By MIKE ROSE
Rochester, NY — It was a night filled with big moments, and time and time again the Fairport Red Raiders delivered. Behind dominant and clutch pitching and timely hitting the Red Raiders knocked off the Rush-Henrietta Royal Comets, 6-3, to win their second straight sectional title.
“They’ve got a ton of resolve,” Fairport head coach Kieran Murphy said. “We’ve got 10 seniors and I think our senior leadership those guys experience is invaluable. I couldn’t be more proud of this group, this is how they are all the time and they just refuse to lose. There is just something about them.”
Early on pitching was the story. Quentin Grimes got the start for Rush-Henrietta and cruised through three scoreless allowing just two singles. On the other side, Class AAA Player of the Year Sam Miller danced in and out of trouble with at times overwhelming stuff leading the way. Miller recorded his first 11 outs of the game via strikeout. In turn, he was able to strand runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth innings including leaving the bases loaded in the third.
Fairport finally broke the seal in the fourth and Miller was in the middle of the action once again. After legging out a leadoff infield single, Miller swiped second and advanced to third on an error that also allowed Jackson Rucker to reach. After Rucker moved into scoring position, Sam Roselli cashed in, lining a two-run double to right field.
“We were struggling early so we came up with a new approach as a team, stay back and drive the ball the other way,” Roselli said. “I did just that, a couple of runs scored and it was good for the team.”
Fairport executed a squeeze play to push home the third run of the inning and give the Red Raiders a 3-0 edge. Rush-Henrietta would answer in the fifth, loading the bases once again against Miller and getting on the board after Austin Yageric’s RBI single. Miller would record his 13th and final punchout to escape any further danger. After issuing a leadoff walk in the sixth and 100+ pitches thrown, Miller’s night came to a close and the Royal Comets took advantage.
Nicolas Rene came in and the first batter he faced, Grimes, stepped up and laced a double down the left field line. Oliver Wright followed with an RBI single to cut the margin to one. Roselli was then called upon to take the mound with no outs and runners on second and third and the sophomore came up clutch again. Roselli struck out Matthew Turner before loading the bases on a hit by pitch. He would follow by punching out the next two hitters to allow Fairport to maintain a 3-2 lead.
Rush-Henrietta head coach Brad Basal knew his team missed some opportunities for big innings.
“Obviously, Sam Miller is one of the best in the county if not the best and I thought we had some good at-bats against him,” Basal said. “We got his pitch count up and we got him out of the game which was a big accomplishment. Obviously, we didn’t get the hits we needed with the bases loaded or this would be a different game. We know that, it’s kind of been our struggle all year.”
After escaping near disaster the Red Raiders turned the tables and pushed across some insurance. Fairport worked three consecutive one-out walks to bring Miller to the plate. Mason Davey was able to set down Miller on strikes bringing Rucker to the dish. Murphy said there was no one else he’d rather have had at the plate in that spot.
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“Jackson Rucker has probably been the most clutch player on our team all year,” Murphy said. “It’s funny, he got to two strikes in that at-bat and he looked down at me and I said ‘nobody better, nobody better in this spot. You’re the guy that we want here.'”
Rucker proved his coach right, lining one between third base and shortstop to push across two runs. A third run scored on a throwing error and allowed Rucker to wheel into third base and receive the message from his coach once more.
“He’s at third base and I looked at him and said ‘I told ya, nobody better,'” Murphy said.
The sequence extended the Fairport lead out to 6-2. Roselli surrendered one run in the seventh before finishing it off with his fourth punchout to secure the championship.
“This group together is just so special,” Miller said. “Especially the senior class, we played together since we were little. When we were on JV some of the juniors right now were playing with us. Just the chemistry we have is unbelievable and I think that helps us all pull for each other and get the wins we need.”
After a Class AA title win last year, Fairport has now won back-to-back sectional championships. The win was the Red Raiders’ ninth title in program history, moving them into a tie for the eighth most in Section V history. The win also means Fairport will advance into the Far West Regionals, where they fell last season to Lancaster in 11 innings, 1-0. Murphy is hoping his team’s run can last a little longer this time around.
“We’re gonna take the weekend off but come Monday we’re gonna get back to work and get back in the office and we’ll take care of business,” Murphy said. “Last year we lost a heartbreaker so we’re looking to avenge that and make our way to Binghamton. I know this group is hungry. They don’t want to not have practice. That’s their favorite thing to say is ‘we want practice tomorrow.’ It’s just a cool thing that they want to be around each other that much.”
Fairport will get at least one more week of practice this season. They’ll be back in game action on Saturday, June 1 against the winner of the Section VI Class AAA finals between Niagara Falls and Lancaster. The regional matchup is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at Grand Island High School.
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