FLOWERY BRANCH -- Imagine a chilly, sodden day with your team needing a win -- and you take the ball for your first-ever varsity start.
Nervous yet?
Mikey Gonzalez certainly wasn’t on Thursday -- and if the Gainesville High senior was it was impossible to tell, as he confounded Flowery Branch batters to elevate from reliever status to winning starter in a 3-0 victory at the Hog Mountain Sports Complex.
“I was very confident; I just went out there and gave it my best,” said Gonzalez, who shrugged off a steady drizzle in providing 6 scoreless innings. “(The weather) was rough but I pitched in it earlier in the week, so I’ve kind of gotten used to it.”
Gainesville could certainly get used to performances like Gonzalez’s.
“He was unbelievable,” Kemp said of the senior -- who also scored a first inning run to help Gainesville sprint out of the starting blocks. “I just told him before the game to give us four good innings and then we’d go from there, but he did way more than that.”
Relying on a tantalizing curveball that Falcons hitters rarely touched, Gonzalez allowed just five hits and one walk and struck out seven before yielding to Jonathan Gettys -- who finished off the Falcons with a strikeout and game-ending double play to earn the save after Gonzalez allowed the first two batters faced in the seventh inning to reach base.
“Mikey was cruising out there,” Kemp said of his starter. “I should have pulled him before I did (because of the pitch count), but when you have a senior pitching like that out there, you’ve got to give him a chance to finish it out.”
The victory helped ensure that Gainesville (17-5, 12-3 Region 8-AAAAA) remained neck and neck with Loganville in the Region 8-AAAAA title race -- while delivering a tough blow to the Falcons’ own playoff hopes. Flowery Branch (12-8, 7-7) is still mathematically alive for a top four region spot but now must win out and receive some help to get back to the postseason.
Flowery Branch created enough chances to make a dent in Gainesville’s early lead but could not come up with the crucial hit, stranding three runners combined in the second and third innings -- a span that saw Stephen Skeggs gunned down at home plate after attempting to score on an Andrew Nolt hot shot that Gainesville second baseman Banks Griffith recovered and fired to catcher Michael Curry, who applied the tag.
Falcons starter Kholton Hamann also provided a strong performance -- both pitchers shining through the drizzle -- as he yielded just four hits and three walks through 6 1/3 innings.
Flowery Branch’s fielding suffered at times, however, as the Falcons committed three errors, including one in the first inning as Gainesville jumped ahead (though they also completed four double-plays on the night). Gonzalez drew a one-out walk before Michael Curry reached on an error. Caleb Whitenton was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Anthony Carrera looped a single into left field to score Gonzalez. Gettys then drew an RBI when he was hit by a pitch.
That’s where the scoreline remained until the fifth inning -- Gonzalez and Hamann holding sway before Drew Wright’s aggressive base running forced another Falcons error and added some offensive insurance for the Red Elephants.
Wright picked up Gainesville’s third hit of the night and then moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt from Fedrick Cardona. The senior then suddenly sprinted for third, catching the Falcons off-guard, Hamann recovered in time to fire a throw toward the bag but missed the mark, the loose ball allowing Wright to charge home.
The Falcons had one last chance to fight back, as Trey Groves -- who finished the night 2 for 3 -- singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh before Derek Eder drew a walk from Gonzalez with no outs on the board. But Gettys entered and mowed down his first batter faced before inducing a shallow pop up from Cory Riley. Gainesville right fielder Brandon Sewell reacted quickly, charging down the fast-dying fly ball before firing to first to double off Eder and end the contest.
“If you can play defense and pitch you’re going to win,” Kemp said. “It’s never easy to win here at Flowery Branch, but that was big for us. We would have liked to scored more runs, but you have to credit their pitcher too.
“The biggest thing for us is just to keep winning one game at a time and go from there.”
Gainesville will return to action on Monday against the Falcons at Ivey-Watson Field.
Flowery Branch will look to bounce back at Winder-Barrow at 1 p.m. Saturday.
