Gainesville High Baseball Falls Short Against Oak Hall

The Gainesville Hurricanes baseball team lost to visiting Oak Hall, 5-4, on Monday.

Big Fly Puts Gainesville Ahead

After an early RBI double by Oak Hall’s Gavin Jones, Gainesville (6-10) looked to gain some momentum at the plate to put the pressure on Oak Hall.

The third was owned by the Hurricanes, as after an RBI single by Chris Eckhardt, sophomore Connor Kemph stepped up to the plate. With two runners on and two out, Kemph blasted the ball down the left field line for a three-run homer to put Gainesville up 4-1. The hit was Kemph’s first career home run and was a much-needed boost in turning the tides of the game in Gainesville’s favor.

With two out in the top of the third, Gainesville’s Connor Kemph hits a three-run shot down the left field line! Adds on to Chris Eckhardt’s RBI single to make it 4-1 Gainesville going into the bottom of the inning.@GHSCaneBaseball @OakHallBaseball #gainesvillehurricanes pic.twitter.com/GbwILekzgt

— victoria riccobono (@vickyriccobono) April 8, 2024

Oak Hall Responds

Despite being down three runs, Oak Hall (8-3) continued to hang around with Gainesville. Pitcher Troy Freeman gathered himself after the homer, pitching two shutout innings to keep his side in the game.

The Eagles then put one run on the board in the fifth after a wild pitch to make the game 4-2.

Oak Hall utilized the sixth to take back control of the game, capitalizing on the basepaths by loading the bases on two infield singles and an error. Despite their best efforts, the Hurricanes gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Darion Medley and Ethan Szlachetka to let Oak Hall even the score at 4-4.

Tough Finish For The Hurricanes

With the game now tied, Oak Hall’s Jackson Beach eked out an infield single to give the Eagles their third run of the inning and a 5-4 lead going into seventh. Beach then took the mound to close out the Hurricanes with two strikeouts.

Up Next

Oak Hall plays at the Jacksonville Bishop Snyder Cardinals at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Gainesville plays at the Buchholz Bobcats at 7 p.m. Wednesday, then turns around to host Buchholz at 7 p.m. Friday.