High Point Rockers Baseball

All-Star OF Aklinski returning to Rockers

All-Star OF Aklinski returning to Rockers

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HIGH POINT, N.C. – All-star outfielder Ben Aklinski has signed a contract to return to the High Point Rockers in 2025. This will mark Aklinski’s fourth season with the Rockers and his fifth in the Atlantic League.

“Ben has been the rock that is really the foundation of our ballclub,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “He’s a leader in the clubhouse and a leader on the field. And it is tough to quantify just how valuable he has been as a player. He is a great hitter, an outstanding fielder, and he plays the game the right way. I can’t say enough about what he has brought to the Rockers.”

Aklinski has led the Rockers in games played, at-bats, and runs scored in each of his three seasons in High Point. He holds club records for the most runs scored in a season (114) and career (301), most grand slams in a season (3) and career (8), most RBI in a season (102) and career (268), and most extra base hits in a career (156). Aklinski is among the elite Atlantic League players with two 20-20 seasons (20 homers and 20 stolen bases) and one of just a handful with a 20-30 season (24 homers, 31 stolen bases) in 2024.

A member of the Atlantic League’s All-Defensive Team in 2024, Aklinski was named to the ALPB 2023 Postseason All-Star team and the 2022 Mid-Season All-Star team.

Perhaps the most telling statistic is that in Aklinski’s 382 games with the Rockers, High Point has taken the field with a record of under .500 just once. On the fourth day of the 2022 season, the Rockers were 1-2 after dropping two of three games in the season-opening series at Kentucky. The Rockers pulled even that day with a 2-2 record and have remained over .500 in every game since, a span of 379 games.

The Rockers open the 2025 campaign at Southern Maryland on Friday, April 25 and will play their first home game at Truist Point on Friday, May 2 against the Lexington Legends.

Rockers Trade For IF Connor Owings

Rockers Trade For IF Connor Owings

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Rockers Trade For IF Connor Owings

Rockers make pair of trades

Former CWS champion headed to High Point

Rockers Trade For IF Connor Owings

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers made a pair of trades on Thursday, acquiring third baseman Connor Owings from the Lexington Legends and sending infielder Osvaldo Abreu to the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars.

Owings was acquired for a player to be named later while the Rockers will receive the same in sending Abreu to Hagerstown.

Owings hit .272 with 22 home runs and 92 RBI for the Legends in 2023. He was third in the Atlantic League with 34 doubles and third with 61 extra base hits. Owings’ 92 RBI was the sixth-highest total in the league last season.

“Connor made a strong impression on us last year as we watched him play for Lexington,” said Rockers manager Jamie Keefe. “He can really swing the bat, with those 61 extra base hits and 92 RBI last year. He is very good defensively wherever we play him, and will be a great addition to our club.”

The Rockers selected Abreu in the first round of the Atlantic League Dispersal Draft in November. The 29-year-old infielder from the Dominican Republic hit .269 with 13 homers and 43 RBI for Spire City in 2023. He had spent nine seasons with affiliated clubs including eight years in the Washington Nationals’ farm system.

The left-handed hitting Owings, a native of Gilbert, S.C., was a three-time All-Big South selection while playing at Coastal Carolina University. In 2016, he hit .352 with 16 homers and 57 RBI in leading the Chanticleers to the College Worlds Series championship, beating Arizona in the best-of-three series finale.

The Rockers will report for spring training at Truist Point on April 15 and will open the season at Lexington on Thursday, April 25. The home opener for the Rockers is slated for Tuesday, April 30 at 6:35 p.m. against the Charleston Dirty Birds.

Rockers Sign IF/OF Clayton Mehlbauer

Rockers Sign IF/OF Clayton Mehlbauer

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Rockers Sign IF/OF Clayton Mehlbauer

Rockers Sign IF/OF Clayton Mehlbauer

Former Dirty Bird migrates south to play for High Point

Rockers Sign IF/OF Clayton Mehlbauer 

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Clayton Mehlbauer, the starting shortstop for the Charleston Dirty Birds of the Atlantic League in 2023, has signed with the High Point Rockers. Rockers manager Jamie Keefe made the announcement today (Wed, March 6).

Mehlbauer, 25, played collegiately at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky. and started his professional career in 2022 with the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes. He began the 2023 season with the Spire City Ghost Hounds before becoming the starting shortstop at Charleston over the last 80 games of the season.

But it wasn’t Mehlbauer’s ability to play short that gave the Rockers reason to add him to their 2024 roster. It was his versatility.

“Clayton can play seven different positions,” said Keefe. “He can play the outfield and anywhere in the infield. He brings a lot to the club and works hard every single day. Clayton was also excellent late in the season when the pressure is really on.”

Mehlbauer hit .367 for Charleston in September of last year and had his best month of the season with Kentucky in September 2022.

At Bellarmine, Mehlbauer ranks among the top five in school history in hits, doubles, triples, runs scored, home runs and stolen bases.

The Rockers will report for spring training at Truist Point on April 15 and will open the season at Lexington on Thursday, April 25. The home opener for the Rockers is slated for Tuesday, April 30 against the Charleston Dirty Birds.

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