BARNSTORMERS SLUG WAY TO COMMUNITY CUP

War of the Roses Prize to Stay in Lancaster

The Community Cup will reside east of the Susquehanna River for another year.

Lancaster belted three home runs on Tuesday evening on the way to an 8-6 victory over the York Revolution at Clipper Magazine Stadium. The victory gave Lancaster a 10-9 edge in the 2016 PNC Bank War of the Roses. Under the rules, the Cup remains with the incumbent in the event of a season series split.

The Barnstormers began their assault on James Simmons (11-9) in the first inning. Trayvon Robinson homered off the back ad wall in right center with one out. Two batters later, Josh Bell thundered a double off the batter’s eye in center. A long ground rule double to right center off the bat of Sean Halton ensued, and the Barnstormers grabbed a 2-0 lead.

Robinson opened the third with a walk, and K.C. Hobson followed with a single off the base of the wall in right. Bell cleared the deck in right field for his 19th home run of the season, and Halton followed with a solo shot barely inside the right field foul pole for his 22nd as the Barnstormers stretched the lead to 6-0.

York fought back against Joe Gardner (3-1) in the top of the fourth. Isaias Tejeda boomed a ground rule double to left center to get the rally started. Andres Perez reached on an error, and Michael Rockett muscled a single into left center for the first run. After Michael Burgess flied to left for the first out, Bryan Pounds slipped a double past Bell and down the third base line to drive home two to cut the deficit to 6-3.

Another error and a walk to Travis Witherspoon loaded the bases, but Gardner escaped further trouble, getting Jared Mitchell to fly out harmlessly to center field ending the threat.

Lancaster put two insurance runs on the board in the eighth inning. Dean Wilson and Caleb Gindl banged singles into center, and Robinson drove one run home with a sacrifice fly to left. K.C. Hobson was drilled by a Simmons pitch before Bell singled up the middle to drive in his fourth run of the night for an 8-3 advantage.

Mitchell reached Gardner for a towering solo homer to right center in the seventh to slice the lead to 8-4. Gardner threw a pitch behind the following batter, Tejeda. The York catcher pointed a finger toward the Lancaster dugout, and benches cleared along the first base line.

The Barnstormers appeared to be in position to put the game away in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases with nobody out, but Scott Rice struck out Bell and got Halton to ground into a double play to kill the inning.

That kept York alive, and the Revs responded in the top of the ninth. Brandon Chaves beat out a swinging bunt single on the right side to lead off against Steven Shackleford. Travis Witherspoon followed with a two-run homer, and Mitchell doubled off the first base bag.

A quick summons was sent to the pen, and Cory Burns put out the fire in 1-2-3 fashion to record his 29th save of the season.

Lancaster will wrap up its home schedule on Wednesday evening at 7:00. The Barnstormers will send right-hander Joey Maher (1-4) to the hill against right-hander Ty’Relle Harris. Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube Channel, starting at 6:45.

NOTES: Bell took over the league RBI lead with 86, passing the idle Joel Guzman by one…Hobson was 1-for-2 on the night, extending his hitting streak to 16 games…He fell off the home run pace as Sugar Land’s Jeremy Barfield and Somerset’s David Vidal each connected…Burns remained perfect in converting saves at home…Robinson is 8-for-13 with two homers over the past four games…Right-hander Tanner Peters and outfielder Blake Gailen have both ended their seasons…The Barnstormers signed outfielder Miles Williams earlier in the day.