GASTONIA, N.C. – The Gastonia Ghost Peppers clubbed five home runs and beat the High Point Rockers 9-1 in game three of the six-game series on Thursday night at CaroMont Health Park.
The Rockers are now 21-33 in the second half and 50-67 on the year. Gastonia improved to 28-24 and 66-49.
Connor Grey (W, 3-4) went six innings for the Ghost Peppers and struck out eight. The Rockers struck out 15 times in the game.
High Point’s only run came in the first when Ryan McCarthy led off the game with a double and scored on a ground out by Luke Napleton. It was Napleton’s 103rd RBI of the season, giving him the club record by eclipsing Ben Aklinski’s mark of 102 set in 2023.
The Ghost Peppers scored three times in the second on a lead-off homer by Cole Roederer and a two-run single by Jack Reinheimer. Reinheimer finished the night with four hits.
Matt Colucci (L, 4-7) allowed 11 hits and five runs over his five innings. Yuhi Sako pitched the final three frames, allowing seven hits and four runs.
Game four of the series is slated for a 7 p.m. start on Friday night at CaroMont Health Park.
Rocker fans can follow the action live on DugoutTV.org or the audio broadcast on the free app MixLR.
