Gainesville Swept in Cartersville by Eric Edmonson
Gainesville's hot offense was doused with cold water as the Cannons pitching staff held them scoreless across 16 innings and even with Gainesville's pitching up to task Gainesville drops two on the road before heading to Alpharetta.
Cartersville, GA
Gainesville was shut out for the second night in a row on Saturday as the Cannons' pitching staff remained dominant. While game one's outcome could be chalked up to some poor luck and good defensive positioning by Cartersville, the Gol'Diggers' offense in game two was less inspired.
Gainesville just could not find their way onto the board as they were presented with multiple opportunities throughout the game but could not find the grass or luck to strike a tally. While the offense didn't give much to talk about, this two-game slump shouldn't be something to worry about, as they will look to build back momentum against the Aviators this upcoming week before the regular season finale set in Choccolocco, AL, over the weekend.
The story of the night was written on the mound for Gainesville, and while their efforts didn't lead to a Gol'Diggers victory, it must be talked about because it was truly dominant. Jacob Arnberger was given the reins to start in this game and would be on cruise control for the greater half of it. Arnberger had all of his pitches on Saturday evening. The big fastball sat at the top of the zone, and the breaking pitch continually kept the right-handed heavy lineup off balance for the left-hander. Arnberger would get through the first, stranding a runner, and would start him on the no-hit journey.
While Arnberger's pitches were popping, there were a few walks scattered around, but great defense behind him as well as swing-and-miss stuff kept Cartersville out of the hit column. While the strikeout pitch was working well, the ability to get weak contact in early counts is what allowed Arnberger to carry his start into the sixth inning, where he was relieved by Stiles Begnaud before he was able to tally the final out. Begnaud entered with the massive burden of maintaining the no-hitter along with preventing the two runners from scoring. It looked like Gainesville would get out of it as Begnaud was able to get pinch hitter Matthew Bright swinging, but the ball was dropped by the Gol'Diggers, and Bright reached first, allowing the first run and the ultimate deciding run to come across the plate.
Begnaud would continue to carry the no-hitter flag through the seventh inning and was then relieved by Maret Drye in the eighth. Cartersville would finally break through with a base hit as a chopper snuck up the middle, and the Cannons would add a pair of insurance runs to make the score 3-0. Gainesville would be unable to mount a rally in the top of the ninth as they fell to Cartersville, dropping the season series to the Cannons.
Gainesville will look to rebound with better offense against the Aviators before the big series this weekend in Choccolocco against the Monsters. As of now, Gainesville sits in second place, above the Cannons and four games back of the Monsters. The Gol'Diggers will be in action on Monday at Legion Field in Alpharetta with a 7:05 first pitch scheduled.
Gainesville is 13-6.
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