GRASSHOPPERS EXTEND THEIR WIN STREAK OVER THE EMPERORS WITH A 4-1 VICTORY ON FRIDAY EVENING
Courtesy of Callie Cline media rep for the Greensboro Grasshoppers and from GSOHoppers.com/www.gsohoppers.com
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Greensboro Grasshoppers extended their win streak over the Emperors while a 4-1 victory on Friday evening. The Grasshoppers improved to 26-11 on the season while the Emperors fell to 20-17. Greensboro outhit Rome, 5-3 while the Grasshoppers had one mishap.
Designated hitter, Maikol Escotto led the Grasshoppers offense as he went 1-3 with a home run, three RBI, and one run scored. Outfielder Lonnie White Jr. followed behind as he went 1-3 with a home run, one RBI, and one run scored. Hits for Greensboro were also recorded by Keiner Delgado, P.J. Hilson, and Jesus Castillo.
Leading at the plate for the Emperors was outfielder Titus Dumitru as he went 1-4 with one RBI. Hits for Rome were also recorded by Austin Machado and Jace Grady.
Starting on the mound for Greensboro was righthanded pitcher Antwone Kelly as he tallied eight strikeouts and only gave up one free base on five innings of work. Kelly recorded the win for the Grasshoppers and improved to 1-0 on the season. Jack Carey tallied his first hold while Landon Tomkins recorded his fourth save.
Starting on the mound for Rome was righthanded pitcher Riley Frey as he tallied three strikeouts and gave up one hit and one earned run on four innings of work. Frey took the loss for the Emperors and fell to 0-1 on the season.
The Grasshoppers continue their home series against the Emperors tomorrow, Saturday May 17, at 6:30 PM for Military Appreciation Night and Spectacular Fireworks Friday To purchase tickets to any Grasshoppers home game, visit gsohoppers.com or call 336-268-2255.
More Friday night highlights from the LONG GONE Baseball Radio Network…..
Two LONG GONE HRs in this game and get your LONG GONE Home Run T-shirts now, when you CLICK HERE….Friday night LONG GONE homers from the Hoppers’ Maikol Escotto, with his third of the season, and then Lonnie White Jr. connected for his 5th homer of 2025…The HR by White Jr., gave the Hoppers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning…The home runs accounted for all of the Greensboro Grasshoppers runs, with Escotto’s long ball to center field taking the 1-0 advantage, and making it 4-0 Hoppers in the 7th inning…Rome broke up the one-hit shutout, when the Emperors got an RBI single from Titus Dumitru, that scored Jace Grady in the top of the eighth for the visitors…
The Grasshoppers with only five hits on the night, but the Rome Emperors could only come up with just two total hits, with the Hoppers staring pitcher Antwon Kelly spinning a perfect game through 3 and 1/3 innings, and he left the game after five innings, carrying a No-Hitter with him…One walk and Eight(8) strikeouts on the night for Kelly, who picked up his first win/decision of the season…He is (1-0) and he was one of our REMAX Revolution Players of the Game, along with White Jr., Escotto, and P.J. Hilson…For Hilson, let’s go ahead and say his grab in center field, while crashing into the GTCC sign and he still held onto the ball, let’s go ahead and just call this one, the Defensive Gem of the Year, so far in 2025…Got any takers on this one??? Catch of the Year, right there, and he had to come a long way to get it…WOW, that one was huge, and it sort of hurts just thinking about him banging into the outfield fence…OUCH!!!!! But that is what Play/Player of the Game material is made of…
So we are touting Hilson hard, and we are also talking big stuff from White Jr., Escotto, and Kelly…Kelly, goes the five innings, with 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 BB, and 8 Ks….Then you have to throw Landon Tomkins in the outstanding pitching mix for the night, after his 1 2/3s Innings of late work, giving up 0 Runs, on 2 Hits, with 0 BBs and 3 Ks…In the middle of the game, RHP Jack Carey worked for 2 Innings, with 0 Runs, 1 Hit, plus 0 BBs/3 Ks…That work turned in by Kelly, Carey, and Tomkins, made for a strong night on the Hoppers’ Hill….
And that sort of covers things from what saw on Friday Night from the LONG GONE Baseball Radio Network…Kelly got it going, White Jr. and Escotto got it Going, Going, Going, “That Suckas LONG GONE”, and then P.J. Hilson was playing center like Mookie Wilson, with that “Catch of the Year Candidate”, and Landon Tomkins came in like Mike Marshall of old, and put out the fire, and earned the Save….
Key Game Details…WP:Antwone Kelly(1-0)/LP:Riley Frey(0-1)/SV:Landon Tomkins(4)
Hoppers' Line- 4-5-1 Emperors' Line-1-2-0
Greensboro Grasshoppers(26-11)
Rome Emperors(20-17)
Game Attendance-4,073
Time of Game-2:17
Game Time Temp-84 degrees
**********If you can’t make out to the Hoppers-Emperors game on Saturday Night, be sure to tune and Listen Live, on the LONG GONE Baseball Radio Network, from GSOHoppers.com, when you CLICK HERE…Pregame at 6:10, and then the First Pitch comes in, at First National Bank Field, at 6:30pm…And don’t forget to get your very own LONG GONE Home Run T-shirt, when you CLICK HERE…**********
Game(s) Notes…..
South Atlantic League Today/Saturday:
Aberdeen
@
Hudson Valley
5:05 PM ET
Asheville
@
Bowling Green
5:05 PM ET
Asheville
@
Bowling Green
Winston-Salem
@
Brooklyn
6:00 PM ET
Jersey Shore
@
Wilmington
6:05 PM ET
Rome
@
Greensboro
6:30 PM ET
Sears
(2 – 0)
vs.
Curtis
(0 – 3)
Hub City
@
Greenville
6:45 PM ET
SALLY From Friday: GBO 4, ROM 1…ABD 4, HV 3…BRK 6, WS 0…HCS 3, GVL 2…WIL 2, JS 1…Asheville @ Bowling Green Postponed…..
Standings:
SALLY North…
Hoppers(26-11) First Place..2nd Place Hudson Valley and Brooklyn both at (24-12) and a Game and a-half out of first…4th Place:Aberdeen(16-21) and 10 games back…5th Place:Jersey Shore(13-22) and 12 games back…6th Place:Wilmington(13-24) and 13 games out of first in the SALLY North…
SALLY South…
First Place:Bowling Green(20-16)…2nd Place:Rome(20-17) and a half-game back…3rd Place:Hub City(18-19) Two and a-half games back…4th Place:Greenville(17-20) and 3 ½ games back…5th Place:Asheville(16-20) and 4 games back..6th Place:WS Dash(12-25) and 8 ½ games out of First Place in the SALLY South…
Pittsburgh Pirates System:
Bradenton Marauders(16-20) at Dunedin Blue Jays(22-15) at 6:30pm today..Friday it was Bradenton winning 4-2 over Dunedin…SS Konnor Griffin 1-3/2 RBI/AVG. at .316…22 RBI for the season…
Double A we have Harrisburg Senators(18-19) at Altoona Curve(19-18) at 6pm…Sean Sullivan who pitched here at Greensboro this year, going for the Curve..Friday, it was Altoona, 5-4, over Harrisburg…2b Mitch Jebb went 3-4/Double/3 RBI…Batting now at .308…Tres Gonzalez 1-3/Double/Run…Nick Cimillo 1-3/BB/RBI…Wyatt Hendrie 1-3/Run…Jack Brannigan 1-4/Run..Mike Jarvis 1-4…Brendan Dixon 0-2/BB/Run…Former Hopper pitchers Wilber Dotel and Justin Meis were main men on the mound…
Triple A Indianapolis Indians…Today, Louisville Bats(19-22) at Indianapolis(23-17) 5:30pm Doubleheader…Thomas Harrington(1-3) on the hill for the Indians…Indianapolis on Friday POSTPONED…
Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday fell 8-4 to the Philadelphia Phillies…Jared Triolo 0-3/BB/RBI..Matt Gorski 0-3/BB…JT Realmuto 0-4/BB/RBI…Pirates pitcher Andrew Heaney went 5 Innings, allowing 1 Run, on 4 Hits, with 3 BBs/2 Ks…TODAY we see Pittsburgh(15-30) at Phildelphia(26-18) at 6:05pm….Former Hopper RHP Carmen Mlodzinski(1-3) going for the Pirates…