The Gatewood Gators baseball team opened its 2024 season last Tuesday with an 8-2 win over the visiting Westfield Hornets.
The Hornets had a 2-1 record heading into the matchup in Eatonton, while the Gators were playing their first game of the regular season.
Gatewood senior Lawson Wooten started on the mound and had a tough first inning, giving up a pair of singles, but he answered back with a strikeout followed by a flyout, and a runner tagged out at second on a steal attempt.
The Gators’ offense then came out struggling despite a lead-off single by Caleb Riser. A double play and a ground out ended the first inning for the Gators.
But the offense came alive in the second inning when Walker Roberts scored, arriving from third on a Wilson Moore groundout. Wooten then grounded out to end the inning.
Westfield tied the game up at 1-1 in the top half of the third with a bases-loaded run on a passed ball, but back-to-back strikeouts ended their inning. Gatewood then failed to score in the third, while Westfield briefly claimed the lead in the top of the fourth on a ground ball single, scoring a runner from second to make it 2-1 for the Hornets.
However, Gatewood answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Ames Johnson doubled to start the bottom of the fourth followed by a Walker Roberts walk.
Johnson and Roberts would steal second and third before John Wallace Thompson would reach first on an error throw by the Westfield shortstop and advanced to second. Johnson and Roberts both scored on the error and Gatewood took a 3-2 lead into the fifth.
On the mound, Wooten went three-up, and three-down with three strikeouts, then got some insurance runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Caleb Riser reached first on a hit-by-pitch and then scored on a Ben Brannen fly ball single.
Brannen advanced to second and third after an error play from the Westfield center fielder.
Brannen then scored on an Ames Johnson single to left field to give the Gators a 5-2 lead that was 7-2 by the end of the fifth. Roberts scored again in the bottom of the sixth, and when the Hornets went scoreless in the top of the seventh Gatewood had secured its first win of the season.
Wooten pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Gators, with Walker Roberts finishing off the last 1 2/3 innings. Roberts scored three runs, Brannen had two, and one apiece was scored by Ames Johnson, Riser, and Wallace Thompson.
The Gators played Strong Rock Christian Academy on Saturday in a make-up game from a rained-out Friday and lost 7-5 at home.
Riser got the Gators’ afternoon going by homering in Gatewood’s first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning. Starting pitcher Wilson Moore went three innings on the mound but gave up two runs in the third.
Holden Turner came in as relief but also gave up another pair in the top of the fourth before the Gators answered with one of their own to finish the fourth in a 4-2 deficit.
Turner pitched one more inning and gave up three runs before Jackson Love and Wallace Thompson combined to finish off the game.
Gatewood also scored three runs in the fifth to reach the 7-5 final score that lasted throughout Love and Thompson’s time on the mound.
Gatewood scorers included Riser with two, with one each by Brannen, Ames Johnson, and Hunter Johnson.
In their first away game of the season, the Gators traveled to Vidalia Monday afternoon, where they fell in a 1-0 defensive struggle with Vidalia Heritage Academy.
This Thursday the Gators (1-2) will visit Westfield (4-3) in Perry, followed by a March 12 trip to take on a high-scoring Piedmont team (4-0) in nearby Monticello before hosting Vidalia at 4:30 p.m. March 14 in Eatonton.
Piedmont, with 53 runs for and 10 against in its first four games, will visit Gatewood on March 15, with game time set for 5:30 p.m.