Gainesville Braves ride 10-game winning streak into Sunbelt playoffs

The Gainesville Braves made winning the Sunbelt Baseball League regular-season title look easy. 

Following a woeful 0-6 start, the Braves finished the season with a 19-3 run capped by a 10-game winning streak to clinch the Sunbelt Baseball League’s regular-season title and take the top seed into the playoffs which begin July 31. 

For manager Micah Owings, the 2021 summer season has been a study in patience and taking things one game at a time. 

“We had a lot of ballplayers who didn’t see a lot of action in the spring, plus we had guys still playing in the NCAA tournament when the season started,” Owings said. “Our guys had to get their game legs under them, and we were waiting on the rest of the team to come together following the tournament. We weren’t worried.”

The Braves (19-9) swept the Columbus Chatt-a-Hoots (12-16) 9-1 and 6-0 in a doubleheader Wednesday night at Ivey Watson Field to earn the No. 1 seed in the Sunbelt playoffs.
Despite starting the season 0-6, the Braves never gave up. For Owings, he took his team’s slow start in stride, stressing to his players that it was more important to finish the season strong than to start it strong. 

“I’d much rather do it this way,” he said. “We are hitting the ball well. Our pitching has been outstanding and we’re making the plays in the field.” 

The Braves and the Alpharetta Aviators will both receive byes in the postseason and play on Saturday, July 31.

Braves owner Rick Clark has been amazed by his team’s play this season, saying the Braves’ “Can’t Lose” mindset has become contagious in the dugout. 

“Each night they take the field they do so expecting to find a way to win and they do,” Clark said. “Someone either gets the big hit when we need it or the pitching on the mound is outstanding.”

The 2021 Sunbelt League Playoffs are set to begin on Friday, July 30.  This year’s playoff format features the return of the one-game wild-card round to determine who will face the top two seed in the best-of-three semi-final series.  The winners of the semi-final series will advance to the best-of-three championship series from August 5-7.

The Gainesville Braves (19-9) and Alpharetta Aviators (18-10) enter the postseason as the league’s top two seeds and will earn a first-round bye heading into the playoffs. The wild card round will feature the Atlanta Crackers (18-10) versus the Columbus Chatt-a-Hoots (12-16) and the Gwinnett Astros (17-11) versus the Brookhaven Bucks (13-15).

Gainesville enters the postseason as the league’s hottest team, having won their last nine games and outscoring their opponents 47-5 in their final five games. The Braves were able to overcome an 0-6 start by winning 19 of their last 22 games to finish with the best record in the league.  Their 29 home runs this year are the most by any team in a single season, shattering the previous record of 26 set by the 2019 champions, Brookhaven Bucks.