STORMERS SQUEAK OUT HOME OPENER

Lancaster Escapes Ninth Inning Rally to Win

Phil Diehl told Ross Peeples he could go, and the lefty closer scraped out his third save of the season as the Lancaster Stormers held off the Gastonia Ghost Peppers, 6-5, in front of 7,192 in the home opener at Penn Medicine Park.

With the win, the Stormers improved to 4-3 while Gastonia fell to 1-6.

Joseph Carpenter provided the Stormers with a much needed insurance run in the bottom of the eighth driving a solo homer to the right center field “backyard.”

That run proved critical.  Diehl, who had recorded a loss and a save the previous two nights, retired Kevin Watson, Jr. on his first pitch.  Richie Martin, Jr. blooped a double into left center to bring the tying run to the plate.  Patrick Mazeika reached on an infield single off the glove of first baseman Mason Martin.  Justin Wylie survived a foul pop up to knock home a run on a sacrifice fly to left.  Cole Roederer kept Gastonia’s hopes alive with a single into left.  Diehl worked ahead of Narciso Crook before losing him on four straight pitches out of the zone.  Dalton Guthrie struck out for the fourth time in the game to end it with the Stormers notching their second one-run win of the season.

Kelly Dugan staked the Stormers to a 3-1 lead off Nick Wells (0-1) with an RBI single in the first and a two-run single to left center in the third.  Yeison Coca singled home two more in the fourth for a 5-1 lead.

Lancaster’s offense went into a lull, with the Carpenter homer being the only hit for the remainder of the game.  Gastonia fought back, turning a leadoff walk into a single run in three straight innings.

Ryley Gilliam (1-0) was awarded the win on a scorer’s decision.  He fanned the side in the eighth, following a leadoff single by Crook.

Alex Garbrick (0-0) will take the hill on Saturday night against right-hander Reynal Espinal (0-0).  Fans may tune into the game on FloBaseball, starting at 6:40.

NOTES:  Matt Swarmer struck out eight in four innings…Mason Martin lost his six-game hitting streak…Lancaster produced a season-low seven hits…The win was Lancaster’s first against Gastonia since beating the former Honey Hunters in the Championship Series in 2023.