GHS Can’t Complete Comeback Against Santa Fe

The Gainesville High Hurricanes fell 9-7 to the Santa Fe Raiders on Thursday night at home. This was the Raider’s 10th straight win and second against Gainesville this season. The Raiders took the win 7-6 win Feb. 27.

Early Scoring

The Raiders (15-1) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in their first inning of work. Seven batters stepped up to plate and they used three singles and one double to bring the runs across.

It was clear Santa Fe came into the game with a plan not pitch to Braylin Cook. The senior Alabama State commit stepped up to the plate four times and was walked every time. Cook is batting .404 on the season, with 19 hits and 18 RBIs. She also had a three-run home run against the Raiders in their previous matchup.

Thanks to Cook’s free pass and a single by McKenna O’Sullivan, the bases were loaded for the Hurricanes (10-7) with no outs. Freshman pitcher Ryleigh Davis was able to get a strikeout, but Lili Overstreet responded with a sacrifice fly to bring the Hurricanes within two. The Hurricanes stranded two runners in scoring position when the inning ended.

Raiders Blow Game Open

The top of the second inning saw five more Raiders cross home plate. With the bases loaded and only one out, J’lyn Guyden laced the ball into the outfield to bring two runners home and reach second herself. Ainslea Kelsoe then hit a bases-clearing single that scored another two runners.

The Hurricanes used a beautiful double play to get out of the inning. Cook, playing at third, fielded a grounder that she quickly corralled, stepped on third for the force out and threw across the diamond to the first baseman Adriana Koralewski, who was pulled off the bag by the throw. Koralewski applied the tag on the base path to get the out. The Raiders were up 8-1 after just two innings of play.

Hurricanes Show Signs of Life

The bases were loaded, yet again, for the Hurricanes in the top of the third, but they were only able to plate one runner and make it an 8-2 game. However, the fifth inning is when the pulse of the Hurricanes was found.

The fifth inning started with back-to-back walks, Cook being one of them, and O’Sullivan’s second single loaded the bases with no outs. Koralewski and Overstreet both drove runners home on a single and a sacrifice fly, respectively. Lana Renicks then drove in one run with a double to make it an 8-5 game.

This is when the errors started to pour on the Raiders. A dropped ball in the outfield was followed by a missed throw to second that rolled into the outfield and scored two. The next batter also reached base on a ball that the shortstop couldn’t handle. The Raiders finally got out of the inning, but what was a comfortable game for them was now flipped on its head.

Hit it Where They Aren’t

The Raiders were successful at hitting the ball exactly where the Gainesville players weren’t. The team was batting .432 and had 17 hits. In the seventh inning, they had three straight singles that allowed another Raider to cross the plate and make the score 9-7.

Gainesville’s Emma Barton hit a one-out single and then stole second to get in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh. After Olivia Lockerman smashed a ball into left field she tried to turn two and got caught in a run-down. In the process, Barton tried to go home, but was out at the plate. Santa Fe secured the 9-7 win on a grounder to the second baseman that was tossed to first.

Up Next

The Hurricanes will see the field again Monday at 7 p.m. against the visiting Columbia Tigers (12-8). The Hurricanes fell to the Tigers 6-5 in a 10-inning game earlier this season.