Sweep of Charleston puts Rockers in 1st place

HIGH POINT N,C – The High Point Rockers moved into first place in the South Division of the Atlantic League with a Sunday afternoon doubleheader sweep of the Charleston Dirty Birds at Truist Point. The Rockers won the opener 6-2 before Zander Wiel gave High Point a 3-2 win in the nightcap with a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh.

Sunday’s opening game victory also marked the 300th win for Rockers’ manager Jamie Keefe.

High Point began the day in third place in the South Division, trailing Charleston and Gastonia. With the Gastonia Baseball club splitting a twinbill with Lexington and the Rockers’ sweep of Charleston, High Point moved into a tie for first with Gastonia at 14-8 while Charleston fell to third at 13-9.

Wiel’s walk-off single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh capped an outstanding pitching performance from the High Point staff. Starter Jonah Scolaro allowed a run on two hits in the first inning before setting down 13 consecutive Dirty Bird hitters. Austin Ross tossed a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth as the Rockers’ staff combined to retire 18 consecutive Charleston hitters.

Trailing 1-0 after Delino Deshields led off the game with a double and scored on a single by Jared Carr, High Point scored a pair in the second on a two-run double by Brian Parrieria.

And that’s how the game remained until the seventh when Ryan Meisinger came on to close the game. But former MLB player Clint Frazier smacked a solo homer to left that tied the game at 2-2 and brought the Rockers to the plate in the bottom of the seventh.

Charleston reliever Joan Martinez walked Martin Figueroa before Connor Owings doubled to put runners at second a third. Ben Aklinski received an intentional pass to load the bases and Wiel’s soft liner to center just escaped the grasp of Carr.

Meisinger (W, 1-0) earned the victory while Martinez (L, 0-2) took the loss.

The Rockers dominated the first game 6-2 over Charleston with two runs coming home on wild pitches, a pair of home runs by Ryan Grotjohn and Clayton Mehlbauer and 10 strikeouts from starting pitcher Ryan Weiss (W, 2-2).

The Rockers took an early lead after Figueroa scored on a wild pitch to go up 1-0. Charleston forced a tie on a sac fly from Rusber Estrada in the second.

Grotjohn smacked his first home run of the season for High Point to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the second inning. A sac fly from Owings plated Mehlbauer to increase the lead 3-1.

Evan Edwards scored on a wild pitch from Charleston starter Jalen Miller in the third for a 4-1 lead.

The Rockers strengthened their edge in the fourth after a homer from Mehlbauer upped the lead to 5-1.

A Grotjohn triple and a sac fly from Mehlbauer accounted for the 6-2 final.

Charleston’s Jalen Miller (L, 2-2) went three innings in the opener, allowing four runs on five hits.

NOTES: The first game win was No. 300 for Jamie Keefe fifth year as Rockers manager . . . For his career, Keefe is now in his 22nd season with a 1073-918 mark . . . The Rockers have won five straight games, matching their season-long winning streak set when they opened the season 5-0.