Long, Jr. drives in 4 but Rockers fall at York

YORK, Pa. – The High Point Rockers closed out their next-to-last regular season series with a 17-8 loss at York on Thursday night at WellSpan Park.

The Rockers held a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the sixth before the Revs put up 11 runs over the next three innings, helped in large part by three Rockers errors. Only two of the final 11 runs scored were earned runs.

The Rockers are now 35-23 in the second half and tied for first place with Gastonia (36-24) which posted a 5-4 win over Southern Maryland on Thursday.

High Point and York each scored four runs in the second. High Point’s runs came on a Brian Parreira solo homer, a Shed Long, Jr. two-run single and a wild pitch that allowed Quincy Latimore to score from third. York’s half of the inning resulted in an RBI single from Alexis Pantoja and a three-run Trey Martin homer off Rocker starter Justin Nicolino.

The Rockers took a 5-4 lead in the top of the fourth as Michael Martinez singled, moved to second on a wild pitch by York starter Cody Brittain and then scored on a double by Long, Jr.

Nicolino exited after 3.1 innings as he hit his designated pitch count. Bryce Hensley came on and allowed two runs in the fifth. Drew Mendoza drew a walk and moved to second on a single by Jhon Nunez. A walk to Alejandro Rivero loaded the bases and Mendoza scored on a wild pitch. Richard Urena then singled home Nunez to put the Revs ahead 6-5.

The Rockers went on top 7-6 in the sixth as Martinez doubled with one out in the inning. D.J. Burt was then hit in the head by a pitch from Brittain and forced to exit the game. Nilo Rijo replaced Burt as Long, Jr. delivered another RBI single that plated Martinez. Joe Johnson pinch-hit and slapped a single to right scoring Rijo to give the Rockers the lead.

York tallied six times in sixth off Mitch Atkins as the Revs went ahead 12-7. They added four more runs in the seventh. All three of High Point’s errors were throwing errors with one in the sixth and two in the seventh.

Long, Jr. finished with three hits and four RBI for the Rockers. TMartin and Nunez each drove in three runs for York with Ryan January collecting three hits and four RBI. Urena led all players with four hits on the night.

Atkins (L, 1-4) took the loss though only one of the 10 runs he allowed was earned. Nelvin Correa (W, 5-4) earned the win for the Revs.

The Rockers will continue their season-ending road trip with a three-game series at Long Island over the weekend. The first game of the series is slated for a 6:35 p.m. start on Friday night at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.

NOTES: An August 6 Long Island at High Point game that was suspended due to weather, will not be made up and has been declared a “no contest.”