Beechwood strikes early, cruises by NewCath to reach 9th Region Semifinals

Entering as the tournament favorite, Beechwood showed why they were when they sent their first eight batters to the plate without an out.

But what transpired from the first inning on, Tigers coach Kevin Gray wasn’t the happiest after a 9-1 victory over Newport Central Catholic in Monday’s fourth and final 9th Region quarterfinal contest at Thomas More Stadium in Florence.

“This probably the most mad I’ve been in a nine to one game in a while,” Gray said. “You can’t, especially in regional time, NewCath is not going to quit. You get eight in the first, you got to end that game in three, four innings if you can.”

Beechwood took advantage of three hit by pitches and two walks with two singles and a double mixed in in their eight-spot in the bottom half of the first. The run-scoring damage came on a two-run single by Sawyer Carlisle and a three-run bases clearing double by Tyler Fryman in his second at-bat of the inning.

They tallied just one run and four hits the rest of the way, ‘Breds relievers Ben Sharp and Jackson Hoffstedder combining to pitch 5.2 innings and allowing four hits, an earned run and striking out one without walking a batter after starter Henry Brooks was chased after just 0.2 innings of work, struggling to find the strike zone with two walks and three hit batters.

“Those two guys pitched great,” Gray said. “They kept us off balance, pop-ups, routine ground balls. Hoffstedder is a relative of mine. He was a little slower than Henry was, but it was effective.”

The first inning onslaught was more than enough for Paul Stephenson. The Tigers sophomore hurled a complete game four-hitter. He consistently pounded the strike zone, not issuing a walk while striking out nine. He had a no-hitter working through four innings, but two infield singles ended up being the lone run he’d allow on the night.

“Throw strikes, hit the zone and locate my curve ball,” Stephenson said.

Trailing 9-0 and trying to avoid a run-rule loss, NewCath scratched a run across in the fifth when Will Meyer was the first of two infield singles, Max Meyer following with one to score Will. Stephenson would retire the next eight batters before Mario League doubled and Max Meyer singled with two outs in the seventh before Stephenson’s eighth punchout was a backwards K to end the game.

It moves Beechwood into Tuesday’s semifinals in a highly anticipated matchup with Conner. The two have faced one another three times this season, Beechwood winning two out of the three matchups. Tomorrow’s probable pitching matchup will be Conner’s Brady Bushman versus Beechwood’s Caleb Arrasmith, two of the top arms in the region.

“We both know it’s going to be Brady Bushman and Caleb Arrasmith. It’s the semifinals of the regional, that’s what it should be,” Gray said. “I can’t say enough good things about Brady Bushman. He’s one of my favorite players coaching against that I’ve ever coached against. He just loves the game and he’s tough. He’s one of the best pitchers in the region. For us, we got to have great plate approaches and get after him when we can.”

NewCath’s season comes to a close at 13-18.

BEECHWOOD 9, NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC 1