By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Ben Beauchamp had the chance to continue a baseball tradition of being the guy who makes the big play in the field and leading a rally at the plate.
The McQuaid sophomore didn’t waste the opportunity.
Beauchamp ended a bases loaded threat in the top of the 10th and scampered home with the winning run in the bottom of the inning as the McQuaid Jesuit Knights completed a late comeback to defeat the Pittsford Sutherland Knights 6-5 in non-league action at Frontier Field.
Beauchamp worked a leadoff walk in the final at bat and moved to second on a passed ball. He came home when a throw to get teammate AJ Fina at first went down the right field line.
“Every time I go up I’m just trying to do my job whether it’s getting a hit, a sac fly whatever I got to do to get the job done,” the sophomore said. “I knew AJ was going to get the job done. I knew I was going to get a chance to score.”
Fina dropped a bunt, and the speedy outfielder forced a hurried throw that glanced off the first baseman’s glove and into right field.
“I knew we had runners on first and second, so I just needed to get them in scoring position for the next guy,” Fina said. “Put it down and ran down the base path like I’m supposed to.”
Beauchamp barely hesitated rounding the bag at third and burst down the line into the rush of teammates from the dugout.
“It was a good bunt,” McQuaid head coach Tony Fuller said. “He forced them to throw it quicker than they wanted to. That’s what happens when you bunt the baseball and run the bases right way.
“Ideally we want to go down the third base line, but when I talked to AJ it was just ‘hey, let’s get the ball down. If we can, get it down somewhere in the green over near the third base line and make it a close play at first base.'”
Beauchamp gave McQuaid a chance to win in the top half of the frame. Sutherland loaded the bases with one out when Jack Zielinski sent a fly ball, destined to get the runner home from third with a sacrifice, into left field. Beauchamp redirected destiny’s course when he stepped into the catch, fired a strike to home plate and nailed Charlie Pellegrini for the final out of the inning.
“That catch and throw was unbelievable,” Fuller stated. “That’s a big-time throw.”
“I’ve been playing everywhere this year – first, catcher and then he started going into left lately,” Beauchamp said. “Ever since I’ve been out there I’ve been waiting for my chance to do something, it was exciting to have that tonight.”
The run capped a comeback which saw McQuaid rally for two runs in the bottom of the sixth to take their first lead of the game. Only to watch Sutherland push the tying run across in the seventh and the game into extra innings.
“We weren’t perfect tonight by any means tonight,” Fuller said. “But we kept putting pressure on them and eventually something happened in our favor. We wanted to make them make plays.”
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Trailing 4-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, senior Nick Tomei sparked McQuaid with an RBI double that one-hopped off the fence in left field. Fina scored from first on the play. Tyler Griggs gave McQuaid a 5-4 lead with a single through the left side of the infield.
Zielinski paced Sutherland in the early going. The senior right fielder plated two with a single back through the box in the first. He brought home another with an infield single in the second. Zielinski’s two-out base hit in the fourth drove in Pellegrini and gave Sutherland a 4-2 lead.
Tomei worked a bases-loaded walk in the fourth to cut the lead to one at 4-3.
Richie Gleason came out of the bullpen and allowed one run on two hits over 4.2 innings for the win. The senior entered the game with runners on first and second and one out. Sutherland’s Will Marsh sent a line drive up the middle, but Griggs was shaded behind the bag and made a spectacular lunging grab and tossed the ball from the ground to Tomei covering at second to end the threat.
Gleason struck out two and walked three.
“That’s the longest Richie has ever gone,” Fuller noted. “He threw yesterday and the day before. That was an unbelievably gutsy outing. He battled through. Nothing you can say but an unbelievable performance by him. I’m very proud of him. He deserves it. He’s a senior leader. He comes in and he knows who he is. He doesn’t try to be more than who he is. It worked very well tonight.”
Connor Fitzsimmons tied the score in the seventh. With McQuaid’s defense taking away the ball up the middle, the Sutherland catcher singled into the space vacated at second and brought home pinch runner Matt Wang for a 5-5 game.
McQuaid’s Billy Kehrig collected a pair of RBI with a two-out single in the first and sacrifice fly in the third.
John Messina started and threw five innings for Sutherland. The sophomore allowed three runs on seven hits, struck out six and walked four.
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