By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Lucas Leone was recently named the recipient of the Black Lion Award, an honor given in the memory of the late Don Holleder who lost his life in the field of battle.
Wednesday afternoon on the baseball diamond, the sophomore outfielder let out an appropriate roar.
Leone connected on a full-count pitch and brought home Tré Walker in the bottom of the seventh as the Aquinas Li’l Irish walked off with a 5-4 victory over Batavia in Section V Baseball action from Greece Olympia High School.
“I had to have my two-strike approach,” he said. “With two strikes, I was looking to go the other way. I got a pitch that I liked and went with it.”
With the corners playing in, Leone pulled a change-up down the line that easily beat the third baseman.
Walker scored from second on the play.
Lucas Leone walks it off. Tré Walker scores on the play. Aquinas 5 Batavia 4 (final) pic.twitter.com/0rA2PYpxbF
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 3, 2023
“I knew Lucas was going to give me something,” Walker said. “Whether it was a home run or a single. I knew he going to get me in. I saw it off the bat and down the line.”
The hit brought to an end a game that saw Aquinas struggle early at the plate and fall behind before rallying to take a lead only to surrender two runs in the top of the seventh.
“It was a big team win,” Leone said. “We were a little dry the past couple of games. I think we really needed this to get the electricity going. It was a great team win. We all brought it together at the end.”
Tied at four, Walker and Ryan Lewin led the seventh with back-to-back base on balls.
Leone had struck out in his first at-bat of the game. He reached on an error in the fourth, a play in which Walker scored the first run of the day for AQ and walked as part of a two-run sixth.
He came to the plate in the seventh having not made solid contact all day.
“My approach was to widen my stance,” he said of the two-strike situation. “Just get into my hips and keep my shoulders as much in the position as I can.”
The win was the third straight for the Li’l Irish (6-4) who will play 10 games in two weeks to end the regular season.
“We got a lot of work ahead of us,” head coach Ray Manioci said. “Our hardest games are coming up. For us to get one under our belts today was a really good feeling.”
Caleb Wilson started and struck out 10 over six innings of work. The senior right-hander surrendered back-to-back, two-out doubles to Mekhi Fortes and Dane Dombrowski in the first inning as Batavia put a run on the board.
Three up, three down in the sixth for Caleb Wilson. Right-hander has retired 12 of 13 and has 10 Ks. Batavia 2 Aquinas 2 pic.twitter.com/h9R6FERYeY
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 3, 2023
One inning later, Cole Grazioplene brought home Alex Johnson with a one-out single.
Wilson issued a leadoff walk to Fortes to start the third and then set down the next eight batters in succession. He retired 12 of the last 13 he faced and allowed just one ball out of the infield during that stretch. The state-mandated pitch-count limit forced him from the game after six innings. He took a no decision.
“He’s not afraid to throw strikes,” Manioci said. “He wants the ball in big moments. When he came in three years ago, I had a feeling he was going to be pretty good, but he has exceeded every expectation I had.”
Wilson’s counterpart, Shawn Kimball, zipped through first three innings setting down all nine batters – seven on strikes.
Shawn Kimball works a 1-2-3 frame with a pair of Ks. Heading to the second: Batavia 1 Aquinas 0 pic.twitter.com/m64gelWr1I
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 3, 2023
Second time through the order, Aquinas adjusted.
Walker led the fourth with a triple. Lewin walked, and Leone lifted a fly ball to right field that was mishandled and allowed Walker to score. Patrick Altpeter followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Lewin started the sixth with a single. The Li’l Irish took advantage of four free passes in the frame and another Altpeter sacrifice fly to take a 4-2 lead into the final inning.
Sawyer Siverling beat out an infield single in the top of seventh and brought a run home as the Blue Devils went on to score twice and tie the game.
Aquinas responded in the home half of the inning.
“Our boys deserved that,” Walker said. “We fought the whole game. That was a good team win. We deserved that outcome. We really worked hard to get that win. I was just really happy for our team more than anything.”
Michael Calogero worked the seventh inning and picked up the win.
Recent rainy conditions forced the game to be moved to Greece Olympia’s turf field.
Holleder, a 1952 graduate of Aquinas, went on to play football at Army West Point where he was an All-American end as a junior. He made the move to quarterback as a senior upon the request of his head coach, the late Earl “Red” Blaik. The position change meant Holleder would sacrifice the possibility of a consecutive All-American season for the purpose of filling a need for his team.
Congratulations to Lucas Leone ’25 on being selected as a Black Lion Award recipient https://t.co/RZmaJ2lLlw The Award is in memory of Major Donald Holleder Class of 1952
He will be honored at a ceremony on Mon April 24 followed by a reception with Holleder’s AQ Class & Teammates pic.twitter.com/6Mmsl0VGN9— Aquinas Alumni (@AQAlumni) March 28, 2023
Major Don Holleder served in Vietnam as part of the 28th Infantry – The Black Lions. The award, established in 2001 and given across the country, “goes to that football player on his team who best exemplifies the character of Don Holleder: leadership, courage, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice and an unselfish concern for the team.”
Leone was a linebacker and offensive tackle on the Li’l Irish gridiron squad last fall.
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