High Point Rockers fall short in bid for Atlantic League title

HIGH POINT — If the High Point Rockers can continue to be in position to win championships, manager Jamie Keefe said he believes there will be a breakthrough.

It didn’t happen this year after the Rockers reached the Atlantic League championship series for the second time.

“I’d go to war with this group anytime,” Keefe said. “The finality of baseball is the hardest part. You don’t know when your last day is going to be.”

The York Revolution overcame a three-run deficit for a 7-4 victory in Game 4 of the best-of-five series, winning all except Game 2. York claimed both games at Truist Point.

“We just watched people pop champagne on our field and it doesn’t feel very good,” Keefe said. “So some of the guys that are going to come back know what that feels like.

“They know what it’s like to go to the playoffs. They know what it’s like to play in the playoffs. They know what it’s like to go deep into the playoffs. It was a helluva series against Gastonia (in the previous round) and a tough one against these guys.”

The Rockers, who’ve been in the postseason in four of their six seasons, also fell in the 2022 finals. High Point has the most victories of any Atlantic League team during its six seasons, but has yet to secure a championship.

“One of these days (we’ll get it done),” Keefe said. “… It hurts. That’s the problem, it hurts. Now you’re going to sit on this for six months. It will be a long offseason. The nice part is we have a shorter offseason than everybody else because we played deep, so hopefully we can bring that back next year.”

The Rockers scored three runs in the first inning, using Evan Edwards’ two-out single and Alex Dickerson’s massive two-run home run to right field.

But the Revolution homered five times, with Kyle Martin, Shayne Fontana, Caleb McNeely, Jaylin Davis and Elvis Peralta going deep. York pulled within 3-2 through four innings, then McNeely unloaded on a go-ahead two-run blast over the batter’s eye in center field in the fifth off High Point starter Fin Del Bonta-Smith.

“Not too many times you’re going to give up five home runs and win,” Keefe said. “We had opportunities. We got off to a nice start. We were in it. We knew it was going to come down to a battle of the bullpens, plain and simple. They outpitched us in the bullpen. They deserve it.”

Ben Aklinski’s RBI single cut the gap to 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth.

Aklinski, a 29-year-old outfielder who has indicated this would be his final season, is a Rockers franchise record holder in several categories, including home runs.

Peralta’s solo homer for the game’s final run came in the ninth off High Point reliever David Hess, a former big leaguer who has made a well-documented return after a battle with cancer. Following a three-year absence from pro ball, Hess joined the Rockers in July.

Dickerson homered in each of the last two games.

The Rockers and Revolution tied for the most regular-season wins with 74 apiece.

Keefe said it was a season of significant accomplishments despite the disappointing conclusion.

“This group after tonight is never going to be together again. It’s just the way baseball happens,” he said. “There’s no reason to leave here with your heads down. You got beat. You can keep your heads up. You gave yourselves a chance to win a championship, and we didn’t get it done.

“Hopefully, we can come back next year and we put ourselves playing into October next year, too.”

York became the first Atlantic League team to have two sets of back-to-back championships, having won titles in 2010-11 and again in 2024-25. The Revolution has won five overall.