Tuesday March 19th, 2024 4:24AM

Baseball: Red Elephants claw way back in Game 2, clinch series sweep

GAINESVILLE — All season, Gainesville baseball has displayed enough grit, determination and fight to make any coach smile.

So why should the playoffs be any different?

The Red Elephants' refusal to yield had coach Jeremy Kemp smiling again Friday, as Gainesville fought off a tough Alexander squad for a two-game sweep in the first round of the Class AAAAA playoffs at Ivey-Watson Field in Gainesville.

The Red Elephants (24-4) overturned deficits in both contests, falling behind 1-0 in Game 1 before prevailing 3-1 and then digging out of a 4-0 hole in Game 2 to take a 7-5 victory over the Cougars (16-12) and clinch a second round berth.

"That sums them up perfectly," Kemp said of his team's fightbacks. "We go down 4-0 in that second game and they just start chipping away; that's how they are. Now, we do have to do a better job of damage control; we probably should have gotten out of there just two runs down. We have to clean some of those things up. But good teams find a way to win when they don't play well, and that's what we did tonight."

Gainesville will play host to the winner of the Union Grove/LaGrange series, which will be decided on Saturday after the two foes split on Friday.

That the Red Elephants can sit back and await that result is a tribute to some tenacious performances -- including a confident start from Sam Carpenter in Game 1. The senior, making his first postseason start, was also helped by a veteran performance from Anthony Carrera, who ignited the Red Elephants in the opener with a two-run home run. The centerfielder also helped spark a four-run rally in the sixth-inning of Game 2.

"Their first pitcher was great, so that home run was huge for us -- definitely a momentum changer," Kemp said. "We had so many guys playing in the playoffs for the first time. They may be upperclassmen, but they aren't playoff veterans. Like Sam, he didn't even play last season, so it was awesome for him to pitch like that."

Another Red Elephant found the postseason to his liking, as A.J. Smallwood provided some key relief work as well as a huge hit to complete the Game 2 comeback -- a two-run single that knotted the contest at 5-5 after starting off his at-bat with two strikes before working the count full.

"I was just trying to relax up there; if you're tense you'll be nervous and probably swing at something you shouldn't," said Smallwood, who missed last season while waging -- and winning -- a battle with cancer. "We play as a team; we're a family. We're just taking it as another game."

Thanks to performances like Smallwood's, the Red Elephants have at least two more games to go.

GAME 1: Gainesville 3, Alexander 1
Carpenter kept Alexander at bay throughout, allowing just two hits -- though one of them put the Red Elephants in a 1-0 hole, as Jacob Earley cracked a solo home run to right field in the top of the second.

Carrera wasn't to be outdone, however, and the Gainesville senior one-upped Earley's blast with a towering two-run shot to right to put the home side up for good in the bottom of the fourth. Dalton Kyle also scored on the blast, courtesy running for Carpenter after the pitcher drew a walk to lead off the bottom half.

After recording just one hit through three innings, the Red Elephants began zeroing in on Alexander starter CJ Fehribach in the fourth, recording three hits. And Banks Griffith opened the fifth with a lead-off single to set the stage for the Red Elephants' final run.

Griffith took second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a fielder's choice from a Fedrick Cardona at-bat and came home when Cougars first baseman Aden Copeland dropped Carpenter's hot shot down the line.

Alexander did get a triple from Gavin Harmon in the fifth, but the Red Elephants shut down Alexander otherwise -- Carpenter faced just one over the minimum during the final three innings en route to the win.

GAME 2: Gainesville 7, Alexander 5
Alexander got off a hot start, touching up Gainesville starter Collier Scott for six hits and four runs in the first inning, including three doubles, to put the Red Elephants in a 4-0 hole.

Gainesville immediately began to dig its way out, however, as Carrera drew a walk and eventually scored on an RBI groundout from Jared Smith -- though Gainesville also left the bases loaded.

The Red Elephants pulled within 4-2 in the third inning, as Carpenter scored on Scott's RBI groundout following a towering one-out double from the senior.

Alexander would not let Gainesville maintain the momentum, however, loading the bases in the bottom of the fourth on a walk and two hit batters before Justin Harmon scored on an error to make it 5-2 before the Red Elephants could turn a double play to get out of the inning.

It would not keep the Red Elephants at bay for long.

Carrera opened sixth with a single -- and the dam began to break. Scott drove the centerfielder home with an RBI double to chase Alexander starter Matt Derington. Reliever Nathan Mapstone fared no better, however, walking Farris Mance before AJ Smallwood ripped a two-run single to haul Gainesville in front at 6-5.

Fedrick Cardona added another run in the seventh, ripping a single that stretched into a triple on an error. The shortstop scored just two pitches later on a passed ball for a 7-5 lead. 

Scott gave way to Smallwood on the mound for Gainesville with one out in the seventh, and the reliever ensured the victory with a strikeout and game-ending fly out to centerfield.

"AJ's a special kid to us; the game of baseball is small to him after fighting cancer," Kemp said. "There's no one more deserving of success than him."

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