Evan Johnson's home run lifted Suwannee to a 4-0 win against Bolles on Thursday.  

LIVE OAK — Seniors Evan Johnson, Sam McMillan and Kyle Gamble delivered once again as Suwannee picked up an important win on Thursday. 

Johnson mashed a three-run home run, McMillan hit a solo homer and Gamble pitched a complete game shutout in Suwannee’s 4-0 win against Bolles.   

Johnson provided the fireworks in the bottom of the first, putting a good swing on an outside fastball. His opposite-field field home run gave SHS the start it needed in a much anticipated District 3-5A game.

“I was trying to see it in my zone, put a good swing on it, and not do too much,” Johnson said. “It gave us some energy and set the tone.”

From there, it was Gamble who provided another standout performance, striking out 10 while allowing three hits.   

He was especially tough on two of Bolles’ best hitters — Clemente Inclan and Hunter Barco. The left-handed hitters struck out a combined six times. Five of those six strikeouts came on Gamble’s curveball.   

“Everything was going my way at the beginning of the game,” Gamble said. “I had a little nerves coming out, but it went away after the first inning. I love pitching under pressure. I knew it was a really big game.”

BHS (12-8) threatened in the top of the fifth by getting two runners on base with two outs, but Gamble was up to the challenge.

He struck out Austin Knight looking on a 3-2 fastball to end the inning. 

“He’s been tested. The situation has never been too big for him this season,” SHS coach Justin Bruce said of Gamble. “He ran his strikeout numbers up against some of their biggest hitters. That’s a good accomplishment against a really good team.”

McMillan went 2 for 3 and added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth with a line drive home run to left field.

After seeing mostly off-speed pitches in his first two at-bats, McMillan looked for a fastball and jumped on it for his sixth home run of the year. 

“They had pitched me backwards with curveballs in my first two at-bats,” McMillan said. “I figured going up there my third time — I was on the curveball well — I thought they were going to surprise me with a fastball.” 

McMillan, Suwannee’s catcher, worked well with Gamble to go after hitters. Even with 10 strikeouts, Gamble threw only 98 pitches.

“He attacked batters early, pitched to contact and used his defense,” McMillan said of Gamble. “He struck out some people because he got ahead. A lot of his effectiveness was because of one or two-pitch at-bats to keep his pitch count down.”

Gamble also got some help from his defense. Johnson, playing first base, made a diving stop on a hard groundball down the line from Brendan O’Neil in the fourth inning, preventing what would have been a leadoff double.

Hueston Morrill went 2 for 3 with a double and scored a run.

Suwannee (18-2) improved to 3-0 in district play while Bolles dropped to 2-1 in the district. SHS travels to Bolles tonight for the final district game of the regular season. First pitch is 7 p.m.