By Camden Connolly
HIGH POINT, N.C.- High Point’s Isaiah Mirabal hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to drive in the go-ahead run and lead the Rockers to a 4-3 win and a series sweep of the Charleston Dirty Birds on Thursday night at Truist Point.
The win allows the Rockers to continue to hold the Atlantic League’s top overall record at 50-28, holding a two-game lead over the York Revolution. High Point is 9-6 in the second half and in second place behind South Division leader Lexington (9-5).
The win ties this Rockers team with the 2023 club for the fewest games needed to reach 50 wins at 78.
The Rockers took a 2-0 lead in the first when Ben Alkiniski blasted his 20th homer of the season off Dirty Birds’ starting pitcher, Luis De Avila, with one aboard to start the Rockers scoring.
The Dirty Birds cut the lead to 2-1 in the second when Demetruis Moorer singled to centerfield, driving in Alsander Womack to bring the Dirty Birds within one at 2-1.
In the fourth inning, after being hit by a pitch, the Rockers’ D.J. Burt stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw before scoring on a wild pitch from De Avila to give the Rockers a 3-1 lead.
Charleston tied the game in the seventh inning at 3-3 with Joseph Rosa launching a two-run homer off the Rockers’ reliever Win Scott (W, 3-0).
In the bottom of the eighth, Braxton Davidson drew a full-count walk from Charleston reliever Frank Moscatiello (L, 0-1). Max Viera pinch ran for Davidson and scooted to third when Burt launched a double into the left field corner. Mirabal then sent a deep fly ball to right as Viera scored on the sac fly to put the Rockers ahead 4-3.
Isaiah Mirabal was able to help the Rockers take back the lead in the bottom of the eighth by hitting a sacrifice fly off the Dirty Birds reliever Frank Moscatiello (L,0-1), driving in pinch runner Max Viera to give the Rockers the 4-3 advantage.
Alex Dickerson collected two more hits to extend his hitting streak to five games. He now has multiple hits in each of the last three games.
Rockers starter Fin Del Bonta-Smith was solid, throwing five innings and holding the Birds to three hits and one run while striking out six.The Rockers will remain at Truist Point for the next three-game series against the Gastonia Ghost Peppers from Friday to Sunday. Friday and Saturday’s games are both scheduled to start at 6:35 p.m., while Sunday’s contest is slated for a 4:05 p.m. Sunday is a very special day for the Rockers, as it is Hype’s birthday! Fans can expect to see Hype’s mascot friends gather together at Truist Point to celebrate his big day. Rockers fans can catch the action on FLOBASEBALL.TV and on the MixLR app.
