By PAUL GOTHAM
GRAND ISLAND — Fairport baseball ended its 2023 season with a stinging 1-0 loss to Lancaster of Section VI in the Class AA Far West Regional.
Sam Miller, then a junior, hurled eight-plus shutout innings before being pulled when he reached his state-mandated pitch maximum.
On Saturday night, the Red Raiders took the same field against the same opponent with another chance to clinch a spot in the state semifinals.
Miller and his teammates were not to be denied this time.
“It was revenge,” Miller said after Fairport’s 5-2 win over Lancaster (10-13) in the NYSPHSAA Class AA Regional Championship at Grand Island High School. “We wanted revenge. Last year, I think we knew we were the better team. We hit the ball hard last year, too. It just didn’t work out in our favor.”
Miller struck out 10 and improved to 7-0 on the season as Fairport (19-4) won for the ninth straight time.
“We still got two more to win,” Miller said referring to next weekend’s state semifinal and final. “But this is a big step from last year.”
Saturday’s win clinched the program’s first trip to the state semifinals since 2006.
“I could not be more proud of this group,” said second-year head coach Kieran Murphy who also played at Fairport. “It’s a resilient group. It’s a group that finds ways to win. It wasn’t our prettiest game today. We didn’t play the greatest, but couldn’t be any more proud of these guys. To lead these guys and my alma mater is a dream come true.”
Miller finished 3-for-3 on the day with a walk. With the game knotted at two, the SUNY Binghamton commit connected on a one-out triple in the fifth inning that scored Nathan VanDeVoorde from first base with what proved to be the game-winning run.
“I knew I had to help myself out when I was at the plate. I just had to wait for my pitch. It happened to be the first and hit it into the gap. I have great hitters around me in the lineup. I knew we weren’t done after that.”
Faiport’s defense delivered in key moments. VanDeVoorde threw out a runner at the plate from center field in the fourth. Then third baseman Jonathan Roessel and first baseman Matt Bartusek combined on an unconventional double play to end the fifth.
“The defense behind me all game was amazing. I got to give them props on that. You can’t strike everyone out. I got to trust everyone behind me.”
NYS Class AAA Far West Regional: Cole Notaro connects on a two-out RBI single to tie the score, but Nathan VanDeVoorde erases the go-ahead run with a throw from center. AJ Nelson makes the tag. Four in the 📚 Fairport 2 Lancaster 2 pic.twitter.com/zY5ImdhovD
— Section V Baseball (@baseballsectv) June 2, 2024
NYS Class AAA Far West Regional: Another massive sequence from the @FHSBaseballFY13 defense. Jonathan Roessel makes the initial play from third before Matt Bartusek gets the runner at third trying to advance. Five full: Fairport 4 Lancaster 2 pic.twitter.com/H677h3DEuy
— Section V Baseball (@baseballsectv) June 2, 2024
Miller did a little bit of everything at the plate. He reached on a bunt single in the first. He reached on an infield single in the seventh, stole a base and scored on a two-out base hit from Sam Roselli.
“He’s the kid, who back against the wall, is always going to fight you and in a positive way in terms of he is going to battle,” Murphy said. “he’s going to give us everything he’s got until he can’t anymore.
“He’s a competitor. We got him into the game early with that bunt. Sometimes, when he’s pitching, he struggles with the stick a little bit. He did a great job from that point forward. He had a big hit late in the game for us, backside triple. He’s a talented young man, but he’s also just a fierce competitor.”
Roselli, the MVP of Fairport’s run to its ninth sectional championship, finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and three RBI. The sophomore right-hander also worked a scoreless seventh inning for the save.
VanDeVoorde was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. Will Stanek went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Jackson Rucker scored a run.
Fairport will play Section XI champion Commack in Friday’s NYS semifinal. A 7 p.m. first pitch is scheduled at Mirabito Stadium in Binghamton.
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