SEVENTH INNING STRATEGY PAYS OFF FOR ROCKERS

Latimore Decides Game with Homer

The High Point Rockers pitched around two hot hitters.  The Lancaster Barnstormers pitched to a cold one.

Quincy Latimore slammed a three-run homer to left in the bottom of the seventh to snap a 4-4 tie and send the Rockers to a 7-4 victory in the middle game of a three-game series.

In the top of the seventh, the Barnstormers had Trace Loehr at second base with two outs.  High Point manager Jamie Keefe had Bryce Hensley (6-1) walk Andretty Cordero intentionally.  After a wild pitch sent the runners to second and third, Keefe also put Ariel Sandoval aboard to load the bases.  The ploy worked as Hensley retired Chad Sedio on a grounder to second.

Ross Peeples was also looking at a second-and-third, two-out situation in the bottom of the inning.  He had a matchup that seemed preferable with hard throwing right-hander Brandyn Sittinger (4-7) working to Latimore, who had struck out three times in the game.  Latimore connected, giving the Rockers their first lead of the night and one that they never squandered.

Lancaster struck for a pair of runs at the start of the game.  Melvin Mercedes reached on a single behind second base, and Yeison Coca followed with a double to left center.  Cordero picked up the first run with a sacrifice fly to left, and Sandoval knocked in the second with a grounder to second that Shed Long, Jr. flagged with a dive.

In the third, after Mercedes was thrown out at home on a double by Cordero, Long dropped a pop up into shallow right off Sandoval’s bat as the Barnstormers grabbed a 3-0 edge.

High Point cut into the lead in the home fourth when Ryan Grotjohn delivered an RBI double to right center, but the Barnstormers rebuilt the three-run edge in the top of the fifth when Sandoval doubled home Mercedes from third on a drive to left center.

The Rockers struck for three off starter Dominic DiSabatino in the bottom of the fifth to knot the game.  Bryan Parreira and Long opened the inning with singles, and D.J. Burt found the gap in right center with a two-run triple.  Ben Aklinski tied the game on a sac fly to center.

Jameson McGrane fired a perfect eighth, and Ryan Dull tossed a scoreless ninth around a two-out infield single by Coca for his 14^th save.

The Barnstormers send Brent Teller (6-4) to the mound on Thursday evening against right-hander Ryan Weiss (5-3).  Fans may tune into FloBaseball beginning at 6:30.

NOTES:  Coca’s ninth inning single was the result of an overturned call at first base after the Rockers were already on the field celebrating the win…Joseph Carpenter went 0-for-4 as his hitting streak was stopped at 15 games…Cordero stretched his streak to 14…He dropped in his 70^th run of the season on his 103^rd hit and 27^th double…The Barnstormers had three more doubles in the game and had 10 in the series.