(September 17, 2022 – York, Pa.): The York Revolution and High Point Rockers faced off in a back-and-forth penultimate contest of the 2022 season, and the Revs gave the retiring Cannonball Charlie two final home run cannon blasts but ultimately fell 8-6 on Saturday night in front of 5,297 fans at PeoplesBank Park.
Much like his previous outing, Revs starter Eduardo Rivera was bitten by a two-run homer as part of a three-run first inning. The homer this time came from Zander Wiel who knocked his 32nd of the season, second-most in the league, on a towering drive to left. That followed a sacrifice fly by Quincy Latimore, spotting High Point an early 3-0 cushion.
After going down in order in the first, York started the second inning with three straight singles, the third of which was an RBI single up the middle from Yefri Perez to put the Revs on the board.
York tied the game in the fourth, beginning with Troy Stokes Jr. who launched a solo homer to left field, making it a one-run game. That was the first of three straight York hits, with a run scoring to tie the game on a Josue Herrera sacrifice fly. It was Herrera’s 50th RBI of the season, knotting it up at 3-3.
Michael Russell created havoc in the top of the fifth against Rivera. It started with a 10-pitch at bat that resulted in a bloop single. After moving up to second on a groundout and following a Logan Morrison hit by pitch, Russell took off to steal third. The throw from Lenin Rodriguez sailed into left field, allowing Russell to scamper home to put the Rockers on top 4-3.
Elmer Reyes started the fifth inning for York with a one-out double into the left field corner, the 40th of his season. The two-bagger tied Isaias Tejeda’s franchise mark from 2019. After the league record 108th walk of the year to Nellie Rodriguez, Stokes Jr. blasted a rocket over the Arch Nemesis, a three-run shot to put York ahead 6-4. It was Stokes Jr.’s third multi-homer game of the season and brought his season total to 18 long balls while his four-RBI night brought his season total to 61.
Russell made it a one-run game in the top of the sixth with his third hit of the night, an RBI single to cut the lead down to 6-5.
York reliever Brett de Geus fell into a string of bad luck in the seventh inning as three straight softly hit balls resulted in singles to load the bases. A bases loaded walk and RBI groundout put the Rockers ahead, and another single for Russell added an insurance run to give High Point an 8-6 lead. It was Russell’s fourth hit of the night, reaching base all five trips to the plate.
York got back-to-back one-out singles in the eighth from Connor Lien and Herrera, but two straight groundouts cut the rally short.
High Point closer Ryan Dull shut things down in order in the ninth, including two straight strikeouts to end the night, giving High Point the 8-6 win, setting up a rubber match in Sunday’s season finale.
Courtney Mack returns from injury to make the final start of 2022 with the game getting underway at 2 p.m. It is Celebration of Abilities presented by PENN-MAR, Fan Appreciation Day, Sunday Funday presented by Weis Markets, and Bark in the Park with Chew Toy Toss. Tickets are on sale at YorkRevolution.com, (717) 801-HITS, and in-person at the Shipley Energy Ticket Office.
