Thursday January 23rd, 2025 4:34PM

Baseball: Loganville earns split with Red Elephants

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

LOGANVILLE — After both the Gainesville and Loganville baseball teams held serve in a home-and-home series this week, it will come down to a four-week sprint to the finish for supremacy in Region 8-AAAAA.

And for Red Elephants coach Jeremy Kemp, that’s just the way he likes it.

“It makes every game like a playoff game,” Kemp said after his team dropped a 4-1 decision to the Red Devils Wednesday at Loganville. “That’s how I like it. Keeps everyone focused. But, it also means you can’t afford to lose any the rest of the way.”

Loganville’s victory Wednesday, behind a 12-strikeout performance from Mississippi State-signee Mitchell Miller, off-set Gainesville’s 5-3 win Monday in a 14-strikeout gem by LSU-signee Jonathan Gettys.

Loganville coach Jeff Segars said it was a game the Red Devils had to have. Miller (5-0) came into the game with a 0.00 ERA. It was not blemished.

“It was definitely a must-win for us,” Segars said. “If we lose this one then we’re basically playing for second place. We talked about it before the game. Mitchell was outstanding; but he’s been really good all year.”

Now, the two teams are again tied atop the 8-AAAAA standings, right where they started on Monday. Gainesville (11-3, 7-1 Region 8-AAAAA) will open a two-game series against Discovery at home on Friday while Loganville (9-3, 7-1) will travel to Clarke Central.

The Red Devils scored single runs in the first, second, third, and fourth innings off Red Elephants’ starter Sam Carpenter, who surrendered five hits and three earned runs in four innings of work. Gainesville’s only run came in the sixth on a Collier Scott solo home run.

Carpenter (2-1) wasn’t as sharp as in previous starts but managed to strand four Loganville runners to keep the Red Elephants within striking distance. The offense, however, was only able to get multiple baserunners in the same inning in the first and fifth innings. Miller got out of both innings fanning Scott to end the first and Anthony Carrera to end the fifth.

“Sam battled without his best stuff and (relievers) A.J. (Smallwood) and Jack (Langford) did a nice job holding things there for us,” Kemp said. “We had some chances but just couldn't make (Miller) pay. He was tough.”

Carpenter finished with a pair of hits with Jared Smith and Gettys each having one hit for Gainesville. Smallwood and Langford retired six of the seven batters they faced.

Two of Loganville’s runs scored following Gainesville errors, one was on a solo home run by Bryce Fowler, and the fourth came on a bobbled ground out with a runner at third.
 
“We helped them out some. You can’t make mistakes against a team as good as Loganville,” Kemp said.

Segars said they will quickly put this one behind them, despite the positive outcome.

“It was a good win for us. But, there are a lot of games left,” Segars said. “Now, we just have to move on. Can’t afford a loss if we want to win the region. Neither one of us can.”

NOTES: The pair of home wins in the series were the first for both teams since 2013. The home teams had gone a combined 0-4 over the past two seasons. ... Gainesville has allowed 5 runs or fewer in every game this season. ... Loganville came into the two-game series having scored 6 or more runs in six straight games but scored just 7 total runs in the series. The Red Elephants had averaged over 11 runs a game on the season. They scored six in the series.

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