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Beehler tosses 4-hitter, adds 2 RBIs at plate; next up: Wabash, 1 p.m. Saturday in the semis
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
WABASH –- Rochester shortstop Tarick McGlothin came up with the bases loaded in the fifth inning against Lewis Cass’ Adam Bandelier in their Class 2A, Sectional 37 baseball quarterfinal at Wabash Wednesday, and it was exactly the type of situation he likes.
“I knew I wanted to be in that position,” McGlothin said. “I knew I wanted to be up with the bases loaded. I knew that the whole team needed that, and I love being in that position. … One out, the pressure’s basically all on me, and I love pressure.”
After going seven years without winning a sectional game, the Zebras embraced the sectional tension and then took all the tension out of the game.
McGlothin laced a three-run double to left field, and Kyle Reinartz also drove in three runs as Rochester beat the Kings 10-1 for their eighth straight win. Quin Stesiak had two hits and two runs scored.
Brock Beehler pitched a four-hitter on the mound and also had two hits and two RBIs at the plate.
Beehler threw only 83 pitches, which makes him eligible to pitch on Saturday if needed. Per IHSAA pitch count rules, had he thrown 86 pitches or more, Beehler would not have been eligible to pitch again until Monday.
The win was Rochester’s first in a sectional game since beating John Glenn in a Class 3A sectional final under coach Brian Hooker in 2014.
Current Rochester coach Cory Good took over in 2015.
“It feels great,” Good said. “I know it’s something I think about. I don’t know how well known that is, but after six or seven years, it’s time. It’s overdue. We’ve got a special group of guys right now that are ready to just compete. We’re playing really good baseball right now. But it’s always nice to get that monkey off your back.”
Rochester improved to 17-11 and earned a spot in the semifinals against Wabash. The host Apaches upset No. 4 Carroll (Flora) 4-3 earlier Wednesday in the first quarterfinal.
The Rochester-Wabash game will start at 1 p.m. Saturday at Chris Rood Field. Whitko will meet Manchester in the second semifinal at approximately 3:30 p.m., and the winners return at 7 p.m. Monday for the sectional final.
Lewis Cass finished 6-16. They finished the season on a seven-game losing streak, and they scored a total of seven runs in those seven games combined. They scored 61 runs total in their 22 games.
Woolever came in with a 1.60 ERA, and Bandelier had a 3.34 ERA. By ERA, they are the two best pitchers on the team.
Woolever had previous wins against Class 1A, No. 1 Southwood and Logansport. Both of those teams had beaten Rochester previously.
But Beehler noticed that Woolever had started each of Rochester’s first four hitters in the first inning with a curve, so he looked for a curve and hit a sharp grounder through the hole on the left side on the first pitch for an RBI single in the first to give the Zebras a 1-0 lead.
Nate Moss’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first tied the game.
With two outs and Evan Elliott on second in the third, Beehler guessed that Woolever would throw a first-pitch fastball. Again he guessed right, lining a single to left-center to score Elliott and make it 2-1.
Rochester was ahead for good, and this time, Beehler made the lead stick.
He retired 10 straight batters at one point, and Rochester extended the lead with four runs in the fourth.
“He is extremely baseball smart,” Rochester coach Cory Good said of Beehler. “He knows everything’s that going on. He knows everything about the other team. It’s incredible the knowledge he holds in baseball, and that’s huge, not only at the plate but pitching as well. … Pretty incredible, just the memory that he holds. And he’s truly one of the baseball smart guys we have on our entire team.”
The Zebras had loaded the bases on a Stesiak single, a Gavin Young sacrifice bunt, a Kane Lutz walk and a McGlothin hit by pitch. Ethan Medina then grounded to first, but the throw to get a force on Stesiak at the plate was late to make it 3-1.
Elliott’s sacrifice fly to right made it 4-1.
Then Reinartz cranked a two-out, two-run triple that sent Lewis Cass right fielder Jack Salyers scurrying near the right field warning track. That made it 6-1.
“We knew what he was going to throw coming into the game,” Good said of Woolever. “A lot of curveballs, sliders, change-ups. So that’s what we expected. There’s not a lot of info out on them, but we did some digging and knew that about half the time, he threw strikes. So we were going to be patient and make sure we got our pitch. And I thought we did that pretty well. We worked his pitch count up. We put the ball in play when it was there for us, and we got guys across the plate just looking for our pitch.”
Bandelier took the mound to start the fifth. He struck out Grant McCarter to start the inning, but Stesiak reached on an infield single and stole second. Young walked. Lutz then hit a pop-up that was dropped in shallow left field near the third baseline for an error to load the bases.
That brought up McGlothin, who sent a liner to left that forced Haden McClain to make a diving effort. He couldn’t get it, and the ball rolled near the fence. Stesiak, Young and Lutz scored. McGlothin was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple, but the lead was 9-1.
Medina walked, Elliott was hit by a pitch, and Reinartz singled to score Medina to knock out Bandelier and make it 10-1.
Meanwhile, Lewis Cass did not get another runner in scoring position until the bottom of the seventh. Beehler’s only walk came to Ethan Stine with one out in the seventh. He ended the game by fanning Tyson Good with the bases loaded on an off-speed pitch.
“First inning, my stuff wasn’t moving as much as I wanted to,” Beehler said. “And I wasn’t locating as much. I gave up a leadoff single to Tyson Good, and I hit a batter (Keegan Lytle) on an 0-2 pitch. And I adjusted my grip. I pronate my wrist. I throw a sinker. After the first inning, I really got that pitch working. And I started locating better and communicating better with (catcher) Jake (Seuferer).”
Zebra notes
Good revealed afterwards that Reinartz will start the Wabash game on the mound. Rochester beat Wabash 6-3 on May 17.
“Wabash is a scrappy team, similar to this Cass team,” Good said. “Scrappy. heady, just get after it. They’re going to put pressure on the defense. They did that to Carroll. I’m sure they’re going to try to do that to us on Saturday. It’s always hard to beat a team twice, especially only your home field. They’ve got some momentum going after a big win earlier today. It’s going to be a fun, exciting game.”
Rochester 10, Lewis Cass 1
Rochester 101 440 0 – 10 10 0
Lewis Cass 100 000 0 – 1 4 1
WP – Brock Beehler (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 HBP, 2 K)
LP – David Woolever (4 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 HBP, 6 K)
2B – Evan Elliott (RHS), Tarick McGlothin (RHS)
3B – Kyle Reinartz (RHS)
Rochester senior Quin Stesiak slides home safely ahead as Lewis Cass catcher Keigan Albright tries to catch Nate Moss’ throw home for an attempted forceout in a Class 2A, Sectional 37 quarterfinal at Wabash Wednesday. Stesiak had two hits and two runs scored in the Zebras’ 10-1 win. The win was Rochester’s first in a sectional game since 2014. (photo provided by Paula Beehler)
Rochester’s Kyle Reinartz ropes a two-out, two-run triple to deep right field during the Zebras’ 10-1 win over Lewis Cass in a Class 2A, Sectional 37 quarterfinal at Wabash Wednesday. A Grace College signee, Reinartz went 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Rochester won their eighth straight game to improve to 17-11. Rochester will play Wabash at 4 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. (photo provided by Paula Beehler)
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