GAINESVILLE — The Gainesville Braves clubbed a pair of homers to jump to a 5-0 lead and made it stand defeating the Alpharetta Aviators 5-2 Monday night at Ivey-Watson Field.
Braves (4-7) sluggers Colin Price (Lambert HS/Mercer University) and Lavoisier Fisher (North Gwinnett HS/Georgia State) bookended a pair of big flies around a Jarrett Burney (North Gwinnett HS/Reinhardt College) triple that was within an eyelash of leaving the yard. It was part of a pivotal four-run fifth inning where the Braves bounded off the mat to spoil Alpharetta starter Jeremy Gay’s no-hit bid with two outs in the fifth inning.
Carter Lott (West Hall/Middle Georgia) was hit by a pitch and two outs later Price drilled a one-strike fastball long into the night to give the Braves a 2-0 lead they would never relinquish. The homer was Price’s second of the season.
Following a Burney triple that ricocheted back to the infield after hitting the top of the center-field fence, left fielder Fisher hit his second home run of the season in just his second game to give Gainesville a 4-0 lead. The pitch before the blast Burney trotted home on a wild pitch to make the score 3-0 Braves.
Gainesville added a fifth run an inning later when Will Mapes singled and came around to score on Lott’s RBI single two batters later.
Starter Rob Hamby (Lakeview Academy/Georgia Gwinnett College) made it stand, scattered five hits, and striking out four over seven scoreless innings of work to notch his first win of the season and even his record at 1-1. Hamby also lowered his ERA a paltry 0.65 in the effort.
Gay, who threw 4.2 innings of no-hit ball absorbed the loss.
The Aviators (5-5) cracked the scoring ice in the eighth and ninth with a pair of homers, the first an inside-the-park round-tripper by pinch-hitter Lukas Clark and the second a solo moonshot by Graham Pauley in the ninth.
The two teams meet again on Wednesday at Legion Field at Wills Park with the first pitch at 7:05 p.m.
