GASTONIA, N.C. – The Gastonia Ghost Peppers have signed Jake Hoover to a contract for the 2025 season, announced by general manager Brady Salisbury on Friday.
Gastonia welcomes back Hoover, who’s played for the newly-named Ghost Peppers since the middle of the 2023 season.
Hoover, 27, provides the Ghost Peppers with versatility. Throughout his Gastonia tenure, he’s played six different positions – third base, shortstop, left field, second base, right field and center field.
Hoover was responsible for one of the most electrifying moments of the 2024 season for Gastonia, blasting a game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against Staten Island on June 6. A batter later, Jack Reinheimer followed up with a walk-off solo shot to win the game for the “Bolognia”, 8-7.
The Armada, Michigan native attended Hillsdale College until he was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2019. Hoover reached as high as Triple-A Rock Round with the Rangers organization in 2021.
Hoover started playing for the Atlantic League in 2022, with Lancaster. He became a postseason hero for the Stormers, making an incredible diving catch from short in Game 1 of the North Division Championship Series. The next night, Hoover sent everyone home with a walk-off home run against Southern Maryland to tie the series up. Hoover’s heroics led the Stormers to an ALPB championship.
Since joining Gastonia in 2023, the utility player has competed in 82 games for the club.
Hoover is the first player to sign with Gastonia in 2025. The team will aim to announce a player signing every Friday for the remainder of the offseason.
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Gastonia Ghost Peppers concluded its first season of operations with Zawyer Sports & Entertainment – a sports ownership group with professional teams operating in the U.S. and the fourth season for the franchise at CaroMont Health Park in the FUSE District of Gastonia. The Ghost Peppers had a historic inaugural season, leading the Atlantic League with 83 wins and 201 home runs. Gastonia went 46-17 in the first half of the season, which is the highest winning percentage (.730) in a single half in league history. The club became the first organization with multiple 200+ home run seasons and set the league record for highest win percentage in a three-year span (.651 from 2022-2024).