By PAUL GOTHAM
BRIGHTON, N.Y. — Thomas Bailey has had walk-off hits in the past, but none in which he rounded the bases.
That is until Thursday night.
And the McQuaid Jesuit senior picked the right time to deliver.
Bailey cleared the fence in left center field as the Jesuit Knights (20-3) walked off with a 7-6 win over Fairport (20-2) to sweep the Section V Class AAA championship series.
“That was just like an MLB moment,” the tournament MVP said. “That’s just what every kid dreams about. It was awesome.”
With one out in the ninth, he connected on a first-pitch fastball.
“I knew it was gone,” he said. “It was the pitch I was looking for and I caught it right on the barrel.”
Bailey’s home run ended a game that saw McQuaid erase deficits of 3-1 and 6-4 to win back-to-back AAA titles.
“Our offense is resilient and did just enough,” said head coach Tony Fuller. “Bailey with the big swing, you can’t write a better script than that.”
Fairport’s Dan Roessel drove in two with a two-out single, and Drew Gruba brought in another run with a base hit as the Red Raiders took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third.
McQuaid responded in the home half.
Dan Luce drove in two with a double and eventually scored on a Jason Larsen RBI groundout for a 4-3 McQuaid edge.
“Our guys, man, can’t say enough,” Fuller said. “They just battled.”
Fairport scored twice in the fifth and added a run in the sixth on an Alex Grejda RBI groundout to take 6-4 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, McQuaid’s first two batters reached, but the Jesuit Knights were unable to capitalize. After the lead runner was erased at third on a double steal, Fairport turned an unconventional double play getting a K2-3 after a dropped third strike. Red Raiders’ catcher Ben DiSanto was up the line when he made his throw to first and then alertly returned to cover home plate where he received a return throw from Drew Gruba to get McQuaid’s Connor Forkey to end the inning.
McQuaid starter Brayden Craig left a runner on base in the top of the seventh to give the Jesuit Knights a chance to rally.
Robbie Langdon reached on an error to start the seventh and eventually scored. McQuaid loaded the bases, and it looked like Luce connected on the game winner with a sinking line drive into right field. Fairport’s Nate Chaffee made a spectacular diving catch on the play. TD Jordan came home on the sacrifice fly to send the game into extra innings.
The teams played a scoreless eighth before Bailey delivered the game winner.
“I’m ecstatic and excited for him,” Fuller said. “He’s been on this team for four years. His brother (Drew) played in this program, won a state championship in 2019. His brother had some big home runs, but that’s the biggest in my 10 years here. That was incredible, and I’m so happy for him.”
The home run was Bailey’s team-leading third of the season.
“I wanted to take the whole moment in,” Bailey said of his home run trot. “I didn’t want to run super-fast around the bases. I wanted to see everyone’s reaction on my side of the field. I was looking for everyone over there. It was just a really awesome one.”
The sectional title was the 11th in program history and fifth since 2017 with Fuller as head coach.
“Last year, we won it, and we wanted that state title and didn’t quite get there,” Bailey said. “This year, you know, this is something we wanted, but we really want the state title. That’s what we’re really going for. This was just another step along the way.”
Brayden Dewey hurled a scoreless inning of relief to pick up the win.
Bailey finished 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored in the win. Dom Corona also scored twice for the Jesuit Knights including a contested solo home run in the first. Fairport challenged the play saying that the ball bounced in right center and should have been called a ground-rule double. After a brief discussion among the three-man umpiring crew, Corona was awarded a home run.
Fairport’s Jon Roessel, Alex Grejda and Dan Roessel each went 2-for-5 in the game. Gruba was 2-4 with two RBI. Garrett McNeil singled, walked twice and scored twice.
McQuaid took Game 1 with a 2-1 decision. Isaac Stella allowed one run on two walks and five hits to pick up the win in a complete-effort for the Knights.
Both teams entered the series ranked in the top five of the state with Fairport coming in at No. 2 and McQuaid at No. 4.
Fairport took an 8-5 decision when the two teams met during the regular season.
McQuaid advances and will play the Section VI champion (either Lancaster or Niagara Falls) in the opening round of the state tournament.
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