No. 1 Trinity shows its class, rolls past Beechwood

Facing the No. 1 team in the state coming into Saturday night’s KHSAA state baseball tournament quarterfinal, Beechwood knew it was up for a tall task.

It turned out to be a monumental task for the Tigers.

Trinity, entering the state tournament as the No. 8 ranked team nationally, defeated Beechwood 11-0 at Legends Field in Lexington.

The Shamrocks displayed all the tools with lights out pitching, flashing the leather in the field and timely hitting where they disected every pitch.

“Sometimes you got to tip your cap and a team is just better than you,” Tigers coach Kevin Gray said. “They hit the ball better tonight, they pitched better, they did everything better. We knew we had to play a really good game to win, probably damn near perfect, but you know it is what it is.”

Beechwood’s best opportunities came early and late. They loaded the bases in the first and seventh innings with two outs, but groundouts ended both threats. The one in the first inning could have changed the shape of the game when it was 1-0 Shamrocks.

“They put so much pressure on you, every inning, every pitch and if we get a couple runs there in the first inning, it’s a whole different atmosphere,” Gray said. “It’s a whole different thought process for them and us.”

But as the game wore on, Trinity wore Beechwood down. They chased Tigers starter Caleb Arrasmith in the fifth inning after Trinity built a 7-0 lead. Arrasmith allowed eight hits, six earned runs, walked three and struck out six in 4.2 innings of work.

Beechwood tallied three hits on the night, singles from Brooks Becker, Jackson Mando and Bobby Meier. They drew four walks, had a hit by pitch and three runners reached via errors. Shamrocks starter Konnor Stargel was an out away from a complete game, going 6.2 innings and striking out six.

“He came in with an 8-0 record and a 0.85 ERA,” Gray said. “We knew hat we had. They beat Don Bosco, the number one team in the nation at the time, they beat him with him on the mound. They’re just so loaded. They go to their three or four guy and it’s the same guy basically.”

It puts an end to Beechwood’s season at 33-10, one that came with a fifth 9th Region title in the last seven seasons and their first state tournament win since 2022.

They lose 10 seniors on the roster, a few of which will be continuing their baseball careers in college.

“We’ll miss our seniors, that’s for sure,” Gray said. “This was one of the most fun years I’ve ever had with this group. The work ethic, the off the field stuff we did. We got so many compliments about them and their manners. We got more compliments this year than we have ever and that’s that’s the character that they have. So I told them keep your character, keep being good people once you leave us and keep doing that.”

It’s a bit of an overhaul with the roster, but in Fort Mitchell, they don’t rebuild, they reload.

“We’re going to have to rely on some young guys. Next year we’ll be a little bit younger than we have been. We’ll get after it here in a couple months and we’ll start lifting. I told the guys that were coming back to be ready to roll and remember this feeling. It hurts and we’re going to work twice as hard for next year,” Gray said.

Trinity advances to Friday’s semifinals to face Apollo, a 14-10 winner over Campbell County.

TRINITY 11, BEECHWOOD 0