Williamson keys Rockers victory at Frederick

FREDERICK, Md. – The High Point Rockers rallied for three runs in the top of the eighth inning to erase a 5-4 deficit and take a 7-5 win from Frederick on Saturday night at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium. The win made the Rockers the first team in the Atlantic League to reach 20 victories this season as their record now stands at 20-7.

Trailing 5-4 after seven innings, High Point took a 7-5 lead in the top of the eighth inning when John Daly singled and newly-signed outfielder Cam Williamson reached on an error. After D.J. Burt was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Michael Martinez delivered a run-scoring sacrifice fly to score Daly.  John Nogowski then knocked a two-run single to left to score Williamson and Burt.

High Point took a 3-0 lead in the second inning when Ryan Grotjohn doubled with one out off Frederick starter Elih Villanueva. After moving to third on a wild pitch, Grotjohn would score on a single by Daly. Williamson then homered to put the Rockers up 3-0. Frederick responded in the bottom of the second when Leobaldo Cabrera hit a two-run homer to cut the margin to 3-2.

The Rockers extended their lead to 4-2 in the top of the seventh on a solo homer by Ben Aklinski, his sixth round-tripper of the season.  Frederick responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead. A pair of errors by the Rockers led to all three unearned runs.

The Rockers called on ace reliever Ryan Dull to close the game in the ninth. He walked one and struck out one to earn his sixth save of the season.

Joe Johnson started for the Rockers and went five innings, allowing six hits and two runs while walking two and striking out two. Jeremy Rhoades (W, 5-0) became the first Atlantic League pitcher to reach five wins by pitching the seventh inning. Frederick’s Jack Weinberger (L, 1-2) allowed two hits and three runs in the eighth inning in taking the loss.

High Point and Frederick will conclude their three-game series on Sunday with a 1:00 game at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium.

NOTES:  OF Cam Williamson was signed by the Rockers on Saturday after Dai-Kang Yang was placed on the injured list with a leg injury… Williamson appeared in two games with the Rockers in 2022 during a pair of brief stints with the club, going one-for-four in two games . . . His homer on Saturday marked his first as a pro . . . He also played in 11 games with Empire State of the Frontier League in 2022 . . . Williamson is a former player at Greensboro Dudley High who played at North Carolina A&T State University . . . Joe Johnson, a High Point University grad who had been with the Rockers for the majority of the 2021 and 2022 seasons, was signed by the Rockers on Friday after having started the year with the Tri-City Valley Cats (Troy, NY) of the Frontier League . . . Rockers manager Jamie Keefe is not with the team in Frederick as he is attending the college graduation of his son Brigham from the University of Massachusetts . . . Bench coach Albert Gonzalez is serving as interim manager.