GASTONIA, N.C. — Baseball fans in Gastonia finally know their new team's name.
The team was revealed as the Gastonia Ghost Peppers on Wednesday.
Debuting in 2024, the team tried out eight potential names during the season: the Gastonia Gastronauts, the Gastonia Bolognia, the Gastonia Galactic Dinos, the Gastonia Ghost Peppers, the Gastonia Zombees, the Gastonia Garden Gnomes, the Gastonia Yarniaks and simply the Gastonia Baseball Club.
A fan vote was open until Aug. 31 for fans to select a name.
The Gastonia Baseball Club is owned by Zawyer Sports and Entertainment and took over residency of the city-owned CaroMont Health Park. Zawyer Sports and Entertainment, is led by businessman Andy Kaufmann, who already owns a minor league baseball team in Jacksonville Florida, as well as two minor league hockey teams. In July, the company purchased a controlling interest in the American Hockey League's Charlotte Checkers.
The previous team, the Gastonia Honey Hunters, and its ownership, NC Gas House Gang LLC, was more than $2.5 million in debt when they were kicked out of the Atlantic League baseball organization. The city also blocked them from hosting any future events in the stadium after the team fell behind on payments to the city.
CaroMont Health Park was built as part of Gastonia's downtown redevelopment plan. The stadium sits in the Franklin Urban Sports and Entertainment District commonly referred to as FUSE.
The Gastonia team plays in the Atlantis League of Professional Baseball Clubs. The team finished the 2024 season with a ALPB-best 83-43 record. Gastonia lost in the first round of the ALPB postseason.