Late Charleston rally stuns Rockers

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point Rockers and Charleston Dirty Birds were tied 2-2 through seven innings in what started off as an old fashioned pitcher’s duel. But Charleston exploded for eight runs in its final two at-bats to claim a 10-3 win over the Rockers in front of a crowd of 2,191 on Friday night at Truist Point.

The Dirty Birds took a 4-2 lead in the eighth inning with a pair of runs off reliever Jesse Hahn (L, 0-1). Hahn hit both Cornelius Randolph and Carlos De La Cruz with pitches and each scored on Jhon Nunez’s double to center.

The Rockers closed it to 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth when Ethan Skender reached on an error and scored on an RBI single by Ty Hubbard.

But Charleston, which had just five hits through the first eight innings, scored six runs on five hits in the top of the ninth. James Nelson and De La Cruz each contributed a two-run double, Narciso Crook, had an RBI double and Isaias Tejeda also had an RBI single.

The Rockers had taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Luke Napleton drew a walk from Charleston starter Keyvius Sampson and then scored on a triple from Alex Dickerson. Skender hit a solo homer leading off the fourth to put High Point in front 2-0.

Charleston tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth when Wendell Rijo and scored on James Nelson’s homer to right.

High Point starter Kent Emanuel left with the game tied 2-2 after five innings, have allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out eight.

Charleston’s Miguel Pena (W, 1-2) put the Rockers down in order in the seventh after relieving Sampson and earned the win.

The Rockers were held to five hits on the night with Braxton Davidson collecting two of them.

The Rockers are now 13-12 in the second half and 42-46 for the season. Charleston stands at 10-15 and 33-55.

Saturday’s contest, scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point, will feature newcomer Nick Trabacchi making his debut for the Rockers and facing RHP David Lebron (2-4, 8.63) of Charleston.

Rocker fans can follow the action live on DugoutTV.org or the audio broadcast on the free app MixLR.