Southern Maryland tops High Point, tightens grip on South Division lead

Southern Maryland did not let High Point dictate the opener of this six-game set for long. After spotting the Rockers a 2-0 lead, the Blue Crabs answered in the second inning, kept stacking contact, and pulled away for a 9-4 win that pushed them to 38-17 and left High Point at 23-32.

High Point struck first behind D.J. Burt, who walked, stole second, moved to third on a flyout and scored on Ivan Melendez’s infield single. Mikey Kane and Patrick Sanchez then doubled back-to-back in the second to make it 2-0, but Southern Maryland flipped the game in the bottom half against Justin Jarvis. Jackson Loftin opened the comeback with a swinging bunt and later scored on Ezequiel Pagan’s single, then Pagan came home on a Danny Bautista Jr. RBI hit to tie it 2-2.

Jarvis still finished with nine strikeouts, but Southern Maryland kept finding traffic and kept cashing it in. Kyle Virbitsky gave the Blue Crabs the platform they needed, working five innings and allowing two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. That kept the game close enough for the lineup to break it open in the middle innings, and Ryan McCarthy delivered the biggest blow with a solo homer off Dalton Hitt in the seventh. The shot came in a three-run frame that stretched the lead to 7-2. Southern Maryland’s win also lowered its magic number to clinch the Atlantic League South Division first-half title to six.

The Rockers did not go quietly. Kane tripled in the ninth, Sanchez doubled him home and Alex Dickerson followed with an RBI single, but the late push only trimmed the final margin to 9-4. The same teams had already split results in another six-game set earlier in June, with Southern Maryland winning 7-2 on June 2 and High Point answering with a 7-5 win on June 5.