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Baseball: Central offense leads Bulldogs to 6th straight win
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Forsyth Central senior Tyler Smith rounds third base Monday during the Bulldogs' 11-6 win against Gainesville. - photo by David Roberts

Forsyth Central captured its sixth straight victory Monday, winning 11-6 over Gainesville. 

Central took control of the game early, scoring six runs in the first two innings. Four different Bulldogs had multi-hit games. 

Tyler Smith went 2-for-3 with a game-high three runs scored and an RBI, while Jessie Duong finished 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored, and AJ Fiechter drove in two runs and scored a pair of runs on two hits. 

Matthew Arundale led off the four-run second inning with an opposite field triple. He had a game-high three hits, going 3-for-4 with a run scored. 

Arundale said after the game that he has been feeling “pretty good” at the plate since head coach Kevin McCollum switched the lineup, starting the win streak. 

“The biggest thing is that we’ve just come together as a team and been able to get that chemistry going,” Arundale said. “We’ve always had the talent, but now we’re starting to put it together.”

Central starting pitcher Nicholas Holbrook struck out the side to start the first inning and threw 2 ⅔ innings of no-hit baseball. He had a shutout through the first four innings, but hit a bumpy top of the fifth inning. Gainesville got seven straight runners on base by either a single or an error, driving in six unearned runs. 

“It was shaky there for a little bit.” McCollum said. 

Holbrook allowed five hits through five innings, striking out five Red Elephants and walking none. 

Thomas Gurr pitched the final two innings in relief for the Bulldogs, striking out one batter and walking none. McCollum said that he thought the team’s success Monday night and throughout the win streak can be traced back to his team pitching strikes.

“Our bats have been better,” McCollum said. “ We’ve found a rhythm and then our pitchers are making good pitches.” 

Central (14-9, 7-4 Region 6-7A) sits only half a game behind Lambert for the lead in the region. Central also holds the region tiebreaker over Lambert after beating them two games in a row the previous week. 

“There’s still a lot for us to work on and get better with,” McCollum said. “I don’t know if we’ve played our best game yet, but hopefully we’ll keep this momentum running.” 

Central will travel to Gainesville on Wednesday for the second game of a three-game series against the Red Elephants.