Sports

Peanuts sweep Juice

• Stellar pitching is enough in the opener and offensive firepower completes a sweep in the nightcap for the South Georgia Peanuts against the Bradenton Juice.

Paul Dehner Jr.

ALBANY — When healthy, Jerome Gamble draws praise as a top major league prospect.

Gamble was healthy Wednesday — and proceeded to make the Bradenton Juice sick.

The South Georgia starter hurled six innings of one-hit, shutout baseball, delivering a 3-0 win for the Peanuts in the first game of a doubleheader at Paul Eames Park.

South Georgia completed the sweep in the nightcap, winning 10-3.

But Game 1 belonged to Gamble, who looked like he belonged on the next level, striking out eight batters and allowing just one walk.

His fourth start with the team was by far his best, and if not for an uneven fifth inning when he allowed a hit, walked one and hit a batter, Gamble would have been perfect.

He began the game retiring the first 12 batters, including striking out the side in the third.

“It’s just a matter of time, getting out there facing hitters on a regular basis,” Gamble said. "What I did was worked on my mechanics and was able to locate my fastball, curveball better.”

The 6-foot-4 right-hander consistently touched 93 mph with his fastball and left Juice batters flailing at nasty breaking pitches.

A diving catch by Doc Brooks against the first batter of the game and sliding stop by third baseman Mike Caruso provided impressive defensive assistance.

Just 30 minutes after beating Bradenton with pitching and defense, the Peanuts showed off its versatility, completing the sweep in Game 2 with some old-fashioned firepower.

South Georgia piled on 10 runs in the first three innings and totaled 12 hits, winning easily.

“We have such a good team,” Caruso said. “It’s not just one guy or two guys, but the whole team. Everybody picks everybody up.”

It was Caruso who provided the lift in the second game, going 4-for-4 with 4 RBI.

The first two batters for South Georgia reached base and set up Caruso, who wrapped a three-run home just over the wall and inside the foul pole in right field.

It was his second of the year.

After adding another run in the second, South Georgia put together a six-run third inning to blow the game open.

Caruso began the inning falling just feet short of his second homer of the game, settling for a double. Johnny Washington added a double of his own with the bases loaded, scoring two. Caruso late contributed a RBI single batting for the second time in the inning.

Lee County alum and Leesburg native Kyle Keen was 2-for-4 in the game with a run scored and stolen base, grabbing a start in left field.

The Peanuts sweep regained sole possession of first place for South Georgia (42-18 overall, 9-3 second half) in the South Coast League standings.

Wally Backman served the first two of his eight-game suspension in the opener, but not forgotten, Bradenton coach James Frisbe did his best impression of the Peanuts skipper in his absence.

Home plate umpire Charles Stamper ejected Frisbe in the third inning after the Bradenton manager argued balls and strikes from the dugout. The move outraged Frisbe, who stormed the field, tossed his hat and unleashed a long-line of unprintable language.

He eventually got down on all fours, piled dirt on top of home plate and angrily scolded two police officers who came on to the field to escort him to the dugout.

Before retreating — in a grand finale of sorts — Frisbie hung a right turn prior to hitting the showers, calmly walked to third base, pulled the bag out of the ground, tucked it under his arm and left the field.

While Frisbe provided fireworks for the fans, it only took two Peanuts batters to provide enough offensive firepower for the victory in Game 1.

Jasha Balcom led off  with a base hit to left field — his first of two in the contest — and after a stolen base, was driven in on a Joey Hooft RBI base hit.

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