Buchholz Baseball Blanks Ocala-Forest, 6-0

GAINESVILLE---Two hunters took the mound on Friday night looking to gather a win, but only one could earn the spoils.

Pitchers Hunter Ruth of Buchholz (4-1) and Hunter McMullen of Ocala-Forest (1-4) marched their baseball teams to Buchholz Field last night, looking to earn some positivity in a season just getting started. In the end, Ruth led his cast of ‘Cats to a 6-0 win while going 2-of-4 from the plate with four runs earned.

Now, some may find it rare to see two opposing pitchers face each other knowing they’ll be teammates before the end of the calendar year. The Hunters will don the Blue and Orange at the University of Florida, this fall.

But until then, Ruth just wants to win.

“I feel like we’re really coming together as a team,” Ruth said. “We have the aspects to really go far. Especially in Districts.”

In the bottom of the first, Buchholz’s Garrett Hastings was walked. A single by Quintin McNitt resulted in runners on second and third for Ruth.

The senior belted a shot through the right-infield to bring them both home, and even stole second base just to make you notice him a bit more. Forest catcher Austin Gansky gave his Wildcats a bit of juice in the top of the second with his leadoff-double, but three consecutive outs followed.

Bobcats manager Ron Brooks saw his squad make the most of their time at the plate for the rest of the game.

“Their pitcher was at around 36 (pitches) there in the first inning. So we had productive at-bats, even though we didn't have a lot of hits,” coach Brooks said after realizing his squad had three hits total on the night. “A lot of walks, a lot of hit-by-pitches. We ran the bases well tonight.”

McMullen looked at a set of loaded bases in the bottom of the fourth. Then, he turned his eyes to Buchholz’s Mikey Rosario, at-bat. Walks him. The lead reads 3-0 with a new set of loaded bases.

Gansky miffs a pitch while Ruth is at-the-plate, bringing another run home. 4-0. Bases STILL loaded. Ruth causes one more to slide in. 5-0. McMullen slid off the mound and received some relief.

Two innings later, as a couple of Forest fans fleeted to their cars, he offered a parting gift of one more RBI off a double through the gut of the field. His coach knows he is not a fluke.

“Hunter’s really, really athletic and there’s a lot that he can do. We’d like him to do more if we could, but he’s so important for us on the mound,” Brooks said while standing on said mound. “We have to keep him healthy throughout the year.”

While there’s an entire season to plan for, their nearest test will be undefeated Leon whose scored 27 runs in four games. The Lions have only allowed six. First pitch will be thrown on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Tallahassee, followed by a rematch in Bobcat Country on Friday at 7 p.m.