By PAUL GOTHAM
The professional baseball career of Penfield’s Gage Ziehl will wait until after the imposing right-hander takes the mound at the collegiate level. An 11th round pick of the Chicago Cubs in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft, Ziehl confirmed earlier this month that his next time on the diamond will be with the University of Miami Hurricanes.
Ziehl leaves behind a high school career in which he registered an ERA below one and the number of batters he struck out nearly doubled the sum of hits he allowed and walks issued. It also took a state champion to hand Ziehl his last high school loss.
“We had a good team that year, so we beat him around a little bit,” said Ben Beauchamp a member of the McQuaid Jesuit team that defeated Penfield 7-1 in the 2019 Section V Class AA final. “Even then, that was probably one of our best-played games all year, and he still pitched phenomenal.
“I remember that like it was yesterday. When he was a sophomore, not that we feared him, but there were a lot of kids that he put a lot of fear into. He was throwing almost 90 miles an hour and he was 15, 16 years old. That’s absolutely ridiculous.”
In 42 innings of work this past season, Ziehl allowed just 10 hits, all singles. With 2020 lost to COVID-19, Beauchamp’s second-inning triple in the 2019 final becomes the last extra-base hit Ziehl allowed in high school.
“Five years, 10 years down the road when he’s playing in the big leagues, it’ll be fun to talk about,” Beauchamp said of his three-bagger. “I can brag about that.”
In 21.2 innings of work leading up to the 2019 final, Ziehl had allowed one run. It took a Josh Van Bramer 1-hitter to beat Ziehl and Penfield, 1-0.
Tyler Griggs gave McQuaid a first-inning lead it did not surrender.
“His sophomore year, he kinda knew that was our time,” Griggs recalled. “We just had that really good group of seniors. I told him after the game, ‘this is going to be you. Your time is going to come.’ It did. It was so awesome to watch.”
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Griggs connected on a two-out double and came home when an error was committed on the play.
“Me and him are always competing and messing around. He struck me out plenty of times. That was me winning one of the many battles. Looking back at it, I guess you can say it’s something big. In the moment, that was just me and him. I think he struck me out in the next at-bat. That’s just me and him going back-and-forth.”
Griggs and Ziehl first met while playing travel ball. The two have trained together since then.
“We all knew,” Griggs said when asked about Ziehl’s potential. “He was playing on our 13U Diamond Pro team when he was 9 or 10, I think. We were watching him at Penfield Little League just spray balls out of the park when he was nine years old. Whether it’s on the mound or at the plate, that kid is going to do something special.”
Ziehl faced 135 batters in 2021. He struck out 91. He fanned 202 batters over 120 innings during his time at Penfield. He allowed 85 hits and 27 walks finishing with a 0.875 ERA.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” Beauchamp said of Ziehl’s career stat line. “It just shows you how much he has matured on the baseball side of things. He’s always been a super-mature kid. He’s always played above an age group. He’s always played two or three years ahead of everybody, so that maturity has come with that.
“I know we missed last year, but the step that he took from his sophomore year to now is ridiculous. He was 88-90 (MPH) on his fastball with an all right curve ball. Now he’s just filthy, 94-96 with a banger. He’s way ahead of everybody his age when it comes to the mental side of stuff. He’s so in control. From the little I got to see him play this year, he’s an animal.”
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Ziehl joins Grant Heyman (Pittsford Sutherland), Conner Simonetti (Fairport), Chris Bostick (Aquinas), Trey Pascazi (East Rochester), Brian Dupra (Greece Athena), Cito Culver (Irondequoit), Matt Dryer (McQuaid) and Pete Selden (Holley) as local players selected in the MLB Draft out of high school over the past 25 years.
Beauchamp appeared in all 39 games this past spring with a Monroe Community College squad that advanced to the East District Championship for a third consecutive time. Hitting out of the leadoff spot, he slashed .400/.552/.542 and stole 14 bases in 15 attempts. Beauchamp plays this summer with the Cardinals of the Interstate Collegiate Baseball League.
Griggs hit a team-high .379 NJCAA Division I finalist, Central Arizona. Connecting on 16 extra-base hits including five home runs and 10 doubles, Griggs slugged at a .663 rate to go with a on-base percentage of .487. He is currently playing summer ball with the Orange County Riptide of the California Collegiate League.
Area signings
Newark’s Ben Cowles, a 10th round selection, signed with the New York Yankees. The former Maryland Terrapin has been assigned to the Rookie-level Florida Complex League.
St. John Fisher’s Adam Zebrowski signed with the Atlanta Braves and is waiting on his placement.
Section V alums in the pros
Ernie Clement (Brighton) has played 21 games with the Cleveland Indians this summer.
Danny Mendick (Pittsford Mendon/Monroe CC) has played 58 games with the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox.
Tanner Cooper (Canandaigua) has made 11 appearances for the Daytona Tortugas, Cincinnati’s Low-A affiliate.
Adam Scott (Canandaigua) has made five starts for the Akron Rubberducks, Cleveland’s Double-A team.
Greg Cullen (McQuaid) has two home runs and three doubles in 20 games with Bowie, the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.
Steven Klimek (Greece Arcadia) has struck out 38 and walked 16 in 29.2 innings of work with Bowie.
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