Lancaster Bangs Out Seven in 9-3 Win
The Lancaster Barnstormers knocked out seven doubles on Tuesday evening to defeat the High Point Rockers, 9-3, in the opener of a three-game series at Truist Point.
Lancaster is now 10-5 in the second half, trailing York by percentage points for the top spot in the North.
The flurry of doubles started immediately as Melvin Mercedes took Jheyson Manzueta (3-1) into the right field corner to open the game. One out later, Andretty Cordero found the gap in right center. With two outs, Chad Sedio drove another two-bagger over the head of left fielder Michael Martinez for a 2-0 lead.
For the second straight start, Jeff Bain (2-0) found trouble only in the third inning. The right-hander retired seven of the first eight Rockers before Michael Russell singled up the middle. Shed Long, Jr. tripled into the right field corner before D.J. Burt was hit by a pitch. Ben Aklinski’s double down the left field line tied the game, and High Point would take its only lead of the night on a sacrifice fly by Beau Taylor.
Manzueta retired 10 straight before yielding a two-out single to center by Trace Loehr in the fifth. Mercedes doubled to right center to tie the game. Yeison Coca sliced a double inside the left field line to produce the go-ahead run, and Cordero made it 5-3 with a single through the right side.
Jack Conley keyed a two-run seventh with a double off the glove of Long at second, who was playing at the edge of the infield grass with designated runner Shawon Dunston, Jr. at third. Cordero delivered the final blow with an RBI double to deep left in the ninth, the only hit of the inning
Bain worked six innings, yielding seven hits and the three runs. He walked one and struck out four. Brandyn Sittinger, Zach Warren and Nick Duron threw a scoreless inning of relief.
NOTES: Cordero set a club record with 187 RBI over two seasons, breaking a mark previously held by Aaron Herr…He also has 286 hits during that time in 207 games played…He has a 13-game hitting streak, his longest in a Lancaster uniform…Joseph Carpenter went 1-for-4 to stretch his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest by a Barnstormer this season…Coca is 16-for-16 stealing bases.