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Frewsburg ends Wolverines’ season

Photo by Matt Spielman Westfield’s Brock Schuster (15) makes a catch during his team’s 8-4 loss to Frewsburg in a high school baseball playoff game Wednesday.

FREWSBURG — Aaron Hair was a full-time varsity player as a freshman last year, hitting .306 in 21 games played for Frewsburg.

This year as a sophomore, Hair has developed into one of the Bears’ top players.

The first baseman went 2 for 3 with three RBIs on Wednesday to lead No. 3 Frewsburg to an 8-4 Section VI Class D quarterfinal victory over No. 6 Westfield at the Robert H. Jackson Athletic Complex.

“Aaron has grown each and every game. That’s what you expect out of him as a sophomore,” Frewsburg coach Jay Grann said. “There’s nobody I want at the plate more than him right now. He has a lot of confidence and is swinging it well.”

Next up for the Bears will be a semifinal matchup at 5 p.m. today against No. 7 Clymer, which upset No. 2 North Collins, 5-2, on Tuesday afternoon. Today’s semifinal will be back in Frewsburg, which is just fine with Grann.

“We’re tough to beat at this place. I think the kids are excited,” Grann said. “This time of year it doesn’t matter who is in the other dugout, but sometimes it does matter where you get to play. I think the kids are excited to have another game here at RHJ.”

“It’s great to have home-field advantage, but we have to bring the same intensity no matter who we play,” Bears senior Trent Gray added.

The Wolverines put up a fight Wednesday, but could not muster enough offense, picking up just six singles while stranding 10 runners on base.

“That’s been our struggle. One of our goals at the beginning of the year was to drive in the runs and the opportunities we have,” Westfield coach Dan Martin said. “We’ve struggled at it up and down.”

The Bears, on the other hand, pounded out 12 hits while scoring half of their runs with two outs.

“It’s good to win a playoff game. Last year we took an early exit. I’m proud of the way the guys came out today,” Grann said. “We played a pretty good baseball game for seven innings. That’s what you have to do this time of year.”

Gray earned the win, throwing three innings of one-hit ball while striking out six. He did allowed a run, walked three batters and hit another three.

“I felt like Trent’s thrown the ball well all year. I think he just missed a few pitches here and there, and got a little frustrated,” Grann said. “Overall, he threw the ball well and kept us in the game.”

Senior Reid Bjork earned the save, throwing the final four innings and allowing five hits while striking out four. Bjork allowed three earned runs, walked two batters and hit another.

Frewsburg jumped on top with four runs in the bottom of the second after Gray and senior Tim Wright led off with back-to-back singles. After an errant pickoff throw moved the runners up, junior Nick Marsh grounded out to bring home the first run.

Sophomore Caleb Carr followed with an RBI single to right-center field. After freshman Jack Yost singled and a pop fly accounted for the second out, Bjork and Hair came through with RBI singles to plate the third and fourth runs.

Westfield got a run back in the top of the fourth inning as senior Luke Kawski walked and senior Brady Nusom was hit by a pitch to spell the end of the afternoon on the mound for Gray. Bjork came on and a passed ball moved both runners up before a strikeout. Sophomore Hayden Backus then grounded out to score Kawski with the Wolverines’ first run.

The Bears gave themselves a big lead with another four-run inning in the fifth. Wright welcomed senior Brock Schuster to the mound with a single before back-to-back walks by Marsh and Carr. After a fly out, junior Nolan Brink dropped a single into left field to score Wright. The Wolverines threw Marsh out at the plate trying to score on the play, but after Bjork walked Hair made sure Frewsburg would add on before the inning ended as he laced a two-run single into right field to make it 7-1. An error on the play allowed Bjork to score all the way from first and give the Bears a seven-run lead.

“We felt we were in it and we could make our way back before that happened. That was a big change in momentum for us,” Martin said. “Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to get anything going. Those were the ones that hurt.”

The Wolverines got two runs back in the top of the sixth inning on RBI singles by sophomore Dylan Scriven and junior Bret Babcock, but it was too little too late.

As big as Hair was on Wednesday, he figures to play an even bigger role today in the semifinal matchup with Clymer as the likely Frewsburg starter on the mound.

“We’re pretty deep in the pitching department,” Grann said. “I feel comfortable with where we’re at right now.”

NOTES: Nusom allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks in four innings before Schuster relieved and allowed four runs on five hits and four walks while striking out one batter. … Scriven was the only Westfield hitter with two hits while Hair, Marsh, Wright and Yost each had two hits for the Bears.

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