GAINESVILLE — With the energy Seth White used to jump off the mound after he struck out Jake Ludwig to end Gainesville’s 7-4 win over Lanier Wednesday at Ivey-Watson Field, you would have thought he had just put the finishing touches on a region title or something larger.
Instead, the win helped the Red Elephants snap a three-game losing streak and hopefully ease some minds after their 10-2 drubbing at the hands of Lanier on Monday to open Region 8-6A play.
First-year Gainesville coach Adam Miller admitted it was a welcome sight.
“It was great to see that excitement afterwards,” Miller said. “It’s been a rough start for us this year so it’s good to see something positive happen.”
The Red Elephants (6-9, 1-1 Region 8-6A) have seen their No. 1 starter, Zach Valentine, go down for the season and already have suffered seven losses by seven or more runs as they try to assemble a competitive staff.
So seeing both White, who pitched two scoreless innings in relief, and starter Harris Bell (5.0IP, 3H, 4BB, 8K, 3ER), who was pitching for the first time in three weeks, work in and out of trouble may be just the spark Miller has been looking for.
“When you compete on the mound, I think it infects the offense and defense behind you to step up as well,” Miller said. “I thought Harris threw great and Seth came in and did a great job as well. If we can get that kind of competitiveness on the mound consistently, I think we have the chance to be good. When we don’t, we’re going to struggle.”
The key was the fifth inning. Lanier (6-7, 1-1 Region 8-6A) already had plated a couple of runs to take a 4-2 lead after Gainesville had rallied from behind twice to tie the game. But Bell fanned Ludwig and Alex Boodram with two runners on to keep it a 4-2 deficit.
And on cue, the Gainesville offense responded against Lanier reliever Dylan Leahy. Seth White and Ben Still singled and Riley White tripled to the rightfield wall past a diving Ben Saxon scoring Seth White and Still. Riley White scored two pitches later on a wild pitch by the Longhorns’ second reliever, Austin Cantrell, to take a 5-4 lead. They never trailed again.
“We don’t have a lot of guys who are going to hit home runs so we have to take advantage of situations and the guys did that,” Miller said. “After Lanier went ahead we just said ‘somebody, anybody, get on base and get it started.’ They fought back and that is a very positive sign for us.”
Bell opened the game strong with strikeouts of Bryce Bulls and Mikey Kass. Jadyn Jackson doubled to right and moved to third on a passed. Zach Marvel walked but Bell got Jake Ludwig to ground out to first to end the threat.
The Gainesville offense first started well in the bottom of the first with Corbin Lindsey drawing a lead-off walk and stealing second after Dalton Kyle struck out. But Bell popped to left and Cale Conley grounded out to short to end the inning.
Bell needed just seven pitches to get through the second with another pair of strikeouts. Meanwhile, Gainesville appeared to get the first break when Seth White and Ben Still both reached on errors to put runners at second and third with no one in the bottom of the second.
But Riley White grounded to third and Shawn Gregg and Jahleel Rivas-Dicks both struck out as Lanier starter Jake Hoffman was able to wiggle out of the jam.
The Red Elephants were 0-for-5 with RISP and left three runners in scoring position in the first two innings.
The Gainesville offense kept the pressure on Hoffman, however, as Lindsey, Bell, and Cale Conley all singled in the third to load the bases with one out. Lindsey eventually scored on a Hoffman wild pitch with two outs for a 1-0 lead, but Still just missed a three-run home run as his long fly ball to left-center was tracked down to end the inning.
Bell continued to deal, retiring seven straight through the third inning, but his streak was broken by a leadoff single from Jackson in the fourth.
Jackson advanced to third on a pair of groundouts and came home on Ben Saxon’s two-out single to center to tie the game. Alex Boodram, who walked with two out, later scored from second on an errant pickoff attempt to give the Longhorns a 2-1 lead.
Gainesville tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a Dalton Kyle RBI single. The run came after a bizarre 10-minute sun delay as Lanier catcher J.J. Jessee said he could not see the ball.
Seth White relieved Bell in the sixth and worked out of a mess with a pickoff and a groundout with a pair of runners on. The Red Elephants added a key insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Bell walked and scored on an RBI double from Conley, who then scored on another errant pickoff attempt for a 7-4 lead.
The two teams now will head back to Sugar Hill on Friday for the rubber-match and the all-important series tiebreaker.
“Hopefully this is the momentum we were looking for going forward,” Miller said.
