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Gastonia Honey Hunters are back in the playoffs. What you need to know before first pitch.

joe l hughes ii, gaston gazette
·3 min read

It’s again time for playoff baseball in Gastonia.

For the second year in a row, the hometown Honey Hunters have clinched their spot in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball postseason.

Gastonia will again take on rival High Point in the ALPB Southern Division championship series. Last September, their playoff series went five games with High Point outlasting the Honey Hunters. The Rockers went on to get swept by Lancaster in the ALPB championship series.

The Honey Hunters host the first two games of the best-of-five on Tuesday, Sept. 19 and Wednesday, Sept. 20. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. both nights.

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Action shifts to High Point on Friday, Sept. 22, with games on Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24 if necessary.

High Point holds a 12-9 edge in its season series with Gastonia, which includes it taking three of four games from the Honey Hunters earlier this month.

As of Wednesday, Gastonia is 75-46 overall. The Honey Hunters are 34-24 during the season’s second half, a full game behind High Point (34-22).

Before the playoffs get underway, Gastonia caps its regular season with a three-game series against the Lexington Counter Clocks from Sept. 15-17.

Extra, extra

At the start of play Wednesday, Gastonia’s 1,096 hits ranked sixth among the 10 ALPB teams. However, few teams have made those hits count quite like the Honey Hunters.

Gastonia leads the league with 214 home runs. The Spire City Ghost Hounds are the only other team on the circuit to hit 200 home runs this season.

The Honey Hunters have also earned 215 doubles this season.

Zach Jarrett is hitting a team-high .295 with 24 home runs and 84 RBIs. Braxton Davidson has also provided a jolt to the Gastonia lineup, hitting .272 with 24 home runs and 74 RBIs.

Getting the job done

Gastonia pitcher Zach Mort is tied for the ALPB lead with 13 wins this season.

Last month was arguably his best, going 3-0 with a 1.75 ERA while striking out 37 hitters in 25 ⅔ innings. At the start of play Wednesday, his 141 strikeouts lead the league.

Teammate Gunnar Kines has also been impressive, the lefty with an 11-4 record, a 3.50 ERA and 102 strikeouts.

Overall, the Honey Hunters have allowed the least hits on the circuit (990), racked up the most strikeouts (1,121), are third in team ERA (4.93) and earned the most shutouts (7).

Others to watch

  • Bryan Blanton: The right-handed pitcher is 3-2 with a 4.42 ERA and eight saves in 55 appearances this season.

  • Scott Manea: The Gastonia catcher is hitting .280 this season with 14 home runs and 50 RBIs. More importantly, he has only struck out 46 times in 98 games.

  • Jack Reinheimer: After spending the summer in the Kansas City Royals organization, Reinheimer returned to Gastonia on Aug. 29. In 55 games this season, the Honey Hunters' shortstop hit .308 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Gastonia Honey Hunters: What you need to know ahead of 2023 playoffs