GAINESVILLE -- In three straight postseasons, Gainesville baseball players watched in agony as -- at the crucial moment -- the other team made the play.
This time around it has been Gainesville coming up with the diving catch, beating the throw to first, cranking the key home run -- doing whatever it takes to get the job done.
The word "clutch" is over-used in sports, but when it comes to the Red Elephants this postseason there is perhaps no better description. In fact Gainesville has used big play after big play to build momentum and roll into its first state championship series in 13 seasons.
"In almost every series we’ve been down a couple of runs and we’ve had to come back. And this team -- coach (Jeremy) Kemp will tell you -- we’ve got something different, and we come back and we fight," Gainesville senior left fielder Drew Wright said. "We have something other teams haven’t had, and the breaks go our way."
Will the breaks keep going Gainesville's way pon Monday at Greenbrier High in Evans? Who knows, but the Red Elephants certainly believe they have proven they are ready for the moment.
"It shows that, in playoff baseball, it’s all about momentum," Gainesville senior third baseman Mikey Gonzalez said. "Someone comes out and strikes out the side, that team then comes up to bat and they’re going to get a few runs. That’s just the game of baseball, so we try to limit our opponents' momentum. We try to win every inning. That’s what our coaches say, just win every inning and we won’t find a way to lose."
Gainesville has certainly found plenty of ways to climb within reach of state title No. 8.
"No matter the situation there’s always someone on the team ready to pick you up or the whole team up," Gainesville senior first baseman Caleb Whitenton said. "Anybody can make a play on this team."
And just about every player has in this playoff march.
The first round proved pretty ordinary by Gainesville's 2015 postseason standards, as the Red Elephants swept past Cambridge, 3-2 and 14-3 (the Red Elephants led 3-0 and held off a seventh-inning push from the Bears).
The real fun started in the second round.
Trailing Evans 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth (yes, ninth), Gainesville scored three straight runs to seal the victory. The surge saw:
- Anthony Carrera drew a bases-loaded walk to seal the win.
- Mikey Gonzalez tied the game 4-4 with a hard-hit ball to second that forced an error.
- Gonzalez had driven in the tying run, 2-2 in the sixth to force extra innings.
The Red Elephants were only getting warmed-up, however, and the quarterfinals provided perhaps the most emphatic, made-for-TV moment of them all, as Gainesville fought off South Effingham in a three-game series.
- Trailing South Effingham 6-5 (thanks to a grand slam from the visitors), Gainesville's Caleb Whitenton crushed a towering home run over the scoreboard to tie the game in the fifth inning and then hit an even longer home run in the seventh -- a two-run shot over the scoreboard and shed in left field for an 8-6 lead.
- Jonathan Gettys came on in the seventh to strike out the side on 12 pitches and clinch the series win.
The Red Elephants' two-game semifinal sweep of Jones County may have lacked some of the offensive drama of the quarterfinals. But Gainesville more than made up for that in the field in two contests each decided by one run (4-3 and 5-4).
- Red Elephants shortstop Fedrick Cardona made an acrobatic, behind-his-back catch and tag swipe while being upended on a steal attempt in Game 1. The play denied a run on when the following Jones County batter singled.
- Also in Game 1, left fielder Drew Wright flashed sprinter's speed to snag a deep fly ball in the corner that saved two runs.
- In Game 2, third baseman Gonzalez snared a high chopper down the line and then dove to catch a Jones County runner off third base.
Those moments have provided both momentum and excitement.
"As a coach this has been pretty exciting. I’m stressing a little more than normal, but the fans are getting their money’s worth so far," Kemp said. "Hopefully we can keep that going."
If the last three series are any indication. It should be a lot of fun finding out.