Davidson grand slam, Emanuel gem lift Rockers past Hagerstown

High Point beat Hagerstown 11-5 on Tuesday night at Truist Point behind a dominant start from Kent Emanuel and a big night from Braxton Davidson. The Rockers won their sixth straight game, moved to 35-38, and stayed within two games of first place.

In his third start after returning from the injured list, the left-hander worked six shutout innings, allowed two hits, walked one and struck out eight while improving to 3-0. His outing gave High Point a cushion the bullpen could work with and left Hagerstown chasing from the middle innings on.

The Rockers gave Emanuel support early. Ivan Melendez opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second, Ethan Skender followed with an RBI infield single, and Nick Longhi later added a run-scoring double. High Point put together a five-run fifth, capped by Davidson’s grand slam, and Mikey Kane followed immediately with a solo homer to keep the pressure on the Flying Boxcars.

High Point led 8-0 before Hagerstown scored. Aidan Brewer also homered, and Melendez finished with three extra-base hits and two RBI as High Point piled up 13 hits against a staff that had entered the game atop the division.

Hagerstown finally broke through after Emanuel left. Kyle Halbohn allowed four runs in the seventh, including a two-run homer by Jared Carr, and the Boxcars added another run in the eighth.

The opener began a five-game set between the clubs at Truist Point from July 14 through July 18. High Point entered the series on a roll after back-to-back wins over Staten Island on July 11 and July 12, including Yuhi Sako’s eight innings of two-hit ball in the July 12 game. Hagerstown arrived with Darick Hall fresh off being named ALPB Player of the Week for July 7-12 after hitting .444 with 12 RBI.