Longhi leads Rockers to Sunday win

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Nick Longhi hit a pair of homers and drove in three runs to lead the High Point Rockers to a 7-5 win over the Charleston Dirty Birds in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Gomart Park.

Longhi hit solo homers in the second and fifth innings and added an RBI single in the third to pace the Rockers’ nine-hit attack. Recent High Point University grad Dalton Hitt (W, 1-0) earned his first professional win with two innings of hitless relief.

The Rockers won their 20^th game of the season to improve to 20-28 while Charleston fell to 16-32.

The Rockers scored five times in the second inning with Longhi belting a solo homer and Patrick Sanchez knocking his first grand slam of the season. It was the Rockers’ second grand slam of the week.

The lead grew to 6-0 in the third when Ivan Melendez walked and scored on a single by Longhi.

Charleston scored twice in the third inning on a two-run single by Shawon Dunston, Jr. and added two more runs in the fourth on a solo homer by Yassel Pino and an RBI infield single by Demetrius Moorer.

Longhi’s second homer of the day came in the fifth inning and gave the Rockers a 7-4 lead.

Nick Timpanelli allowed Charleson’s final run in the fifth on an RBI ground out by Pino.

Hitt went two innings, relieving Timpanelli to start the seventh and recorded a walk and a strikeout in the sixth before putting the Dirty Birds down in order in the seventh. Ryan Chasse (S, 3) earned his third save of the season, allowing just one hit over the eighth and ninth innings.

Sanchez finished the day with two hits and four RBI while Braxton Davidson added a pair of hits to go along with Longhi’s exploits. Longhi has now driven in a run in eight straight games.

The Rockers will have an off-day on Monday before starting a six-game homestand against the Lexington Legends. Game time for Tuesday’s series opener is set for 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. Tuesday’s game is Frank Night as the Rockers honor their pitching coach, Frank Viola, a former World Series Champion with the Minnesota Twins and American League Cy Young Award winner. All fans with a mustache, real or improvised, will receive free admission to Truist Point for Tuesday’s game.

NOTES: The Rockers have homered in 10 straight games, the longest current streak among Atlantic League teams . . . High Point’s five-run second inning matched their highest output in any inning this season . . . Longhi went nine-for-13 in the Charleston series, a .692 batting average . . . The Rockers out-homered Charleston 15-8 in the six-game series . . . Longhi’s four-hit day on Sunday was his first as a Rocker since going five-for-six vs. Lexington on May 15, 2025.