GEORGETOWN CUP
Frey leads Canisius to victory in Game One of Cup
It’s what people have come to expect from senior Jason Frey — a calm and focused demeanor both on the mound and at the plate.
He lived up to those expectations Tuesday afternoon when he paced the Canisius Crusaders to a 2-1 win over defending champion St. Francis in Georgetown Cup baseball.
The win gives Canisius the first game in the best-of-three series, which continues today (4:15 p. m.) and Thursday (if necessary) at St. Joe’s.
Frey allowed just two hits and drove in what proved to be the winning run for the Crusaders in the fifth inning.
“In the league he batted almost .400 and I believe he was 4-0 pitching, so talk about a kid who has done it all for us,” Canisius coach Bryan Tenney said. “He’s been our DH all season because he’s such a good hitter. He’s cool and calm on the mound and at the plate and we’ve seen that all season from him.”
The game had the potential to be a long outing for Frey when he hit the first batter of the game. In fact, he finished with three hit batsmen — one which set up the lone run for the Red Raiders—but the hiccups didn’t seem to faze him.
“My parents always taught me to be really calm and cool and collected,” Frey said. “I don’t like to show the other team up. I don’t like to get too excited or go too crazy. I just like to just do my thing out there.”
“I’m not sure what affects him and I like that in a pitcher,” Teeney said. “You wouldn’t know if he struck out the last batter or if the guy hit a home run. That’s his demeanor the whole way through. It’s nice to have someone like that who takes the mound.”
St. Francis took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Nick Jasinski was hit by Frey with one out. Luke Szymanski then drove the ball off the fence in left-center field for a double that scored Jasinski from first.
Canisius evened the game in the bottom of the fourth when shortstop Sean Tenney hit a one-out single and stole second. He scored on a two-out single by Dylan Rickrode, but pulled up as he crossed home plate and left the game with a hip injury that was to be evaluated by doctors Tuesday evening.
The Crusaders took the lead in the fifth. Kyle McLain drew a leadoff walk and pinch-runner Patrick Glose moved to second on a sacrifice by Nick Russo. Frey’s double to left scored Glose for the 2-1 lead.
St. Francis stranded runners in scoring position in both the sixth and seventh.
In the seventh, Michael Wagner started to attempt to steal home, but he was caught in a rundown and was tagged out by third baseman Rickrode.
“You’re not going to win too many games with two hits,” said St. Francis coach Paul Bartell.
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