LIVE OAK, Fla. — Suwannee coach Justin Bruce has marveled at his starting pitchers’ ability to go deep into games this season.      

Friday’s starter Kyle Gamble did it again, putting aside some pain to help the Bulldogs win their third consecutive game.     

Despite battling some tightness in his shoulder, Gamble threw five shutout innings to lift Suwannee to a 4-0 district win against Baker County. He gave up three hits and struck out seven.

“That says a lot about him and his character. Even though he’s got a little bit of pain, he’s still going to come out and fight,” Bruce said of Gamble. “Right now, pitching is keeping us in games.”

Suwannee’s (11-2) Hueston Morrill took the mound in the sixth inning and picked up three strikeouts in the final two innings. 

Gamble said the pain wasn’t that bad, but that the tightness picked up a little after the fifth inning. He came out after throwing 60 pitches, 45 of which were strikes.

The Bulldogs left 10 runners on base for the night, but still managed to take an early lead. Blake Tedder capitalized on his opportunities at the plate to give SHS a 2-0 lead after three innings.

After back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded in the first inning, Tedder lined a single up the middle to bring home Morrill for the Bulldogs’ first run. Two innings later, Tedder stepped to the plate again with the bases loaded. He grounded out to drive in another run. 

“Tedder is riding a lot of confidence right now,” Bruce said. “At the plate, he’s bought into the little things. It’s made him a lot better hitter, which has made our lineup a lot better.”

Morrill, Evan Johnson and Sam McMillan all had multiple hits. Morrill scored two runs and made things happen for Suwannee on the bases. In the bottom of the sixth, with Morrill on the move stealing second base, McMillan lined a double into the gap in left-center field. Morrill scored all the way from first base for the last run of the game.

Johnson went 2 for 3 with two doubles and a run scored. The Bulldogs also topped the Wildcats (5-9) on Thursday, winning that game 6-1. Suwannee is now 2-0 in district play while Baker County finished the regular season 0-4 in District 3-5A games.

SHS travels to Yulee on Tuesday for its next game.