Rockers blast Blue Crabs, 12-3

WALDORF, Md. – The High Point Rockers pounded out 17 hits including three home runs in blasting the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 12-3 in a rain-shortened five inning contest on Friday night at Regency Furniture Stadium.

The Rockers improve to 26-32 on the season while Southern Maryland now leads the South Division at 38-20. The Blue Crabs have a narrow one-game lead over Gastonia (37-21) with five games remaining in the Atlantic League’s first half.

The Rockers opened with four runs in the first with Luke Napleton hitting a three-run homer. When he homered again in the second to push High Point’s lead to 5-0, it marked Napleton’s fifth homer in the last three games.

The Rockers added seven runs in the fourth with Ivan Melendez hitting a three-run homer and Nolan Watson, Braxton Davidson and Ryan McCarthy each contributing RBI singles.

Matt Solter (W, 4-5) went all five innings and walked one while striking out five.

The game was halted at the end of the fifth inning. The contest started nearly 2 ½ hours late due to rain prior to the game.

Napleton was three-for-three with five RBI on the night while D.J. Burt and Watson each had three hits as well.

Game five of the six-game series is slated for a 6:35 p.m. start on Saturday at Regency Furniture Stadium. Rocker fans can follow all the action on DugoutTV.org or listen to the broadcast on the free MixLR app.