by Alexix Taylor

HIGH POINT, N.C.— Jameson McGrane his second consecutive save as the High Point Rockers closed out a 5-3 victory over the Lexington Legends Friday night at Truist Point in front of a crowd of 2,559. A standout night from Ben Aklinski, featuring a go-ahead home run and a highlight-reel diving catch, fueled the Rockers to their second straight win to tie the series with Lexington at two games apiece.

The Rockers jumped on the board in the bottom of the third inning after DJ Burt was hit by a pitch, followed by a Martin Figueroa walk. Aklinski came through with an RBI single to center, scoring Burt. Two more runs crossed the plate on an Evan Edwards ground out an a Lexington error to give High Point a 3-0 lead.

Lexington responded in the top of the fourth. Korry Howell doubled and came home on Kole Cottam’s sac fly. Pedro Gonzalez then launched a solo home run to left field, narrowing the gap to 3-2. But Aklinski turned heads again with an impressive diving catch in foul territory to end the inning and stop the Legends’ momentum.

The Legends tied it in the fifth with Austin Bates’ solo homer, but Aklinski answered back immediately in the bottom half, smashing a solo homer—his second in two games and 27^th of the year— to restore High Point’s lead, 4-3.

The Rockers added an insurance run in the sixth after a costly balk from Gerald Ogando allowed Connor Owings to score, pushing the lead to 5-3. High Point’s bullpen took over from there. Justin Lewis and Dakota Chalmers combined to retire seven straight Legends, and McGrane slammed the door in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning, notching his second save in as many nights to seal the win.

With the victory, the Rockers (32-23) will aim to keep building on their momentum in the last two games of the Rockers’ final homestand on Saturday night at 6:35 p.m.

The Rockers moved into a tie for second in the South Division as Gastonia lost 2-1 at Southern Maryland. Charleston (36-18) was losing to Long Island in the ninth inning on Friday.

by Alexis Taylor

HIGH POINT, N.C.- For the second consecutive night, Lexington Legends closer Nick Gardewine slammed the door on a High Point Rockers comeback, sealing a 2-1 victory at Truist Point on Wednesday. Gardewine’s lights-out performance stifled the Rockers’ offense in the final frame, giving Lexington back-to-back wins and handing the Rockers another frustrating loss.

The Rockers struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Ben Aklinski drew a walk, followed by an Evan Edwards single, putting runners in scoring position. Brian Parreira grounded out to first, but not before Aklinski crossed the plate, giving the Rockers a 1-0 lead.

Rockers’ starting pitcher Jeremy Rhoades was in command early, racking up five strikeouts through seven innings and keeping Lexington scoreless until the seventh. However, Lexington’s Jacob Barfield hit a solo shot to right field, tying the game at 1-1.

The turning point came in the top of the eighth. After Korry Howell stole second and third, Pedro Gonzalez knocked a single to center, driving in Howell and giving the Legends a 2-1 lead. Despite High Point’s attempts to rally, they couldn’t find a way past Gardewine, who struck out Parreira to end the game, just as he had the night before.

The Rockers will look to recover when they face Lexington at Truist Point in game three of the six game series. Thursday’s game, with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch, will be First Responders Night with all area first responders receiving up to four complimentary tickets to the game.

by Alexis Taylor

HIGH POINT, N.C.- Despite a gritty pitching performance that saw Derrick Adams recover from a rocky start to shut down the Lexington Legends for seven innings, the High Point Rockers fell just short in a 3-2 nail-biter at Truist Point on Tuesday night.

Lexington came out swinging in the top of the first inning, jumping to a 3-0 lead. Korry Howell started the action with a double, followed by J.T. Riddle’s single that put runners on the corners. Howell scored on a wild pitch, giving the Legends an early 1-0 advantage. Moments later, Kole Cottam crushed a two-run homer deep to right field, bringing in Riddle and extending the lead to 3-0. Adams, however, quickly regained his composure, striking out Pedro Gonzalez and Brady Whalen consecutively before a groundout ended the inning.

The Rockers’ bats struggled early against Lexington’s starter Dustin Beggs, who retired High Point’s lineup in order through the first three innings, maintaining a perfect game into the fourth. Despite a strong defensive effort, highlighted by Martin Figueroa’s impressive catch in the top of the fourth inning, High Point remained scoreless.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Rockers finally found their spark. Ben Aklinski ignited the rally with a double to deep center field, followed by an Evan Edwards’ single, putting runners on the corners. Michael Martinez then reached on a fielder’s choice, allowing Aklinski to score and put High Point on the board, 3-1. The Rockers continued to stay hot when Brian Parreira’s double to right field advanced Martinez to third. Martinez scored on a sacrifice fly by DJ Burt, narrowing the gap to 3-2.

Adams continued to dominate after the shaky first inning, holding the Legends scoreless for the rest of his seven innings on the mound, racking up six strikeouts in the process. Garrett Schilling relieved Adams in the top of the eighth and managed to keep the Legends from scoring, striking out two to hold the score at 3-2.

High Point had opportunities to tie the game in the eighth and ninth innings but couldn’t capitalize. In the bottom of the ninth, Edwards hit a double and advanced to third on a Lexington error, putting the tying run just 90 feet away. However, Lexington closer Nick Gardewine shut the door, striking out Martinez, before hitting Parreira with a pitch to put runners on the corners. DJ Burt then grounded into a 4-3 double play to close the book.

The Rockers (30-22) were four games back of South Division-leading Charleston (34-17). The Dirty Birds were leading Hagerstown 8-4 in the eighth and a Charleston win would give them a five-game lead in the division.

The Rockers will look to bounce back in their next matchup against Lexington Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. as they continue their final homestand at Truist Point.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Sept. 1, 2024) – The High Point Rockers and Charleston Dirty Birds split a doubleheader on Sunday at GoMart Park. Charleston took the opener 3-0 while the Rockers claimed the nightcap, 2-1.

The split on Sunday, and the weekend split of the four-game series, leaves the Rockers four games back of Charleston in the race for the Atlantic League’s South Division second half title with 12 games remaining. The Rockers (30-21) will start a six-game home series with Lexington on Tuesday. Charleston (34-17) will visit Hagerstown for a three-game series Tuesday through Thursday.

The twinbill was the tale of outstanding pitching performances on each side. Charleston’s Keyvius Sampson limited the Rockers to one hit over his six innings of work as the Dirty Birds won the opener 3-0. In the nightcap, High Point’s Stephen Ridings, Dakota Chalmers and Jameson McGrane held Charleston to just three hits in the 2-1 victory.

Game 1:

Charleston starter Keyvius Sampson limited the Rockers to three base runners and one hit in a 3-0 win. Sampson (W, 4-0) allowed a lead-off walk to Connor Owings in the fifth, a walk to Gilberto Jimenez and a single to D.J. Burt in the sixth and a seventh inning single to Ben Aklinski which led to a game-ending double play.

Charleston only managed four hits off High Point starter Jonah Scolaro (L, 5-3) but they were effective. A double and a walk to start the fourth led to a two-run double from Angelo Castellano and a 2-0 Charleston lead. When High Point attempted a failed pickoff at second of Castellanos, he moved to third and scored on a sacrifice fly from Matt Hibbert.

Scolaro walked three and struck out four in his 3.2 innings of work. Sampson walked two and fanned six over six innings with Pedro Garcia picking up the save.

 

Game 2

Martin Figueroa started the Rockers on the right foot in the first inning of the nightcap, reaching on a one out single. After moving to second on a Ryan Grotjohn ground out, Owings delivered an RBI single to right to give High Point a 1-0 lead.

The lead grew to 2-0 in the second when, with two outs, Frank Nigro and Burt received consecutive walks. Gilberto Jimenez then singled to right to score Nigro and move Burt to third.

Charleston got on the board in the fourth when Jared Carr walked, stole second and third and scored on a grounder to third by Angelo Castellano.

High Point starter Stephen Ridings went four innings, allowed two hits and one run while walking three and striking out three. Charleston starter David Lebron (L, 7-7) yielded High Point’s two runs on four hits and four walks over four innings. Dakota Chalmers (W, 2-3) pitched around a hit and a walk to shutout the ‘Birds over the fifth and sixth innings with McGrane coming on to retire the side in order in the seventh to earn his 11^th save of the season.

The Rockers start their final homestand of the season on Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. The Lexington Legends will visit for a rare six-game series. Tuesday will be Two-For-Tuesday with half price specials on food and beverages. It will also be Senior Citizens Night with all Rockers fans age 60 and up receiving free admission with proper ID at the Rockers Box Office.

HIGH POINT, N.C. (August 29, 2024) – Former High Point Rockers pitcher Brandon Leibrandt has been recalled from the Cincinnati Reds Class AAA Louisville farm team and has been added to the Reds roster.

Leibrandt, a left-handed pitcher, was a member of High Point’s Opening Day roster in 2024 and made four starts before the Reds purchased his contract in mid-May. Leibrandt was 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA for the Rockers, striking out 24 hitters and walking just seven in 19.1 innings of work.

In addition, Leibrandt was with the Rockers in 2023 as he went 4-3 with a 3.26 ERA in 12 starts. He started two playoff games for the Rockers and while he did not earn a decision, High Point won both games over Gastonia. Leibrandt tossed 14 innings and allowed just two earned runs during the postseason.

This will not be Leibrandt’s first trip to the Majors. The former Florida State pitcher appeared in five games for the Miami Marlins in 2020 and allowed just three hits over nine innings of work.

Leibrandt becomes the fifth former Rocker to reach the Major League in the same season as having played for the Rockers, joining RHP Jake Petricka (2021), INF Tyler Ladendorf (2021), RHP David Robertson (2021) and Kyle Barraclough (2023).

GASTONIA, N.C. – Ryan Grotjohn and Ben Aklinski powered the High Point Rockers to a doubleheader sweep at Gastonia on Tuesday night, winning by scores of 5-1 in the opener and 10-7 in the nightcap.

Grotjohn, the Rockers’ shortstop, went six-for-eight in the twinbill with a homer, two doubles and seven RBI. Aklinski, the centerfielder, was four-for-six with three home runs, and seven RBI in the two games.

The sweep put the Rockers in a tie for second place in the Atlantic League’s South Division as they share a 26-19 record with Gastonia. Division-leading Charleston won 6-1 at Southern Maryland on Tuesday, leaving both High Point and Gastonia five games out of first place.

Game 1

The Rockers broke the ice in the fourth inning of the opener when D.J. Burt reached on an error by Gastonia second baseman Justin Wylie and Grotjohn followed with a two-run homer down the rightfield line off Gastonia starter Jeff Miednik.

Stephen Ridings started for the Rockers and threw a pair of shutout innings, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out three.

The Rockers added to their lead in the fifth when Burt slapped a one-out triple to right and scored on Grotjohn’s single to center.

Kevin Watson, Jr. hit a solo homer to straightaway center in the fifth to cut High Point’s lead to 3-1. In the top of the sixth, Gilberto Jimenez walked and Burt singled to right to put runners on the corner. Grotjohn stroked his third hit of the day, a single to center, to score Jimenez and put the Rockers up 4-1.

Right-hander Mickey Jannis (W, 1-0), who joined the Rockers earlier in the day on Tuesday, went three innings and allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out four. The win was Jannis’ first of the season but the 17^th of his career in High Point, making him the team’s all-time wins leader. Craig Stem (2019-23) won 16 games as a Rockers pitcher.

Aklinski delivered a solo homer leading off the seventh to mark his 100^th hit of the season.

Game 2

The Rockers scored first in the top half of the first when Grotjohn doubled to score Burt who had reached on a fielder’s choice.

Gastonia tallied twice in the bottom half as High Point starter Jonah Scolaro walked the first three batters he faced. Marc Flores singled home two runs to give Gastonia a 2-1 advantage. In the second, Gastonia took a 4-1 lead when Jake Gatewood doubled home a pair of runs.

In the top of the third, Gastonia starter Trent Fennell allowed singles to Jimenez and Grotjohn before Connor Owings drew a walk to load the bases. Gastonia brought in reliever John Creel and Aklinski turned his first pitch into his eighth career grand slam as a Rocker, giving High Point a 5-4 lead.

Justin Lewis succeeded Scolaro in the bottom of the third and retired Gastonia in order in both the third and fourth innings.

Creel allowed his second homer of the game when Quincy Nieporte led off the fourth with a solo shot to left in what would turn out to be a five-run inning for the Rockers who took a 10-4 lead.

Jacob Edwards (W, 7-3) earned the win withy two innings of relief, allowing one hit and one run while fanning three.

Game three of the four-game set at Gastonia will start on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at CaroMont Health Park.

Notes: Grotjohn now has a hit in 15 of the 16 games he has played in since his return from playing in Mexico on August 10. It also marked his sixth straight game with multiple hits… Mickey Jannis also returned from Mexico and re-signed with the Rockers on Tuesday. He entered the game in the third inning in relief of Ridings… The win was the 17^th of Jannis’ career as a Rocker after going 2-2 in 2022 and 14-5 last season… Aklinski went over the 100 hit mark for the fourth consecutive season. He had 123 hits for Lexington in 2021 then has put up 120 and 129 hits in his last two years as a Rocker… Aklinski has surpassed 20 homers and 20 stolen bases for the second straight season. He currently has 24 homers and 26 stolen bases… In the opener, Garrett Schilling made his 10^th consecutive scoreless outing, covering 10 innings in which he has allowed five hits, three walks while striking out 13. Schilling has allowed the opponent to score in just one of his last 20 appearances.