Rockers return to winning ways with 5-1 victory at Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The High Point Rockers returned to their winning ways on Thursday, posting a 5-1 victory over the Lexington Counter Clocks at Counter Clocks Field. Daikan Yoh drove in three runs and Brian Parreira hit his first homer as a Rocker to lead the offensive attack.

The Rockers are now 11-2 and hold a 1.5 game lead over Gastonia in the Atlantic League’s South Division. High Point hosts the 9-3 Honey Hunters in a three-game series at Truist Point starting on Friday night.

Neil Uskali, who had pitched for the Rockers in the 2021 and ’22 seasons but had been released prior to this season, was signed on Thursday and started on the mound vs. Lexington. He went four innings and allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out two. Parreira staked the Rockers to a 1-0 with his solo shot to right in the third.

Knuckleballer Mickey Jannis (W, 2-0) relieved Uskali in the fifth and yielded four hits over his three innings of work in earning the win. Jameson McGrane pitched a shutout eighth inning and Ryan Dull struck out the side in the ninth.

Yoh pushed High Point’s lead to 2-0 in the fifth when his sacrifice fly scored Ben Aklinski who had drawn a lead off walk. Lexington’s lone run came in the sixth when Connor Owings doubled to score Manuel Geraldo.

Yoh gave the Rockers a 3-0 lead in the seventh when he grounded out with the bases loaded, allowing Zander Wiel to score. Yoh then doubled home Ryan Grotjohn in the ninth before Yoh scored on John Daly’s sac fly later in the inning.

The Rockers and Honey Hunters begin their three-game series on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point.  Friday’s game includes a pregame giveaway of an Apogee Behavioral Medicine stress ball as well as a postgame fireworks show. Tickets are available at HighPointRockers.com or at the Truist Point box office.