The second pitch of the night was electric and a sign of what was coming.
Tyler Fryman launched a leadoff home run to right field, and the rest of the evening unfolded much the same way for Beechwood, which rolled past Bishop Brossart 16-1 in five innings Wednesday in Alexandria at the Mustang Athletic Complex in the All “A” state sectional round.
The Tigers finished 14-for-28 at the plate with six doubles and three home runs.
Fryman set the tone early and later put the finishing touch on the night with his first grand slam of the season in the top of the fifth inning.
“I didn’t even know the bases were loaded,” Fryman said. “I was just trying to get a base hit.”
Beechwood’s lineup made life difficult from top to bottom, featuring two Division I commits at the top in Fryman and Brooks Becker, with a third, Caleb Arrasmith, also contributing in the middle of the order while taking the mound.
“We knew the task at hand today,” Bishop Brossart head coach Ron Verst said. “They’re just good, they’re solid, they’re deep. They’re disciplined and hit the ball very well, and they put it to us today. They were the better team today by far.”
Fryman led the way with two home runs and five RBIs. Luke Brauch added two doubles, while Becker, Gavinn Ollier, Jackson Mando, and Sawyer Carlisle each collected a double and drove in two runs. Hudson Edwards also homered and Arrasmith went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases.
That offensive support made life easier for Morehead State pitching commit Arrasmith on the mound.
The left-hander allowed just two hits and one run (zero earned) over five innings, striking out nine without issuing a walk.
“Just go out there, hit the mitt and throw strikes,” Arrasmith said. “Get my job done and let my boys behind me do all the work and get the outs. Not trying to strike anybody out, but if I strike them out, I strike them out. That’s the glory of it.”
Brossart’s two hits came in 20 at-bats. Brady Boruske doubled, and Landon Ruth drove in the lone run, with Boruske scoring on a Ruth groundout in the third inning.
The Mustangs also leaned on their top arms, starting ace Luke Neltner, who went three innings before Kasey Moeller entered in relief. Moeller exited after 1.1 innings due to a leg injury following a play off the bat, with Carter Boruske finishing the game.
“He’s a pitcher, man, he mixes it up. He’s got a slider, curveball, fastball,” Beechwood head coach Kevin Gray said. “When they took him out, I told him in the dugout he did a good job. He said, ‘Coach, your guys smacked my fastball, slider, and curveball. I didn’t know what to throw.’”
Fryman’s first-inning home run proved to be just the beginning.
“It just makes people ready to go in there,” Fryman said. “They see guys swing at the first pitch, that’s what I want to do, be aggressive. Obviously hit good pitches, but keep the guys’ momentum up and keep them ready to hit.”
The Tigers added another run in the second on an Ollier RBI double, then tacked on three more in the third behind a Mando single and Edwards homerun.
Brossart briefly got on the board in the same inning, but Beechwood answered with a six-run fourth inning behind RBIs from Brauch, Mando, Ollier, and two more from Becker.
That pushed the Tigers ahead 11-1 and into run-rule territory entering the fifth, but Beechwood wasn’t done. Fryman capped the scoring with his grand slam after an Aiden Dicke run scored on a wild pitch.
Three outs later, the Tigers punched their ticket to Daviess County High School in Owensboro for the All “A” state quarterfinals, where they will take on the winner of the 13th Region Jackson County and 14th Region Wolfe County on April 25.
Beechwood returns to action Thursday at Indian Hill in Cincinnati at 5 p.m., while Brossart will be home Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Dublin Scioto of Dublin, Ohio.
MORE PHOTOS: Provided by Charles Bolton
TIGERS 16, MUSTANGS 1 (5 INN)
BEECHWOOD — 113-65x-x — 16-14-3
BISHOP BROSSART — 001-00x-x — 1-2-2
RBI — (B) Fryman 5, Becker 2, Brauch 2, Mando 2, Ollier 2, Edwards (BB) Ruth
2B — (B) Brauch 2, Becker, Carlisle, Mando, Ollier (BB) Boruske
HR — (B) Fryman 2, Edwards
WP — Arrasmith. LP — Neltner.
Records: Beechwood 14-5, Bishop Brossart 11-7