Atlantic League Bullpen, September 27, 2022
September 27, 2022 – Atlantic League (AtL) News Release
Lancaster Barnstormers
Overall Record: 73-58
Qualification: North Division Second Half Champion (44-21)
ALPB Playoff Appearances: 7th (24-16)
Division Championship Series Record: 4-3 (13-11)
League Championship Appearances: 4th
League Championship Series Record: 2-1 (8-3)
2022 Team BA: .276 (1st)
2022 Team ERA: 4.47 (3rd)
2022 Fielding: .975 (4th)
Division Series BA: .263
Division Series ERA: 4.40
Notes: Lancaster’s North Division Championship marks the fourth division title for Lancaster and its fourth trip to the League Championship Series… Lancaster has two championships, having won the LCS in 2006 by sweeping Bridgeport 3-0 and in 2014 with another 3-0 sweep, this time of Sugar Land… The Barnstormers fell to Long Island in five games in 2012… Lancaster manager Ross Peeples was a member of both of Lancaster’s championship teams as a pitcher.
High Point Rockers
Overall Record: 71-61
Qualification: Wild Card
ALPB Playoff Appearances: 2nd
Division Championship Series Record: 1-1 (3-5)
League Championship Series Appearances: 1st
League Championship Series Record: 0-0
2022 Team BA: .265 (5th)
2022 Team ERA: 4.58 (4th)
2022 Fielding: .982 (1st)
Division Series BA: .248
Division Series ERA: 6.55
Like Lancaster, the Rockers trailed Gastonia two games to one before bouncing back with a pair of wins at Truist Point in games four and five… The Rockers had been swept by Long Island n their only previous division series appearance until winning this weekend… This is High Point’s first-ever LCS appearance… Manager Jamie Keefe has been to championships four times in his career, winning the 2014 Can-Am title… He also reached the finals twice with the Rockland Boulders and once in the Frontier League with the Chillicothe Paints.
League Championship Series Notes: The 24th Atlantic League Championship Series starts play on Tuesday, September 27 at High Point’s Truist Point… Lancaster and High Point both won five-game series in which each club trailed 2-1… It marked the first time since 2018 that both division championships went to five games… Two of the last three League Championship Series have gone to five games… Lexington is the defending champion after beating Long Island 3-1 in 2021… A Lancaster championship would mark its third all-time and would tie arch-rival York for third place in number of championships won… Somerset holds the ALPB mark with six championships while Long Island is second with four.
Matchup: High Point held a slim 5-4 advantage in the regular season series with the Barnstormers… The Rockers won five of six at Truist Point but dropped all three at Lancaster… High Point was 29-20 vs. North Division teams in the regular season while Lancaster went 25-21 vs. the South… High Point hit 98 road homers during the regular season to 63 at home while Lancaster clubbed 78 homers at Clipper Magazine Stadium and 46 away from home… Neither team recorded a save in their respective Division Series wins.
Lancaster Players To Watch: Andretty Cordero finished the regular season as one of the ALPB’s top hitters and it continued in the NDS as ht hit .333 (7-for-21) with two doubles, two homers and nine RBI… DH Jeremy Barfield hit .261 with four homers and 23 RBI in 44 regular season games before hitting .412 with four homers and a team-high 10 RBI in the NDS… Barfield led all ALPB postseason players in HR, RBI and slugging (1.118)… He has homered in four straight games entering the LCS,.. Oscar De La Cruz was 1-1 with a 1.98 ERA in the NDS.
High Point Players to Watch: Former MLB player Logan Morrison hit .579 (11-for-19) in the SDS, the top average of any postseason player… OF Zander Wiel had two homers and five RBI in the NDS… ALPB veteran Craig Stem earned the first win in Rockers’ postseason history with his 11-4 win over Gastonia in Game 2… Mitch Atkins is the only Rocker pitcher with a prior ALPB postseason win, having pitched York to a victory over Sugar Land in the 2019 Freedom Division Series… Starter Mickey Jannis is one of the few active knuckleball pitchers in organized baseball.
Probable Starters
Gm 1ââMickey Jannis (HP) (0-1, 12.60) vs. Brooks Hall (LAN) (0-0, 6.00)
Gm 2ââMitch Atkins (HP) (0-1, 7.20) vs. Nile Ball (LAN) (0-1, 8.44)
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