HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers took an early 3-0 lead and held on to defeat the Long Island Ducks 3-2 on Friday night at Truist Point. D.J. Burt singled home a pair of runs and Rockers reliever Jameson McGrane set a club record with his 32nd career save.
The win raises the Rockers record to 69-76 on the season and 28-24 in the second half. Long Island is now 66-49 overall and 31-21 in the second half. The Rockers entered the day three games behind Gastonia which hosted Southern Maryland on Friday night.
Fin Del Bonta-Smith (W, 2-3) went seven innings and held the Ducks to two runs on six hits while walking none. Andre Scrubb made his Rockers debut and allowed a pair of hits in the eighth but escaped without allowing a run. McGrane struck out two in putting the Ducks down in order to earn his 15th save of the year and the 32nd of his High Point career. He passed the previous mark of 31 held by Ryan Dull.
The Rockers took a 2-0 lead in the first when Drew Mendoza and Alex Dickerso each singled off Ducks starter Ryan Sandberg (L, 5-5). With two outs, D.J. Burt lined a single to left to score both base runners.
High Point took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth when Aidan Brewer drew a one-out walk from Sandberg and scored from first on a double by Luis Gonzalez.
The Ducks slowly cut into the lead, using a lead-off homer from Aaron Antonini in the fifth and a solo shot from Taylor Kohlwey in the seventh to make it a 3-2 game.
Luis Gonzalez had a pair of doubles and extended his streak of consecutive games on-base to 21.Dickerson added two hits for the Rockers while Kole Kaler, Ivan Castillo and Aaron Antonini each had a pair of hits for the Ducks.
Game two of the three-game set is slated for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch on Saturday at Truist Point. The Rockers will send lefty Jonah Scolaro (9-5, 6.22) to the mound to face Long Island’s Juan Hillman (9-5, 4.80). Rocker fans can catch all the action on FLOBASEBALL.TV and on the MixLR app.
NOTES: The Rockers achieved a milestone on Friday, completing their third consecutive game without issuing a walk . . . The Rockers haven’t walked a batter since the fourth inning of Tuesday’s game vs. Southern Maryland, marking 32 consecutive innings without allowing a walk . . . Long Island’s pitchers retired the final 13 High Point batters . . . The Rockers have now won 10 straight from the ducks dating back to Long Island’s 3-1 win at Truist Point on June 6, 2024.
