Eastside Endures Tough Loss Against Gainesville in High School Baseball

Eastside varsity baseball suffered a 10-0 run rule loss in five innings against Gainesville High School in their first home game of the season.

Eastside’s Home Opener

Gainesville High School started off the first inning strong, testing Eastside pitcher Yawuum Acaad. When Eastside got their chance to fight back, in the bottom of the first, Gainesville, led by pitcher Nate Kemph, allowed only four batters up to the plate.  After the first inning, Gainesville had a five run lead.

The next three innings went scoreless.

Those scoreless innings didn’t come without some controversy. Notably in the third inning, a Gainesville batter running to first base was called safe by the first-base umpire. However, the call was overturned by the home plate umpire, causing uproar from the dugout and bleachers.

An Eventful Inning

The fifth inning started with a pitching change. The new Eastside pitcher, Miles Archer, brought some needed energy to his team, but it seemed to be too late.

The strong Gainesville team had fans loud and on the edge of their seats as they loaded up the bases. After they extended their lead to seven runs, another pitching change came.

This time, Eastside pitcher Maui Schwartz had a chance to face the Hurricanes. While the bases remained loaded throughout the entire inning, Gainesville could not get a hit to send the runners home.

The top of the inning ended with a 10 run lead for Gainesville.

Tension was high as  Eastside knew if they didn’t score in this inning, they would be mercy ruled. Shouts could be heard from the dugout as the team attempted to hype up the upcoming batters.

However, it proved to be too late for a comeback and the Rams were run ruled in this contest.

Going Forward

Eastside head coach, Sean Dobbs, is not worried about this result.

“We are still kind of feeling out the players,” said Dobbs. “I got to see who performed under the lights.”

It’s early in the season, and Eastside only played two games before their match up against Gainesville. Dobbs wants to keep his players motivated going forward in the season.

“We gave up all the runs in two innings. We played pretty good ball for the rest of it,” said Dobbs.

Eastside’s next game is Monday versus Hawthorne.