HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point Rockers left-handed pitcher Brandon Leibrandt has had his contract acquired by the Cincinnati Reds. Leibrandt becomes the third High Point player this season to have their contract purchased by a Major League organization.

Leibrandt is 2-0 this season and his ERA of 0.93 is the second-best in the Atlantic League. He has thrown 19.1 innings and allowed just 12 hits and seven walks while striking out 24.

The 33^rd Rocker player to move onto a Major League organization or foreign team, Leibrandt joins right-handed pitchers Kyle Barraclough and Peter Solomon who each had their contracts acquired by the Texas Rangers.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A day after an 11-10 extra inning win on Tuesday night, the High Point Rockers were held to just six hits as the Lexington Legends took game two of the series 2-1 in a morning matinee on Wednesday at Legends Field.

High Point starter Taylor Guerrieri was perfect through four innings, retiring the first 12 batters in order. The Rockers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth as Zander Wiel singled, moved to second on a fielder’s choice by Ryan Grotjohn and scored on a single from Jake Washer.

The first batter that Guerrieri allowed on base touched all of them as Pedro Gonzalez led off the fifth with a solo homer that tied the game at 1-1.

The game remained tied until the Legends scored once off reliever Neil Uskali (L, 0-1) in the seventh to forge a 2-1 lead. Kole Cottam singled before Osmy Gregorio moved him to second with another single. Aldenis Sanchez doubled, scoring Cottam with Gregorio thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

Joe Joe Rodriguez worked around a walk in the eighth to keep High Point off the board. In the ninth, the Rockers were able to get runners at first and second, but Osiris German (S, 1) came on for the Legends with one down and retired Clayton Mehlbauer and D.J. Burt on strikes to earn the save.

Lexington starter Dustin Beggs (W, 1-2) went seven innings and allowed five hits without a walk while striking out five.

Connor Owings and Washer each had two hits for the Rockers. The High Point pitching staff limited the Legends to just four hits but all four of them factored into the Lexington victory.

High Point, now 15-9 on the season, will play the final game of the three-game series vs. the Legends on Thursday at 6:45 p.m. at Legends Field.

By Sam Sinder
High Point Rockers vs. Lexington Legends

The Rockers and Legends will start a three-game set on Tuesday, May 21 at Legends Field. The two clubs continue to spiral in opposite directions. Lexington has lost eight of its past ten games and remain nine games back of both Gastonia, and High Point, which lead the South Division. The Legends had been swept in consecutive three game sets vs Charleston, then lost two out of three to both High Point and Gastonia. The Rockers are coming off a sweep of the Charleston Dirty Birds and have won five straight contests dating back to when the Rockers took the final two out of three against Lexington last week at Truist Point. This is the Rockers first five-game winning streak since they did it to start the season, with four of those five coming in a four-game sweep at Legends Field. The Rockers and Legends play 25 times this season, and have 18 games remaining, however just six of those will be in Lexington.

 

About the Rockers:
The Rockers enter into this series at 14-8, tied with Gastonia for first in the South Division, one game ahead of the Charleston Dirty Birds who the Rockers swept this past weekend. After the Rockers got off to a scorching start, winning their first five games, they dropped three straight series. However, they have since found their footing. The Rockers had a nine-game homestand where they went 7-2, winning all three series vs Southern Maryland, Lexington and Charleston. They look to stay hot and handle business on the road, a place where they are 5-2 so far this year.

 

Key Players:

Ryan Grotjohn:
Grotjohn started the season in a slump that saw him putting together quality at-bats and hitting the ball hard across the field, but not getting results. It felt as though every ball he hit hard was right at a fielder. However, through it all he remained confident, knowing if he continued to make good contact, those balls would fall. It took a couple weeks, but he was right. Over Grotjohn’s past ten games he is hitting .300 and clubbed his first homerun in the first game of the Rocker’s doubleheader Sunday vs the Dirty Birds. His bat has been a big reason why the Rockers have gone on a five-game tear, and has the potential to carry this team and continue the streak.

Gavin Johns:
Last Wednesday the Rockers signed Gavin Johns and since then, they haven’t lost. Johns has provided energy and been a spark plug for this team. He has hit safely in three of his four games thus far with two of his three being multi-hit games. He earned Rocker’s Player of the Week honors and looks to continue to drive in runs in this series against the Legends.

 

Keys Trends:

HR ball:
The Rockers have the most homers in the Atlantic league with 33 and have won every game this season in which they hit more homers than their opponent. More than 45% of their offensive production comes via the HR, demonstrating how vital it is to the Rockers success. However, the Rockers offense is evolving to not be reliant on the home run. Over the Rockers past six games, just 21% of their runs have come from the long ball. And in two of the Rockers three wins against Charleston over the weekend, they were out homered. Those two games were the first such games this season where the Rockers were outhomered and lost, making their record in those games 2-6.

 

Comeback Kids:
The first 13 games this season the Rockers did not see a lead change, however since then all but one game has had a lead change. To go even further, all but one of the Rockers seven wins since then have been comeback wins. The Rockers have even had the walk off magic going with two of their last three games being won on walk off hits. The Rockers will look to handle Lexington whether that be in wire-to-wire fashion or with a comeback victory.

 

Dominance on the mound:
In 2023, High Point had the best strikeout to walk ratio in the Atlantic League. They had the second-most strikeouts and fewest walks, with 69 fewer than any other club. This season the Rockers are demonstrating a similar dominance. They have the best ERA at 3.64 and have a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.91, which is nearly 1.3 more than Gastonia, the team with the second-best mark. Rockers pitchers have plenty of strikeout stuff, striking out more than 12 batters per nine innings and have 54 more strikeouts than Gastonia, the team with the second-most Ks. The Rockers have had as many or more strikeouts than their opponent in 19 of their 22 games this season.

 

About the Legends:
Lexington comes into this three-game series at 5-17, the worst mark in the league, nine games behind High Point and Gastonia, which pace the South Division. The Legends have dropped eight of their past ten games, which includes losing two of three to the Rockers last week. They are by far the youngest team in the league, and their inexperience has cost them thus far.

 

Keys Players:

Dustin Beggs:
Beggs was Lexington’s opening day starter this season and an arm they will have to lean on again to try to turn their season around. Beggs has had a rough season to this point. He has made four starts and has pitched to a 7.36 ERA. What has hurt Beggs the most has been the eight home runs he has allowed this year. This is not a new problem for him, who allowed 24 homers last year with Spire City. In his two starts against High Point, Beggs is yet to earn a win. With an ERA of 9.00 and four homers allowed, Beggs will have to do a better job of keeping the ball in the yard to give Lexington a chance.

 

Kole Cottam:
Cottam joined Lexington about a week and a half ago but since he has been a Legend, he has been on fire. He’s hit for a .333 batting average and parked four homers while showing great discipline at the plate walking ten times and striking out just six. Cottam has been a problem for the Atlantic League for a couple seasons now. He slugged 30 homers and 24 doubles for Spire City last year and has not slowed down one bit this season.

 

Key Trends:

Can the offense keep up:
Going into last week’s matchup between Lexington and High Point, the Legends had scored the second-most runs in the league and had the most doubles. However, after being held to three runs all series against Gastonia, they now have scored the second-fewest runs. They’ve hit the second-fewest homers, but get on base and try to cause havoc. Lexington’s pitching staff will give up runs, and Lexington’s offense will have to score a bunch to keep up.

 

Keeping the ball in the park:
The Legends have the highest ERA in the league at 7.33, primarily because of their inability to limit home runs. The Legends have allowed 39 homers this year, seven more than any other team in the ALPB. They’ve walked 134, 24 more than any other club. The Rockers have hit the most homers in the league and draw the third-most walks, making this series a matchup of strength vs weakness. Lexington has to be able to prevent throwing ball four, and keep the ball in the park to give themselves any shot.

 

Pitching Matchup:
Fri: HP – Ben Braymer vs LEX – Dustin Beggs
Braymer: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (first appearance of 2024)
Beggs: 22 IP (5G-4GS) / 7.36 ERA / 9BB:17Ks / 8HR allowed

Sat: HP – Taylor Guerrieri vs LEX – TBA
Guerrieri: 12IP (4G-2GS) / 8ER (6.00 ERA) / 15Ks / 4BB / 4HR allowed

TBA:

 

Sun: HP – Brandon Leibrandt vs LEX – Jose Acuna
Leibrandt: 19.1IP (4GS) / 2ER (0.93 ERA) / 7BB / 24Ks
Acuna: 16.2IP (4GS) / 7.02 ERA / 24BB:10Ks / 3HR allowed

 

Keys for Rocker Starters:
The Rockers are happy to not be seeing Nick Laio, who shut them down last Tuesday at Truist Point. Instead, they’ll see Dustin Beggs and Jose Acuna, two arms the Rockers have had a lot of success against. For High Point, Braymer will make his first appearance of the season. He is a former Major Leaguer and pitched to a 1.16 ERA with the Rockers last year. Guerrieri has been exceptional this year excluding one rough start against Southern Maryland. In his last start, he took on Lexington and held them down to just one run over four innings. Leibrandt has been brilliant for the Rockers as well, he’s allowed just two earned runs over 19.1 innings and has used his fastball, slider, changeup pitch mix to baffle hitters. He has struck out 24 so far and should be in line for more against Lexington this series.

 

Milestone Watch:
Rockers manager, Jaime Keefe, has the third best active win percentage in the Atlantic League and picked up wins 300 and 301 when the Rockers swept their doubleheader Sunday against the Dirty Birds. He has another milestone on the horizon, needing just nine more games to hit 2,000 games managed for his career.

 

How Can I Tune In?
Tuesday and Thursday our coverage will start at 6:20 p.m. EDT with a first pitch time of 6:45 p.m. EDT. Our pregame coverage for Wednesday’s 10:15 a.m. EDT game will begin at 9:50 a.m. EDT. This series will be broadcast exclusively on MixLR as we will call the game remotely.

 

 

 

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Big South Baseball Championship will begin play on Thursday, May 23 at 1 p.m. at Truist Point. The top four teams in the Big South regular season standings have advanced to the championship, led by No. 1 see Presbyterian, No. 2 High Point University, No. 3 USC Upstate and No. 4 Charleston Southern.

Thursday’s schedule features Presbyterian vs. Charleston Southern at 1 p.m. followed by High Point vs. USC Upstate at 5 p.m.

Three games are slated for Friday with starting times of 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. The championship game will take place on Saturday at noon. All games will be played at Truist Point.

Tickets: Priced at $15 per day for adults; $12 per day for students and children. If purchased prior to May 22, all tickets are $11. All seating is general admission.

Tickets are available here

Championship Seeds:

• Presbyterian College (18-6)
• High Point University (17-7)
• USC Upstate (16-8)
• Charleston Southern (12-12)

Practice Day, Wednesday, May 22

1          High Point      10 am -11:15
2          USC Upstate   11:30-12:45
3          Presbyterian    1:00-2:15
4          CSU    2:30-3:45

 

Game Schedule
Thursday, May 23
Gates open at noon
1:00     Game 1           #1 Presbyterian vs. #4 Charleston Southern
5:00     Game 2           #2 High Point vs. #3 USC Upstate

Friday, May 24
Gates open at 10:00 am
11:00 am         Game 3           Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2 (Elimination game)
3:00 pm           Game 4           Winner Game 1 winner vs Winner Game 2
7:00 pm           Game 5           Winner Game 3 vs Loser Game 4 (Elimination game)

Saturday, May 25
Gates open at 11:00 am
12:00 pm         Game 6           Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
4:00 pm           Game 7           In necessary, same teams from Game 6

Notes:

• Fans can exit Truist Point and re-enter
• Gates will stay open between games
• The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Regionals.
• Presbyterian earned the No. 1 seed for the first time since joining the Big South in 2007. The Blue Hose won the Big South Tournament in 2021.
• High Point, Upstate and Charleston Southern are seeking their first-ever tournament title.
• If the undefeated team in Game 6 should lose, a second championship game would be played at 4 p.m. Saturday.
• Former Big South member Campbell is the defending tournament champion but the Camels are now members of the Colonial Athletic Association.

 

 

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By Katelynn Hunter
HighPointRockers.com

Greensboro native Greg White has made a full circle after signing with the High Point Rockers.  He played in his first game for the Rockers on Mother’s Day where his mom was in the stands to watch the team bring home the win. For White, the dream of playing professional baseball hasn’t faded even through the face of adversity.

As a junior in high school at Wesleyan Christian Academy, he was not being heavily recruited. This was not discouraging to White but instead a source of motivation. After graduating, White made the team at Pitt Community College in Greenville, North Carolina. He spent two years at Pitt Community College before transferring to North Carolina A&T (DI). When he was being recruited by NC A&T, he knew that he was being called to come back home.

“Being surrounded by my support system kept me motivated,” stated White. Being able to play Division I baseball in his hometown was a dream come true. He was able to pursue his dreams while being surrounded by the people he loved. During his time at NC A&T, he started in 47 games and finished the season with a .350 average. White was able to help lead the Aggies to a spot in the 2017 MEAC Baseball Championship Tournament. He was able to see his hard work paying off but did not want his career to stop here.

After graduating college, White continued to pursue his dreams of playing professionally. He tried out for multiple teams but was declined a spot on their rosters. This process continued for several months but White did not give up hope. In 2021, he signed with the Boise Hawks in the Pioneer League for the season. At the end of the season, White found himself looking for a spot with another team. He continued to train and kept himself in shape while waiting for another opportunity to play the sport he loves so much.

In May 2024, White received a call from the High Point Rockers and was quickly added to the roster. This was a full circle moment for him as he was back playing baseball in his hometown. Seeing his family in the stands meant the world to him as he played in his first game on Saturday and then made his first start on Sunday, getting a hit and driving in a run.

High Point Rockers vs. Lexington Legends (May 14-16)

The Rockers and Legends will start a three-game set on Tuesday at Truist Point. The two clubs are spiraling in opposite directions. Lexington has lost six straight games and rests in the cellar of the South Division, 13 games back of the Charleston Dirty Birds. The Rockers after winning their first five games to start the year, hit a bit of a wall, but have now won two straight and look to close ground on the Dirty Birds prior to their big series this weekend. These three games with the Legends continue a nine-game homestand for High Point. The Rockers won their previous series against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, which was the Rockers first series win since their sweep of the Legends to start the season. The Rockers will see plenty of the Legends, the two teams will battle 25 times this year, with 15 of those at Truist Point.

 

About the Rockers:

The Rockers come into this game at 9-7 tied with Gastonia for second in the South Division, four games back of the Charleston Dirty Birds who the Rockers will face Friday, Saturday and Sunday. After the Rockers got off to a scorching start winning their first five games, they dropped three straight series, before taking the first series of the homestand against Southern Maryland. Charleston just finished a six-game sweep of the Legends and High Point must handle business vs the teams in the basement, like Lexington to keep pace with the Dirty Birds in the first half.

Key Players:

Ben Aklinski:

The Rockers go as Ben Aklinski goes. Aklinski started the season with four homers and 15 runs batted in, then hit a mini slide that correlated with the Rockers slide. However, in the past three games, Aklinski is 4 for 12 with two homers and eight runs batted in. In the Rockers’ first series against Lexington, Aklinski hit .500 with three homers and 12 RBIs. On April 27th Aklinski had a two homer game, with one of those being the only Rocker grand slam this season. High Point needs Aklinski’s bat to stay hot to handle Lexington and gain momentum into the Charleston series.

Colin Moran:

Moran is the current Rocker with the most Major League experience. He has 50 big league homers and began to show off that power in High Point’s last series vs the Blue Crabs. Moran is the Rockers reigning Player of the Week. He hit .400, had a homer, four doubles, and drove in three runs. On Sunday Moran had a four-hit game, becoming the third Rocker to do so this season, joining Ben Aklinski and Connor Owings.

Connor Owings:

Connor Owings has been the most consistent Rocker this year. He has a .350 batting average, the highest on the team, and has three homers and 15 RBIs. Aklinski was not the only High Point player to hit Lexington hard as Owings had a .444 batting average with two homers during that four game series. In the absence of Nick Longhi, High Point needs the rest of the lineup to step up and Owings in particular.

 

Keys Trends:

HR ball:

The Rockers have the most homers in the Atlantic league with 27 and have won every game this season that they hit more homers than their opponent. More than 53% of their offense production comes via the HR, demonstrating how vital it is to the Rockers success.

Stolen Base Battle:

The Rockers struggled stopping the running game earlier this season. A week ago, they had allowed the second-most stolen bases including a stretch of four games where they conceded 15 stolen bags. However, High Point has done a much better job recently and has picked off three base runners in the past two games. When the Rockers are on base, they don’t steal a whole lot. They have the second fewest stolen bases with 14. However, when the Rockers steal, they have success. This season the Rockers have won every game that they have as many or more stolen bases than their opponent.

Dominance on the mound:

In 2023, the High Point pitching staff had the best strikeout to walk ratio in the Atlantic League. They had the second-most strikeouts and fewest walks, with 69 fewer than the team with the second-least. This season the Rockers are demonstrating a similar dominance. They have the third best ERA at 3.97 and have a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.96, which is nearly 1.5 more than Gastonia, the team with the second-best mark.

 

About the Legends:

Lexington comes into this three-game series at 3-13, six games behind High Point, and 10 behind the division pacing Charleston Dirty Birds. The Legends have dropped six straight games, all to the Dirty Birds. They are by far the youngest team in the league, and their inexperience has cost them thus far.

Keys Players:

Keenan OBrien:

The Lexington backstop has only played 10 games this season, but when he has, he’s been productive. He has a .368 batting average with three doubles a triple and 11 RBIs. Against High Point he was two for six with four runs batted in and in his last seven games he is hitting .385. He is a bat to pay attention to this series.

Matt Bottcher:

Another lefty High Point has to look out for is Matt Bottcher. He has a .284 batting average thus far and has four doubles as well. His power has been on the rise; last year he clubbed a career high 13 homers, and already has three this year. He is a guy with speed as well. He stole 21 bags last year and has three this season. Bottcher will have to make an impact on the game in all areas to give Lexington a fighting chance.

Key Trends:

Can the offense keep up:

While Lexington’s record is the worst in the league, do not be fooled into thinking the Legends can’t hit. The Legends have scored the second-most runs in the league and have the most doubles. They don’t hit a lot of homers, but they walk, get on base, and can cause havoc. They have scored five or more runs in four of their past six and scored 10+ in their last two games. High Point has an explosive offense, and Lexington will have to score a whole lot to steal some wins.

 

Keeping the ball in the park:

We just mentioned how the Legends can hit, but Lexington’s pitching is a different story. The Legends have the highest ERA in the league at 8.08, which is 2.2 higher than the Long Island Ducks who have the second-highest ERA in the league. The reason for the high number, the long ball. The Legends have allowed 32 homers this year, which is 10 more than any other club has allowed and have walked 107, 26 more than Hagerstown, who has walked the second-most in the league. The Rockers have hit the most homers in the league and draw the third-most walks, making this series a matchup of strength vs weakness. Lexington has to be able to prevent throwing ball four and keep the ball in the park to give themselves any shot.

 

Pitching Matchup:

Tues: LEX – Nic Laio vs HP – Ryan Weiss

Laio: 13.2IP (3G-2GS) / 6.58 ERA / 5BB:18Ks / 2HR allowed

Weiss: 14.1IP (3GS) / 9ER (5.65 ERA) / 6BB / 25Ks / 4HR allowed

 

Wed: LEX – Dustin Beggs vs HP – Taylor Guerrieri

Beggs: 14 IP (3GS) / 7.71 ERA / 7BB:9Ks / 5HR allowed

Guerrieri: 8IP (3G-1GS) / 7ER (7.87 ERA) / 12Ks

 

Thurs: LEX – TBA vs HP – Jeremy Rhoades

TBA:

Rhoades: 15.1IP (3GS) / 7ER (4.11 ERA) / 5BB / 18Ks / 2HR allowed

 

Keys for Rocker Starters:

The Rockers have had impressive strikeout stuff this season, six strikeouts away from 200 on the season. The Legends batters have struck out the second most times this year. Rockers pitchers should be able to put away Legend hitters via the K and keep men offbase. Weiss made a start vs Lexington earlier this season that wasn’t his best. He gave up four runs over 4.1 innings. However, last time out at the Blue Crabs, Weiss tied a club record with 12 strikeouts and is in line for a more successful outing vs Lexington today. Rhoades also started at Lexington during opening weekend, and threw five shutout innings, striking out six. If the Rockers pitchers can replicate their success, they team should be in line for some wins.

 

Milestone Watch:

Rockers manager, Jaime Keefe, has the third best active win percentage in the Atlantic League and is four wins away from 300 Atlantic League Ws and 15 games away from 2,000 games managed.

 

How Can I Tune In?

            Tuesday and Thursday our coverage will start at 6:20 p.m. EDT with a first pitch time of 6:35 p.m. EDT. Our pregame coverage for Wednesday’s 11:00 a.m. EDT game will begin at 10:45 a.m. EDT. Tune into the game on MixLR or watch the game on FloSports.