Game Blown Open in Seventh
Tuesday evening’s War of the Roses was a tightly contested pitchers’ duel until a three-batter stretch in the top of the seventh.
Before one could blink, it was another blowout.
Trey Martin singled home a pair, David Washington singled home another, and Jamari Baylor capped a surge with a three-run homer as the Revs scored six two-out runs to put away the Lancaster Stormers, 9-1, in the 2024 War of the Roses opener at Clipper Magazine Stadium.
York jumped into first place with the win as Lancaster dropped into second, one game back.
The Revolution took a 2-0 lead off Caleb Baragar (1-1) in the top of the first inning without the benefit of a base hit. Matt McDermott reached when second baseman Trace Loehr bobbled a leadoff ground ball. Kobe Kato drew a walk, and the runners moved ahead on a wild pitch. Donovan Casey and Jacob Rhinesmith each knocked home a run with a sacrifice fly.
Baragar allowed little else over his five-inning stretch, and Lancaster was able to get a run back in the bottom of the second. Chris Proctor led off with a single off the tip of the glove of pitcher Zach Neff (2-0). Proctor stole second with Joseph Carpenter at the plate and grabbed third on the third strike. Kyle Hess picked up the run with a grounder to short.
Neff worked 5 1/3, yielding five hits and three walks but only the one run. The left-hander struck out six against the Lancaster lineup that consisted of seven left-handed batters.
David Washington’s sac fly in the top of the sixth advanced the lead to two. With one out in the seventh, McDermott and Kobe Kato singled off Noah Bremer. Donovan Casey was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Bremer fanned Rhinesmith for the second out but could not get the final out to keep the Revs from the six-run surge.
The Stormers will send right-hander Jack Labosky (1-0) to the hill on Wednesday against another lefty, Will Stewart (0-1). Fans may tune into FloBaseball, beginning at 6:40.
NOTES: Cristian Santana and Isan Diaz each extended a hitting streak to a tenth game with a single…Proctor had two hits and has taken the team steals lead with six…Kyle Hess stretched his streak to six with a single in the fourth.