GASTONIA, N.C. – The Gastonia Ghost Peppers fell in the season opener Friday night to York, 5-4 in 10 innings, in front of a sellout crowd at CaroMont Health Park.
3,017 spectators watched Richie Martin and Justin Wylie hit solo homers in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, to help force extras.
Each right-handed hitter hit deep drives well beyond the left-field wall, crushing the first Ghost Peppers long balls of the 2025 season.
York struck first and, despite the close contest that resulted in a 10th-inning victory, took the lead four separate times throughout the game. The Revolution got on the board in the second inning on a Jeffrey Wehler run-scoring triple, plating Jairus Richards.
The Ghost Peppers responded in the bottom of the second when Patrick Mazeika doubled down the right-field line and then scored on a Cole Roederer sac fly, making it 1-1 after two frames.
Gastonia got into some trouble in the fourth inning when starter Nick Wells allowed a couple baserunners, getting taken out of the game for Duane Underwood Jr. With the bases loaded, Revolution leadoff hitter Tomo Otosaka laid down a bunt single down the third-base line to give his team a 2-1 advantage. Underwood Jr. then induced a groundout to escape further damage.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Peppers got back-to-back doubles by their No. 8 and No. 9 hitters – Ethan Skender and Eric De La Rosa. The pair of two-baggers evened up the score, 2-2.
Richards took Underwood Jr. deep in the sixth, demolishing a ball 426 feet to straight-away center field to put the Revs back in front, 3-2. York took a 4-2 lead an inning later on Osvaldo Tovalin’s RBI single.
Martin and Wylie each hit their first homer of the season in back-to-back innings – both of which had the left fielder Richards stationary while watching the balls soar over 400 feet away from home plate.
After Wehler drilled a sacrifice fly to deep center in the top of the 10th, Gastonia was unable to respond in the bottom half, falling 5-4 on Opening Night.
Gastonia falls to 1-4 on Opening Day in franchise history, with the lone victory coming in 2023. The club has now suffered consecutive one-run defeats on Opening Day, losing 3-2 to Southern Maryland to kick off the 2024 season.
The Ghost Peppers will try to even the series on Saturday, with first pitch at 7 p.m.