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.
