AtL Gastonia Ghost Peppers

Wild Walkoff: Watson Jr Scores Winning Run on Wild Pitch, Gastonia Wins Sixth Straight Series

Published on May 28, 2024 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Gastonia Ghost Peppers News Release


As Justin Wylie was batting with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Kevin Watson Jr took his lead off third base.

Southern Maryland lefty reliever Alex Katz was having trouble locating, as he walked two straight Gastonia batters prior to Wylie strolling up to the dish.

On a 1-1 pitch, Katz airmailed the catcher Isaias Quiroz, the ball bouncing off the netting behind home plate and caroming right back to Quiroz.

Watson Jr took off as soon as the ball got by, and he raced for home as Quiroz flipped the ball to Katz, who was covering the plate.

The speedster slid in just ahead of the tag in a bang-bang play, resulting in a walkoff wild pitch that gave Gastonia a comeback 4-3 victory on Memorial Day.

The Club's offense was lackluster for the first half of Monday's game against the Blue Crabs. Gastonia mustered up no runs on just two hits through the first four innings, facing right-hander Garrett Martin.

But the team was aided by a phenomenal start from Zac Lowther.

The southpaw allowed one run, unearned, in the contest and struck out 12 batters - a season-high for a Gastonia pitcher in 2024.

Southern Maryland led 2-1 in the sixth inning - both runs as a result of Gastonia errors.

Jake Hoover's fielding error in the first inning led to Matt Hibbert scoring on Michael Wielansky's double. Jack Reinheimer's errant throw in the sixth allowed Anthony Brocato to trot home.

Wielansky then tacked onto the lead with a run-scoring single in the seventh, giving the Crabs a 3-1 advantage.

Jake Gatewood cut into the deficit in the eighth.

Gatewood entered the game leading the team in home runs, RBIs and OPS. Well, it stayed that way through Monday's contest.

The eighth-inning solo shot - an absolute no-doubter to left-center - was Gatewood's 10th long ball of the season and 25th RBI.

A few batters later, Dean Miller lined a ball the other way down the right field line, scoring Eric De La Rosa to tie the game at 3.

Katz came on for the ninth inning, and the southpaw retired the first two batters he faced.

Watson Jr hit an opposite-field single to keep the inning alive for the Club.

The reliever then lost his control, throwing eight straight out of the zone to walk Gatewood and De La Rosa.

With the count 1-1 on Wylie, Katz threw the pitch well over the head of Quiroz and Watson Jr scored on a very close play at the plate to walk it off.

Gastonia has won six consecutive series - taking down Hagerstown, York, Charleston, Lexington, Lancaster and now Southern Maryland - since the first week of May.

The Club becomes the first ALPB team to 20 wins on the year, improving to 20-9 before heading up North to Long Island, New York.

First pitch of the three-game set between Gastonia and the Ducks is on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.

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Atlantic League Stories from May 28, 2024


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