Baseball: Newton finds groove in win over Heritage

GAINESVILLE -- It was the kind of game Chandler Newton had been looking for all season.

The junior left-hander dominated the Heritage lineup Monday, leading Gainesville to an 8-0 win in Region 8-AAAAA action at Ivey-Watson Field.

Newton allowed just one hit, which came in the seventh inning, and walked none while striking out nine in a complete-game effort. Only one runner advanced past first base. The only hit came on an 0-2 pitch.

It was a far cry from his last start in a 7-2 loss to Winder-Barrow.

"That was what I have been working on doing," Newton said about Monday's outing. "My mechanics were off (against Winder) and I didn't finish pitches and they hit me pretty good. We worked on finishing pitches and staying focused. I feel much better and a lot more confident after this one. But this is just a stepping stone for the rest of the season."

Gainesville coach Jeremy Kemp agreed.

"(Chandler) looked really good and he did a good job," Kemp said. "But there's always work to do. We'll keep working with him to continue to get better."

While Newton was holding down the Patriots offense retiring 16 of the first 17 batters, the Gainesville offense slowly chipped away scoring in all but one inning. The Elephants (13-2, 5-1 Region 8-AAAAA) roughed up three Heritage (2-13, 1-5) pitchers for 11 hits, four walks, one hit batter, and took advantage of four errors. The only downside was that the Elephants stranded nine runners, seven in scoring position.

"We left a small army out there on base," Kemp said. "We did a good job of getting on base and moving guys over but we need to finish innings better. Again, that's something we need to work on. There are always areas to improve."

Gainesville grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first, although it had the beginnings of a much bigger inning.

Michael Gettys and Sims Griffith both reached on infield hits to start but Gettys was picked off second and Griffith was erased at second on a fielder's choice by Skyler Weber. However, Caleb Whitenton would single and Hunter Anglin knocked in Weber with a two-out single off the second baseman's glove.

The Elephants added another run in the second taking advantage of two Heritage errors. But Gainesville again wasted chances to break the game open stranding two runners as Griffith struck out and Weber popped out to the pitcher to end the inning.

Gainesville would extend its lead to 4-0 after three. Whitenton led off with a single, moved to third on a double by Moore, and scored on a wild pitch. After moving to third on a ground out, Moore would steal home as part of a double steal.

Griffith would score Gainesville's fifth run getting hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth inning. He moved to second on a ground out and then stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher on the attempt.

The Elephants increased their lead to 8-0 in the fifth on a three-run double from Weber but had a chance to invoke the 10-run Mercy Rule but left two more runners on base.

Gettys, Griffith, Whitenton, and Anglin each had two hits for Gainesville. Weber, Moore, and Brandon Sewell each had one hit for the Elephants.