(July 23, 2022 – York, Pa.): A late rally by the York Revolution was not quite enough on Saturday night, as a fantastic outing from Austin Nicely went by the wayside in a 5-4 loss to the Lancaster Barnstormers at PeoplesBank Park. Down to their final out, two deep drives came just shy of potentially tying or winning the game in the ninth inning.
York plated the first run of the game in the second, albeit unconventionally. The Revs loaded the bases with two outs after back-to-back walks from Yefri Perez and Lenin Rodriguez. JC Encarnacion swung overtop of an Erik Manoah slider, but the ball snuck past catcher Anthony Peroni to the backstop, allowing Melky Mesa to come across for a 1-0 lead.
Lancaster finally got their first hit in the fourth inning against Nicely on a line drive to left field by Melvin Mercedes who tied a Barnstormers record with a hit in a 20th consecutive game. Nicely immediately erased it, however, as he got Andretty Cordero to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
The Barnstormers put runners on the corners with two out against Nicely in the sixth, but the lefty got Cordero to ground into a force at second base to escape again.
Lancaster finally tied the game with two outs in the seventh. With two strikes, Jake Hoover golfed a down-and-in pitch off the Arch Nemesis in left to score Trayvon Robinson with an RBI double, deadlocking things at 1-1. Duke von Schamann entered the game in relief of Nicely, escaping any further damage as Devon Torrence flied out to center field on the second pitch of the at-bat, stranding two.
Nicely’s book closed after 6.2 innings, allowing just the one run on four hits while striking out three.
Lancaster took the lead an inning later. After a single from Mercedes and a wild pitch by reliever Nick Howard (0-2) that moved him to second, Lancaster took the lead on a base hit to right field from Cordero going on top 2-1. That was all they could manage as Howard caught a screaming line drive from Anderson Feliz and doubled off Cordero at second to end the inning, keeping the Lancaster lead at one run.
Carlos Ventura pitched the top of the ninth, retiring the first two he faced rather quickly. Hoover followed with his third hit of the night to keep the inning alive, however, on a double to right-center, and scored when Devon Torrence hit a soft tapper in front of the plate which saw Lenin Rodriguez make a throwing error trying to get the out at first. Shawon Dunston Jr. followed with an RBI double to right field, and suddenly it was 4-1 Lancaster. Dunston Jr. scored one batter later, this time on a single from Mercedes, giving Lancaster four straight two-out hits and a 5-1 lead.
York did not go down without a fight in the ninth, however, as JC Encarnacion lined the first pitch he saw into right center field for a leadoff triple. After back-to-back strikeouts, Telvin Nash kept the game alive by working a walk, and Nellie Rodriguez followed with an RBI single to center. Mesa followed and came feet shy of tying the game with a two-run double high off the right field fence to bring the Revs within one at 5-4. Troy Stokes Jr. followed with a drive of his own deep into the right-center gap, but the ball hung up just enough for Ariel Sandoval to make the running catch against the wall, securing the victory for Lancaster
York collectively left 12 runners on base throughout the night, including 10 in the first five innings against Manoah who maneuvered around six walks on the night to prevent the Revs from extending their lead.
Eduardo Rivera will take the mound for the Revs in the rubber match on Sunday at 2 p.m., opposite Lancaster’s Oscar De La Cruz. It is the Revs’ All Holidays Celebration, Softball Day, Crab Feast catered by Captain Bob’s Crabs, Sunday Funday presented by Weis Markets, and Bark in the Park. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.