AtL Gastonia Ghost Peppers

Gatewood Lifts off for Walkoff Grand Slam; 'Gastronauts' Come Back to Beat Dirty Birds

May 15, 2024 - Atlantic League (AtL)
Gastonia Ghost Peppers News Release


Jake Gatewood launched a grand slam beyond the left-field wall in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night, propelling the Gastonia "Gastronauts" to an 11-7 comeback victory over Charleston.

The Gastonia Baseball Club is repping the "Gastronauts" this home stand as a "What If" event for the team name next season.

Gatewood followed the theme to perfection by blasting a ball to Mars and playing hero in the first of a three game series against the Dirty Birds.

The Gastonia third baseman had himself quite the evening.

He went 3-for-4 with a walk, including the swing that sent everyone home.

Gatewood's grand slam helped the Gastronauts complete a comeback in a game where Charleston got off to a 5-0 lead.

The Dirty Birds had Gastonia's player-coach Ian McKinney on the ropes early in the contest, bringing home five on five hits in the first inning.

Charleston hit three homers against McKinney - the first being a three-run shot by Dariel Gomez in the opening frame. He also issued solo shots to Gabriel Cancel and Phillip Ervin.

But the southpaw settled down after the first.

Although McKinney allowed seven runs, he went six innings and struck out five, giving his team length and keeping them in the game after a rough beginning.

While McKinney was settling in, his offense was exploding against right-handers Trey Supak and Bryan Quillens.

Kevin Watson Jr hit a three-run dinger in the third, followed up by Patrick Mazeika's two-run long ball an inning later.

Trailing 7-5 entering the sixth, the Gastonia bats rallied against Quillens.

Gatewood worked a walk, Dean Miller doubled and Jake Hoover singled in Gatewood by hitting a ground ball through the left side of the infield. Jake Reinheimer then hit a sac fly to right field to tie the game at 7.

It remained 7-7 into the ninth, as the Gastonia bullpen - Nate Peden, Gabe Klobosits and Phoenix Sanders - threw three scoreless frames.

The Gastronauts faced southpaw Nick Horvath in the ninth, with the top of the order at the dish.

Reinheimer walked, bringing up Josh Stowers.

Charleston third baseman Juan Santana was playing roughly two feet from the bag, protecting the potential double down the line. Since Reinheimer has a ton of speed, this ideally would take away the possibility of a game-winning hit down the left-field line by Stowers.

Stowers simply didn't care for the shade.

He grounded a ball through the wide 5 hole between Santana and Cancel, putting two runners on with nobody out.

A few batters later, Braxton Davidson walked to load the bases for Gatewood.

And after one small step toward Horvath, Gatewood took one giant swing for Gastonia to end the game.

Gastonia improved to 10-7 on the year, pulling within three games of Charleston for first place in the South.

The Gastronauts go for the series win on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Check out the Gastonia Ghost Peppers Statistics



Atlantic League Stories from May 15, 2024


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