this season have signed with affiliated or international teams.

(July 6, 2026, New York) – Catcher/outfielder Luke Napleton of the High Point Rockers has been honored as the Atlantic League’s Player of the Month for June 2026. Napleton led the ALPB with 11 homers and 35 RBI in June.

Napleton overcame a slow start to the season to explode in June. He was batting just .130 on June 2 before hitting .356 for the month with 32 hits in 108 at-bats with 10 doubles, 11 home runs and 35 RBI. Napleton led the league in June with 11 homers, 35 RBI, a slugging percentage of .833 and an OPS of 1.278. He had 10 multi-RBI games and a pair of two-homer contests.

The Atlantic League has just started the second half of play with Hagerstown having won the first half North Division crown and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs claiming the South Division title. Each will open the playoffs against the second half winner of their respective divisions. League play resumes on Tuesday with the High Point Rockers visiting the Staten Island FerryHawks, the Gastonia Ghost Peppers traveling to Hagerstown, Charleston hosting the Long Island Ducks, Southern Maryland on the road at the Lancaster Stormers and the York Revolution traveling to the Lexington Legends.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Ben Wereski of the High Point Rockers has had his contract purchased by the Cincinnati Reds on Friday. The signing comes just two days after Wereski struck out 11 batters and allowed just two hits in a 5-2 win over the Charleston Dirty Birds on Wednesday night.

Wereski, 28, was in his second season with the Rockers and was 2-1 with a 2.18 ERA in eight starts this season. In his two seasons in High Point, he was 6-5 with a 3.17 ERA and 111 strikeouts and just 29 walks in 88 innings.

A native of Orchard Park, N.Y., Wereski pitched for three seasons at Columbia before finishing his career with a 6-2 record at Rutgers in 2021 and leading the Big 10 in WHIP (walks/hits per inning).

Wereski becomes the ninth Rocker to have their contract acquired this season and the 58^th all-time since the team’s inception in 2019. Eight Rockers have gone on to play in the Major Leagues including three this season in RHP Huascar Brazoban, LHP Brandon Leibrandt and RHP Ryan Weiss.

The Rockers will host postgame fireworks shows on both Friday, July 3 and Saturday, July 4 as they host the Lexington Legends at Truist Point. Game time each night is 6:35 p.m.