(July 19, 2025 – Hagerstown, Md.):  Ryan Higgins drove in both runs including a tiebreaking homer in the eighth as the York Revolution edged the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars, 2-1 on Saturday night at Meritus Park.

The game was scoreless into the fifth inning and the Revs had been held hitless by Hagerstown starter Mike Kickham. That ended when Bubba Alleyne drew a two-out walk and stole second base for his third steal of the game, setting up Higgins to open the scoring with an RBI double down the right field line for the Revs’ first hit of the night.

York starter Foster Pace was outstanding and retired eight straight, carrying the 1-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

Pace was lifted when Gary Mattis blooped a single to left leading off the home seventh on Pace’s 100th pitch. It was just the fifth hit allowed by Pace, four of which came on soft contact.

Righty Alex Valverde, signed earlier in the day, returned to the Revs having been a key member of the 2024 championship team’s bullpen and quickly recorded the first two outs, but Bryce Cannon tied the game with a two-out double to right center, squaring the score at 1-1. Valverde hit the next two batters to load the bases but retired Osvaldo Abreu on a fielder’s choice grounder to third, escaping the jam to keep the game tied.

Still with just one hit on the night, the Revs quickly regained the lead as Higgins launched an opposite field solo homer to right with one out in the eighth, ending Kickham’s streak of eight straight retired as the Revs took a 2-1 lead on just their second hit of the game, both go-ahead extra-base hits by Higgins.

Valverde (1-0) protected that lead with a perfect eighth, and Cam Robinson notched his league-leading 14th save with a scoreless ninth. Robinson quickly recorded a pair of groundouts before issuing two walks, but retired Roidel Martinez on a ground ball to second base to end it.

The Revs tied a club record for fewest hits in a victory with three, as the only hit other than Higgins’ two clutch knocks came on Marty Costes’ one-out double in the ninth.

Kickham (4-6) suffered the tough luck loss. The veteran lefty who authored a nine-inning no-hitter just over one month prior allowed only two runs on two hits in eight innings.

The Revs tie a season-high at 18 games over .500, improving to 46-28 on the season while moving into a tie for first place in the second half at 7-4.

Notes: York’s three hits match a season-low (June 22 at Staten Island) while tying a club record for fewest hits in a victory for the sixth time and first since 2018. It is just the fourth time they’ve recorded three hits in a nine-inning victory and first since 2016. York improves to 18-2 against Hagerstown on the season, 11-0 at Meritus Park with one final road meeting on Sunday evening. Among the hitless casualties, Frankie Tostado lost a 13-game hitting streak, Shayne Fontana had his seven-gamer snapped, Alleyne saw a six-gamer end, and Jalen Miller had his five game multi-hit streak slashed. The Revs halt a streak of four consecutive series in which the team that won the first game lost the next two, as they have notched a series win and will go for a sweep on Sunday. The win is Rick Forney’s 197th as Revs manager as he is three victories shy of becoming the second fastest in league history to 200 wins.

Up Next: York goes for the sweep on Sunday at 5 p.m. as RHP Chris Vallimont (3-1, 5.82) faces righty Jack Weisenburger (1-3, 4.91). Revs fans can catch the action live on SportsRadio 98.9 FM & 1350 WOYK, 989woyk.com, The New WOYK app, and FloBaseball.TV beginning at 4:40 p.m.

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