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AtL Gastonia Ghost Peppers

Party in the Club: Gastonia Clinches First Half Championship, Locks up Postseason Berth

June 29, 2024 - Atlantic League (AtL)
Gastonia Ghost Peppers News Release


The Gastonia Baseball Club defeated Lexington in a 17-15 slugfest Friday night, punching its ticket to the 2024 postseason.

Gastonia entered the day up five games over High Point with seven games remaining in the opening half. With a Rockers loss, the Club was able to hang on to defeat the Legends, becoming first half champions of the South Division.

Gastonia improved to 40-17 in doing so, becoming the second ALPB team to win 40+ games in four out of five halves. The other team to accomplish the feat was Somerset from 2013-2015.

How did the Club secure a spot in the playoffs? Aside from walking off seven times and owning a 5-1 record against High Point, the answer is simple: it steamrolled teams, especially due to the offense over the past month.

Gastonia has a +118 run differential in the 57 games. The Club hit its 100th home run of the season on Friday night, 17 more than the next closest offense. The team has an .863 OPS and .494 SLG, each the highest in the Atlantic League.

And the numbers get even better when looking at the offensive stats in June:

.308 BA

.977 OPS

52 home runs

179 RBIs

46 stolen bases

Gastonia has led the league in BA, OPS and homers this month. It's second in RBIs and stolen bases, with York leading the way in those categories.

The Club's win over Lexington on Friday to clinch a postseason berth was akin to the team's offensive performance over the past month.

Gastonia scored 17 runs on 16 hits, crushing four homers and completing a comeback victory.

Kevin Watson Jr. set the tone for the game, pulling a deep home run to right field and getting Gastonia off to a 1-0 lead.

With Gastonia trailing 6-3 in the sixth inning, Watson Jr. hit his second homer of the night - an opposite-field three-run shot to tie the game.

There's no stat for a "perfect game" as a hitter like there is for a pitcher, but Watson Jr. was as perfect as you can be on Friday.

The Gastonia leadoff hitter reached in all seven plate appearances in the series opener. His trips to the plate were as follows: Home run (solo), walk, single, home run (three-run), hit by pitch, walk, walk.

Gastonia scored six in the sixth, but the Legends answered to tie it up in the bottom half of the frame. The game was 9-9 heading to the eighth. At this point, High Point had just lost to Charleston, 7-4. The magic number was down to one, so Gastonia was in with a win.

Justin Wylie put Gastonia ahead, drilling a ball deep to left to give the Club a 10-9 lead with his team-leading 17th of the year.

Lexington responded immediately, as Kole Cottam hit one of three homers he walloped in the contest to make it 10-10.

Three Gastonia hitters had already scored off Carlos Martinez in the ninth before Eric De La Rosa hit the team's 100th home run of the season. The right fielder's two-run shot made it 15-10, part of a seven-run top of the ninth.

Lexington scored five in the bottom of the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate before Gabe Klobosits entered and recorded the final two outs.

It took 3 hours and 49 minutes, but Gastonia took care of business and wrapped up the first half championship. The team will now get to decide whether the first two games of the South Division Championship Series in September will be played at CaroMont Health Park or at the opponent's stadium.

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Atlantic League Stories from June 29, 2024


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