Beck fires 2-hit shutout, Zebras steal 10 bases in win over Southwood

Coleman drives in 4 runs

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Brant Beck

Rochester junior pitcher Brant Beck set a goal for himself against visiting Southwood at Bob Copeland Field Wednesday.

He wanted to throw a no-hitter.

That did not happen, but Beck did retire nine consecutive batters at one point on his way to a two-hit shutout and a 10-0 win in five innings in the Zebras’ Three Rivers Conference baseball opener.

Brady Coleman had two hits and four RBIs, and Conner Dunfee had two hits and an RBI against Southwood crafty lefty Brody Height. Linden Wilburn had a two-run single, and Zakk Parks had a sacrifice fly and a single. Carson Paulik and Drew Bowers each added a hit.

But the offensive highlight might have been the baserunning more than the hitting. Rochester had 14 baserunners, and 10 of the 14 stole a base while they were on the basepaths.

“That’s been a big thing we’ve preached,” Rochester coach Cory Good said. “This is our third year going on a different mentality on the bases. I felt like the previous two years, we got really passive, and we were not comfortable at all, and it just really stopped our running game. So we challenged these guys this offseason and this winter to be aggressive on the bases. Everybody’s got the green light. If you’ve got the timing, go. So we’ve just continued to hammer that home with these guys and let them know that we’re not going to scream and yell at you. If you get thrown out, that’s on us.”

Rochester, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A, improved to 10-1 overall and 1-0 in the TRC.

Southwood, who never got a baserunner as far as third base, dropped to 0-6, 0-1.

Height retired the first six batters before Dunfee led off the third with a single. He stole second and advanced to third when Drew Bowers struck out on a pitch in the dirt but reached when the throw to first pulled the first baseman off the bag.

Bowers then stole second, and Coleman lined a two-run single to left.

Height walked Tanner Reinartz, gave up an infield single to Paulik and walked Beck to load the bases to start the fourth.

Parks’ sacrifice fly to left made it 3-0, and Dunfee’s single to right-center on a hit-and-run drove home Paulik and moved Beck to third to make it 4-0.

Dunfee then stole second, and Wilburn followed by lining a single to left.

Beck scored easily. Third-base coach Jeff Himes waved Dunfee. Left fielder Tysan Chambers hit cutoff man Tucker Whybrew. Whybrew threw home, and it appeared that catcher Ivan Ranck might have had a chance to tag Dunfee, but he elected to not tag Dunfee and instead throw to second to try and get Wilburn trying to advance on the throw.

He got nobody and the lead was 6-0.

Drew Bowers followed with a bunt single with Wilburn advancing to third. Bowers then stole second.

Coleman then lined another two-run single to make it 8-0.

Rochester closed the game out in the fifth against Whybrew in relief. Reinartz walked, stole second, went to third on Paulik’s groundout and scored when the throw to try and get him at third was wild for an error.

Trenton Meadows reached on a third-strike wild pitch, reached second on Parks’ single, stole third on the front end of a double steal and scored on a wild pitch on ball four to Callen Ferverda.

“It’s just a mindset,” Good said of hitting against Height’s off-speed pitches. “It’s just those guys being disciplined. I challenged them before the game. I said it comes down to you guys being disciplined at the plate today. The last few years, those are guys we can struggle against, and they can get a lot of weak contact, and we’re going to get ourselves out sometimes, but I was proud of the way those guys jumped back there after that second time through the order.”

As for Beck, he allowed Ivan Ranck’s leadoff double in the second, but Southwood never hit the ball out of the infield again.

He said his fastball and slider were most effective. He also throws a change-up. He said he has been working on the slider and change-up for two years.

He was asked if it was difficult getting the hang of both pitches.

“A little bit, just because coming back from a couple years of not playing,” Beck said. “Like last year and pitching even more this year, yeah, it was a little hard.”

Beck was then asked if getting out of the second inning unscored upon turned around the momentum.

“No, my goal was to have a no-hit, not let them get a hit,” Beck said. “But it’s baseball, and that’s going to happen, so I just kept throwing strikes.”

Rochester 10, Southwood 0 (5 innings)

Southwood 000 00 – 0 2 2

Rochester 002 62 – 10 8 0

WP – Brant Beck (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

LP – Brody Height (4 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K)

2B – Ivan Ranck (SW)