Ducks pitchers shut down Rockers
Jun. 17—HIGH POINT — Long Island pitchers Stephen Tarpley and Nick Goody overwhelmed the Rockers on Thursday night.
Tarpley allowed two baserunners and one hit through eight innings and Goody did the rest by striking out the side in the ninth as they combined for a 2-0 shutout at Truist Point.
Tarpley, who spent time with four Major League teams 2019-21, came into the game with an 0-3 record with a 5.01 ERA on the season. But he allowed just two hits and struck out 10 over seven innings in his last start and backed that with a better outing against High Point, permitting the one hit and striking out seven and walking one in picking up his first win.
"He threw the (heck) out of the ball," Rockers manager Jamie Keefe said.
Tarpley worked on a perfect game until walking Ben Aklinski in the fourth. He then retired five more in a row (including striking out the side in the fifth) before Mike Gulino reached on an infield hit when the third baseman tried to make a tough play on a ground ball and pulled the first baseman off the bag.
Gulino was erased on a spectacular double play when the next batter, Giovanny Alfonzo, hit a ground ball to second and the second baseman flipped to the shortstop, who made an acrobatic throw to first. The Rockers went in order the rest of the way and sent just 28 batters to the plate, one over the minimum.
"He attacked with his fastball and got ahead," Keefe said of Tarpley. "He could turn it over and he could spin it. It doesn't matter who you are facing, you have success when you consistently get ahead and he got ahead all night."
The one hit was a Rockers' franchise low, eclipsing two hits against Southern Maryland in 2019.
"He spotted well," Keefe said. "He attacked and his fastball was in-out, in-out. He rarely threw the same pitch twice in an at-bat and when he did it was with a purpose and off the plate. We attacked it and we lost that battle."
The Ducks scored both runs in the sixth against High Point starter Craig Stem, who fell to 0-2. Stem allowed two hits in the first two innings then retired nine in a row before Long Island broke through.
Dustin Woodcock ended the shutout leading off the six when he belted a solo home run to center. With two outs, Alejandro De Aza walked, Sam Travis singled and Deibinson Romero followed with another single that scored De Aza.
Jonathan Crawford worked the seventh and John Hayes the eighth and ninth. The only baserunners they permitted were a hit batter each.
"Stemmer threw the ball well again tonight," Keefe said. "He did everything we asked him to do. We just didn't do anything offensively."
The Rockers now go on the road for six games, starting with the opener of a three-game series at Charleston today at 6:35 p.m. Neil Uskali is projected as the Rockers starting pitcher.
