On Yet More Driving, Interrupted by Another Ballgame
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| CaroMont Health Park, 2026 |
Friday, July 31, 2026
Hagerstown Flying Box Cars vs. Gastonia Ghost Peppers
CaroMont Health Park
Atlantic League (independent)
Gastonia, NC
7:00 PM
Outside the Game:
I had a better night's sleep, and still woke up a little late for the breakfast buffet. But I wasn't missing much. It was a sad little offering, and I ate what I could manage of it before heading back up to my room for a nap.
I awoke, showered, packed, and planned my hotel for the night near the next stadium. I was out the door at 11 AM, and on the road for another four-hour drive across the unending state.
It was a decent drive, with a little construction blockage, but nothing too bad. I pulled in yet again near 3 PM around the corner from the hotel for the night and grabbed a quick lunch at Hardy's before finishing the drive and queuing up to check in at the Holiday Inn. I went up to my room, prepped, and napped.
I groggily revived, freshened up a bit, and then took the quick drive to the park around 5 PM. I parked in the lot of an abandoned store next door (apparently an approved lot), and walked over to buy my ticket and confirm I was okay parking there. I walked around and did all my outside photos, looking at the abandoned Coke bottling plant next door and eventually wandering into the bar just beyond the outfield walls because of a petting zoo they had set up outside with goats. Also, it was air conditioned, so any port in a brutally muggy storm. I played some pinball for a while and was just checking my phone when a woman came up to me to tell me that I looked just like Joaquin Phoenix. I wasn't quite sure what to do with this information, as it had been years since anyone told me I looked like anyone, and I'm not sure she was being complimentary with the comparison, as she kept talking about the Joker.
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| Seriously, though. Goats. |
That was enough to make me leave the conditioned confines of the bar, and I eventually entered the park when the gates opened at 6 PM.
After the happy conclusion of the game, I packed into the car and started the short drive back to my hotel. However, it would be longer than expected, as the cops had shut off nearly all lanes of the one road I needed to get back to the hotel. Following the lead of someone in front of me, I did an illegal U-turn to get access to the one open lane, and driving by, I saw what they were circled around: a car burnt down to its frame, which was the second probable fatality I had seen so far driving on this trip, and it wasn't making me feel good about the karma around it at all.
Back at the hotel, I waited in line to buy some nightcap sliders and a Gatorade to replace everything I had just sweated out at the game. I ate my goods, took a shower, did a little prep, and then went to bed after unsuccessfully trying to call my mom.
The Stadium & Fans:
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| Home to center, CaroMont Health Park |
Say what you will about CaroMont Health Park, but outside of the painfully generic name, it is not a painfully generic ballpark. The promenade goes around the park, and there is one seating area as per usual, but it is only five rows deep and right up against the field, so every seat offers an incredibly close view of the action. There is just a second deck of luxury seats right behind home plate, but also patio bars in the outfield corners, with the play area in right field. The scoreboard rises in center-right field against a tree-lined backdrop, above the curiously closed Gas House Bar & Grille. (Apparently, the namesake sponsor closed in between seasons.)
There are plenty of interesting extras, such as local area sports memorabilia in center, and a rent-a-charger station on the promenade. The main concessions are located flanking a dining area at home plate. Even mascot Peppy isn't generic, looking like a pepper man high on his own supply. Points against it for being a bouncy turf field that sent ground-rules doubles flying out of the park. There were a lot of duck-themed events between innings, with some local connection that I might not know.
There was a post-game MVP interview, and because of how the field is laid out, all the players have to walk passed the fans (usually seeking autographs or photos) on the way out of the park, which was another nice nod to fan interaction at the park, and the fans seemed to appreciate it.
The park is in the nascent "FUSE" district (Franklin Urban Sports Entertainment) that is clearly trying to re-vitalize an old factory section of town where the manufacturing has closed down decades ago. It is still a work in progress, but they are at least trying, which is all you can ask. It also sports Dr. Pepper/RC cola, which I think is a first for me, and is odd this far south, especially with an abandoned Coca-Cola plant next door.
At the Game with Oogie:
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| A "Gleezy" dog of some manner |
I did my normal turn around the park, getting my pictures, hitting the team store, and then scaring up something to eat. The local favorite that was touted was the "gleezy dog," so I purchased the loaded dog and some fires and a drink. The attendant at the concession asked me if I was a surfer, which lead me to believe she hadn't met any surfers recently. It was also pretty disconcerting after the incident earlier at the bar.
I got a seat in the shade right by the home dugout down first base, which was good, because it was swelteringly hot and humid. I was in the same row as one of the player's girlfriends. She was sitting in my row all by herself, reading a book for most of the game. There was an Asian family in front of me, with the father dutifully explaining to his youngest daughter what was going on in the game. Behind me was another family with some rambunctious boys, as they can be. They apparently knew the starting pitcher for the Ghost Peppers, who they kept referring to as "Coach Nick." When Coach Nick left the game, they ran off somewhere, and the mother told me that I looked exactly like a professor she knows.
At this point, I was close to freaking out, because what the actual hell? She saw my reaction, and she pulled out a picture on her phone of an older Jewish gentleman whose only resemblance to me was having a beard. I did not know what to do at this juncture, and just resolved to stop talking to people at all costs for the remainder of the evening.
The Game:
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| First pitch, Boxcars vs. Ghost Peppers |
This contest between the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars and the Gastonia Ghost Peppers was a much more sedate affair than the game the day before, but it also had a perfecto going through three.
The Boxcars squandered a single and walk in the top of the first, and Gastonia went in order. Hagerstown had a walk, a double, and another walk to load the bases in the second, but still managed not to score, and the Ghost Peppers went in order again. The Boxcars finally got it together in the third, with three home runs interspersed with a double and single to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Not to be outdone, Gastonia strung together two infield singles, a double, a walk, and a grand salami to tie it up in the bottom of the third (and break up the perfect game dramatically).
Hagerstown faced the same starting pitcher (Coach Nick, it would seem) in the fourth, who bounced back quite nicely and struck out the side. The Ghost Peppers also went in order. Coach Nick got the Boxcars in order in the fifth again before hitting the showers, but Gastonia strung a double and three straight walks into a run to take a 6-5 lead. Hagerstown went in order again in the top of the sixth, and so did the Ghost Peppers, but with a single in the middle that got thrown out trying to stretch a single to a double.
The Boxcars tied it up in the top of the seventh, thanks to a hit batsman, error, infield single, and a sacrifice fly. Gastonia took back the lead in their half similarly, with an infield single, error, and three-run homer, to take it to 9-6. Hagerstown went in order in the eighth, and the Ghost Peppers only had a walk to show for the bottom of the frame. The Boxcars went in order in their last licks in the ninth, and the home team walked away with the 9-6 victory.
The Scorecard:
Hagerstown Boxcars. Gastonia Ghost Peppers, 7/31/26. Ghost Peppers win, 9-6.
With the lack of a home scorecard, I was using the Huntington Baseball Company "Official Scorecard," a small-form factor stand-alone card. The cover and back were just advertisements with some summary information, while the interior fold held all of the scorecard proper.
It has ten player lines with one substitution, and each scoring square had a pre-printed diamond and four lined sectors. The batting lines had AB, R, H, and BB, and the inning totals had H and R. It had six pitching lines and totaled IP, H, R, ER, BB, and K. Each team had batting totals for 2B, 3B, and HR, and fielding totals for DP and E. The scorecard overall was a little cramped, but functional. There was enough space to sneak in some notes, but with all the space dedicated to batting and fielding, I think some more space could be found.
As opposed to the previous game, there was a lot less of note this time. I made a note about an error in the seventh where the catcher tried and failed to make sliding catch, I noted about a caught stealing in the bottom of the sixth where a runner was trying to stretch a single, and identified the strikeout player of the game (who did not oblige).
The Accommodations:
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| Holiday Inn Express, Gastonia, NC |
I had a bit of a choice for the night, and as it was just another sleepover, I didn't want anything too fancy, but I also wanted something a little more than the night before, so I grabbed an always reasonable Holiday Inn Express. It was just down the street from the park that apparently just had been renovated.
My room had a bathroom with toilet and tub right off the entrance to the right, with the standard king-sized bed, nightstands, and easy chair on one side, and dresser and desk on the other.
Clean, quiet, and good enough.
