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AtL Gastonia Honey Hunters

Gastonia Wins 10-4 on Opening Night

April 29, 2023 - Atlantic League (AtL)
Gastonia Honey Hunters News Release


The Gastonia Honey Hunters are coming off a remarkable 88-win season, which led the Atlantic League, in the club's second year. They led the league in several hitting and pitching categories, dominating throughout 2022.

And they picked up right where they left off on Friday night, thanks to the help of returners from last year's squad, both at the plate and on the mound.

Starting pitcher Marcus Walden, as well as hitters Cole Freeman, Jack Reinheimer and Zach Jarrett, led Gastonia to a 10-4 victory over Frederick on Opening Night.

Walden, who started nine games for Gastonia last year, was phenomenal on Friday. He went six innings pitched, allowing two runs and not walking a batter.

The 34-year-old righty didn't get to Gaston County until the week of his start, as he was at his home in Fresno, California. Although he wasn't with the team, Walden made sure he did everything he could to prepare for Friday.

"I have my own baseball facility at home," Walden said. "I faced a lot of junior college guys back home [at] Fresno City College. I had five-ups last time I threw. I tried to get up to about 100 pitches before I got out here."

Walden may want to go back home and stick to his preparation routine, as it worked wonders in the opener of the 2023 season. He had excellent command all game, especially when using his sinker and slider. His sinker stayed low in the strike zone, and it was the final pitch used for three out of Walden's six strikeouts. He got two batters to strikeout on the slider, and got other batters to chase the pitch when it was out of the strike zone all night.

Walden stressed how important command and control have been for him, helping him get through six dominant innings without issuing a walk.

"That's part of the game that I tried to get better at this offseason," Walden said. "That was our whole game plan, me and (catcher) Scott (Manea) - just attacking hitters and going after it."

While Walden was dealing on the bump, his offense was helping him out in a big way. The party at the dish got started before he even recorded his first strikeout.

Cole Freeman led off the bottom of the first with a single. Then Zach Jarrett gave Honey Hunters fans a familiar sight by hitting a 413-foot home run to dead center field. Jarrett, who hit 21 homers last year, put Gastonia up 2-0 early.

Freeman went deep himself in the third inning, his second of what ended up being a three-hit evening for Gastonia's second baseman.

Three batters in the top four in Gastonia's order produced an immense amount:

Cole Freeman: 3-5, HR, two runs scored

Jack Reinheimer: 3-5, two runs scored

Zach Jarrett: 1-2, HR, three walks, two runs scored

"We take pride in that," Freeman said. "It's kind of one of those things, if we can get rolling early and spark the team."

Freeman batted .324 with the Hunters in 19 games played, and he's made adjustments over the offseason to try to become even more dangerous offensively.

"[I'm] trying to get on my back hip a little more, trying to generate a little bit more power," Freeman said. "Just trying to stay through the ball a little more, stay on my legs."

The Honey Hunters blew the game open in the fifth inning, scoring five runs on three hits. The big hit - a no-doubt two-run moonshot deep to right field off the bat of lefty Steven Moya.

Moya is new to the Honey Hunters, just like J.C. Escarra who recorded three RBI and reached base three times on Friday.

Scott Manea reached base in all four of his plate appearances - going 1-1 with two walks and a hit-by-pitch.

Returner Tim Naughton and new Honey Hunter Bryan Blanton each pitched clean innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively.

The Honey Hunters won the game 10-4 against the Frederick Question Marks.

"Question Marks" is the team name that Frederick, the lone new team to the Atlantic League in 2023, will stick with until an official team name is announced on June 23.

Gastonia will face off against Frederick in the second game of the series on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. Returner Alex Sanabia is likely to be on the mound for the Honey Hunters.

Check out the Gastonia Honey Hunters Statistics



Atlantic League Stories from April 29, 2023


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