May 6—Gainesville accomplished a big milestone this season by reaching the playoffs for the first time in three decades, but facing a district champion in the first round proved too much for the Leopards.

The Gainesville baseball team fell 16-1 and 13-2 Thursday and Friday to Springtown.

Gainesville (3-23) hosted the first game Thursday night, but the game had to be postponed in the middle of the third inning due to weather. The teams finished the game Friday afternoon in Springtown.

The Porcupines (20-8) led 14-1 when the storm arrived. They wrapped up the game one win in the fifth inning before winning game two shortly afterward.

Springtown scored an early run in the top of the first inning in game one but left the bases loaded. Gainesville tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI triple by Lucas Riddle which scored London Daniels.

The Porcupines blew it open with an 11-run second inning and cruised the rest of the way.

Gainesville got off to a promising start in game two. Riddle came through again, this time with an RBI single. The Leopards worked around a couple of baserunners in the bottom half to hold on to their 1-0 lead until the bottom of the second inning, when Springtown again broke it open. The nine-run inning put the game beyond reach, though Gainesville did add another run in the third on an RBI single from Daniels.

Riddle had Gainesville's best hitting performance. He hit 2-for-2 in game one and 1-for-3 in game two with two total RBIs.