HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point Rockers left-handed pitcher Kent Emanuel has had his contract selected by the Cincinnati Reds. Emanuel is expected to report to the Reds’ Class AAA franchise at Louisville where he will be joined by three other former Rocker pitchers in lefties Ben Wereski and Brandon Leibrandt and righty Cam Cotter.

Emanuel, 34, was 4-0 with a 2.30 ERA in nine starts for the Rockers. He went 3-0 in July and earned Atlantic League Pitcher of the Month honors. In his 47 innings on the year, Emanuel has held opponents to 38 hits and just nine walks while striking out 53. Opposing batters mustered just a .217 batting average against him. In his two seasons at High Point, Emanuel went 10-1 with a 2.91 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 105 innings.

Emanual played at the University of North Carolina and was the ACC Pitcher of the Year in 2013 after leading the Tar Heels to the College World Series. He was 11-5 in his final season in Chapel Hill and was a first team All-ACC selection in both 2012 and ’13. In 2024 with the Miami Marlins, Emanuel made 12 MLB appearances with 12 strikeouts in 17.2 innings. The Woodstock, Ga. native was a finalist for both the Golden Spikes and Dick Howser Awards in 2013.

Emanuel’s signing by the Reds marks the 11^th transfer of a Rockers player to an MLB affiliate or international league this season and the 60^th since the team was founded in 2019. Eight former Rockers have gone on to play in the Majors with pitchers Ryan Weiss, Brandon Leibrandt and Huascar Brazoban pitching this season.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point Rockers left-handed pitcher Kent Emanuel has been named the Atlantic League Pitcher of the Month for July 2026.

Emanuel, 34, went 3-0 in six starts in July and posted a 2.45 ERA, tops among league starters. Over 33 innings, he allowed 12 hits and just nine earned runs while walking five and striking out 42. Opposing batters managed just a .220 batting average against Emanuel in July while he posted a 0.97 WHIP. The left-hander posted wins at Lexington and at Staten Island and earned a home win vs. Lexington. He had two starts in which he did not yield a run.

The ACC Pitcher of the Year in 2013 while pitching for the University of North Carolina, Emanuel was a third round pick of the Houston Astors in the 2013 MLB Draft. He made his Major League debut with the Astros in 2021. He has also played at the MLB level with the Miami Marlins.

For the season, Emanuel is 4-0 with a 2.30 ERA. In his second year as a Rocker, he owns a 10-1 record with a 2.91 ERA. In 105 innings, he has struck out 101 and walked just 23.

Emanuel is the first Rocker to be named Pitcher of the Month since Matt Solter earned the honor in April/May 2025.

The Rockers will be on the road this week with three games at Hagerstown followed by three at Lancaster. Rocker fans can follow the action on DugoutTV.org or listen to the audio on the free MixLR app.

High Point will return home on August 11 to host a six-game series with the Gastonia Ghost Peppers.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point Rockers’ third baseman Mikey Kane has been named the Atlantic League’s Player of the Week for games played from July 14-19.

Kane, 25, led the Atlantic League with a .632 batting average last week, garnering 12 hits in 19 at-bats with three home runs, 10 runs scored and six RBI. The third baseman had a pair of four-hit games and homered in three consecutive contests as the Rockers took four of six games in a home series with the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars. The former Oregon State shortstop was acquired by the Rockers in a trade with the Lexington Legends on June 16 and since then, Kane has hit .370 with four homers and 13 RBI.

The Rockers departed Tuesday morning for Lexington, Ky. where they will start a six-game series with the Lexington Legends on Tuesday night at 6:45 p.m. Rocker fans can follow the action on DugoutTV.org or catch the audio broadcast on the MixLR free app.

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.