HIGH SCHOOL

McQuaid, Rush-Henrietta advance to AA baseball final

James Johnson
@jjdandc
Baseball

The McQuaid Knights, after falling into a big hole, rallied to advance into the Section V Class AA Baseball Tournament final, where they will face Rush-Henrietta for the second time in three years.

McQuaid fell behind by six runs in the top of the first but came back to defeat Victor, 12-8, in a semifinal at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia.

Rush-Henrietta shut out Fairport, 5-0, in the other Class AA semifinal at Dwyer Stadium. The Royal Comets and McQuaid meet for the championship, 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Frontier Field, a rematch of the 2015 final.

Hunter Walsh, a right-handed sophomore at McQuaid, was the starting pitcher for the Knights, but he was taken out of the game after recording one out during Victor’s six-run first. Senior Richie Gleason replaced Walsh.

However, Walsh not only re-entered the game in the second inning, which is allowed by rule, he returned to the mound and didn’t allow the No. 8 seed Blue Devils a run after that inning.

“He’s been incredible all year,’’ McQuaid coach Tony Fuller said. “He was a little nervous, he’s a sophomore, but he took a breather.

“I told him, ‘If we were going to come back, he was going to give us our best chance’ by going with him.’’

McQuaid scored twice in the bottom of the first, but Victor led 8-2 in the second. Down 8-3, the Knights scored seven runs in the fourth to take the lead.

Victor junior Zac Carpin drove in three runs, while teammates Louie Schafer and Chris Varone each had two hits.

Walsh struck out five batters in his six innings, four of the six runs he allowed with were earned. He walked two and gave up five hits.

Tyler Griggs, who was 3-for-3 and Billy Kehrig, who went 2-for-3, each had three RBI, while Tyler Cyrus had two.

Rush-Henrietta senior Hunter Barber struck out 10 batters during the No. 6 seed’s win over the No. 2 Red Raiders. Junior infielder Lucas Haefner hit an RBI-single in the third.

Mitch Hoffower drive in two runs for the Royal Comets.

“We felt good going into the tournament about who we were, about what our potential was as a team,” R-H coach Bill Rasmussen said. “Now we have a bunch of veteran guys that are playing like veteran guys.’’