Sports stats



AtL Gastonia Honey Hunters

Gastonia Wins 8-6 over Frederick During Opening Weekend

April 30, 2023 - Atlantic League (AtL)
Gastonia Honey Hunters News Release


In the bottom of the seventh inning in Gastonia's second game of the season, left-handed batter Steven Moya demolished a ball over the left-center field wall.

This might have seemed like déjà vu for Honey Hunters fans, who already saw Moya hit a two-run blast to the right of the yellow fence in the fourth inning.

The two-run opposite field dinger in the seventh was hit 108.3 miles per hour off the bat, the exact same exit velocity as the first homer Moya hit.

Both balls traveled over 400 feet.

But the second bomb, Moya's third in the first two games of the season, was the eventual game winner on Saturday night, as the Honey Hunters defeated Frederick 8-6 to win their opening series.

In addition to the two homers and four RBIs, Moya walked in each of his other two plate appearances - reaching base safely every time he came up to bat in Game 2 of the three-game set.

Gastonia manager Mauro "Goose" Gozzo said that Moya is "on fire," as the former Detroit Tiger already has three two-run homers before the conclusion of the first series of the year.

Gozzo was impressed by Moya's approach at the dish in the weeks leading up to opening weekend.

"[Moya was] so balanced when he was swinging during spring training," Gozzo said. "You could just see that he has a balance there, it's just gonna be a timing thing. But he's not afraid to go the other way... and he's got plenty of juice to do that."

A couple other hitters who followed up their great performances from Friday's affair with another productive evening were Zach Jarrett and J.C. Escarra. The former 2021 Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles Triple-A affiliate) teammates went back-to-back in the first inning to give Gastonia an early 3-0 lead.

Jarrett's was a two-run shot, as he once again gave the Honey Hunters a 2-0 lead in the first just like on Friday. He also singled and walked on Saturday night, and even picked up his first stolen base of the season.

Escarra followed up going 2-4 in Game 1 with a 423-foot moonshot to straight away right field after Jarrett put Gastonia on the board. Although Escarra went 1-5 in the game, he looked great at the plate all night. He hit two deep fly outs to the wall in right field and center field, as well as two sharp lineouts to left and center. He had nothing to show for it on the box score after the homer, but Escarra took great swings and drove the ball a long way in all five at-bats.

Right-handed returning starter Alex Sanabia got the ball on Saturday against Frederick, and his outing was really defined by the long ball as well. Just like Gastonia's four and five hitters in the order, Craig Dedelow and Kole Cottom went back-to-back in the third against Sanabia. Those dingers accounted for three of the four earned runs Sanabia allowed in three innings of work.

Between Sanabia allowing four earned in three innings, reliever Tyler Thomas giving up four hits in two innings and closer Jaime Schultz walking two batters despite getting the save, it was clear that the Question Marks were battling more against Gastonia's pitching in Game 2 than they were in Game 1.

Gozzo linked the pitchers struggling a bit to the limited amount of competition they had heading into the season.

"I think these guys are still catching their stride," Gozzo said. "It's not them at 100% yet... as far as in tune and ready to go. One outing in spring training and lives doesn't cut it... You gotta understand that competition is different than working out in a bullpen or throwing lives against your own team. Competition is something you can't really replace."

One reliever who had a great outing for the Honey Hunters was southpaw Gunnar Kines. The returner, who got the win in Game 3 of the Atlantic League South Divison Championship Series last year, pitched three scoreless innings as the first man out of the bullpen.

Kines had great command with his fastball and changeup, not walking a batter in his three innings - the fourth, fifth and sixth. His game plan was to work on his command, and he executed the plan to perfection.

"It was mostly just trying to get the fastball across early, and then work off of the changeup as well to be able to go up in the zone," Kines said. "I didn't throw any off-speed pitches today just because I was trying to make sure my fastball location was there."

Kines is planning to become one of Gastonia's starters in "a few weeks," and Gozzo said he should be in the rotation by late May or early June. The reason for this is because Kines threw 99 innings last season between Gastonia and the Lake Erie Crushers of the Frontier League. He also threw 56.2 innings for the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League.

"We're kind of being cautious with him," Gozzo said. "He's a left-handed pitcher that's gonna constantly throw strikes... He'll pile up strikeouts, he'll change speeds off of his changeup, he'll change speeds off of his fastball."

Kines threw over 40 pitches on Saturday night. He said once he throws over 70 pitches in an outing, he should be ready to make a start for the Honey Hunters.

Kines and the offense, which got 10 hits, led the team to its 8-6 victory over Frederick.

Gastonia improved to 2-0 on the season, while Frederick fell to 0-2.

Returner Zack Godley likely gets the ball for the Honey Hunters in the last game of the series, looking to help them sweep the Question Marks. First pitch is Sunday at 3:35 p.m.

Check out the Gastonia Honey Hunters Statistics



Atlantic League Stories from April 30, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central