HAMBURG — Brody Fry woke up early Saturday feeling confident.
The Medina Mustangs were going to be playing for another Section VI baseball title in a few hours, and the senior right-hander was happy he’d be taking the mound.
“On the bus, I told Ryleigh, ‘I think it’s going to be a great day,’” said Fry, referring to his catcher, classmate Ryleigh Culver.
What followed was a performance Medina fans will be talking about for years to come.
On an unseasonably cool morning, and through a steady drizzle, Fry flirted with perfection in the Class B final against Southwestern. He ultimately settled for a no-hitter in the Mustangs’ 4-0 win at Frontier High School, striking out 13 batters and allowing only one to reach on an error to lead off the seventh inning.
“He’s a great player, he’s a great pitcher … he’s our horse,” said Medina coach Chris Goyette.
And the top-seeded Mustangs (21-1) are sectional champions for the second straight year, and the fifth time in six seasons.
“It means the most to me,” said Fry, who also pitched in last year’s title game. “I’m out here with all of these kids that I grew up with, and to be able to play with them is just awesome.”
Medina will play at least once more, advancing to Thursday’s subregional at 6 p.m. at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia, where it will face the Section V champion, either Wellsville or Le Roy. Wellsville is responsible for the Mustangs’ only loss this season.
Fry needed only 85 pitches to silence sixth-seeded Southwestern (10-7). He faced the minimum 21 batters, getting a double play and flyout to end the game.
“What we do is we don’t walk people. That’s what we stress,” Goyette said. “We throw strikes, we put the pressure on the offense. We put the pressure on them to actually have to swing the bats. If you’re going to score off us, you’re going to have to get two or three hits in a row. … That’s why we try to be as efficient as possible.”
Medina had only five hits off Southwestern’s Wilson Genareo (seven strikeouts, two walks), but the Mustangs’ speed on the basepaths made the difference. They stole eight bases — seven in the first three innings, when they scored all of their runs — and six different players swiped bags.
“We knew we could take advantage of the young pitcher and the catcher behind the plate,” Goyette said. “It’s been a big part of our offense all year.”
“That’s how we’ve been winning our games,” Fry added. “Getting on base.”
After nail-biting, one-run wins over Royalton-Hartland and Fredonia to reach the finals, Medina could breathe a little easier Saturday.
In the first inning, Vinny Gray walked, stole second and third, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Aiden Papaj. No. 9 hitter Tyler Kroening added a two-run single in the second, and Carter Woodworth finished 2-for-2 with a double.
The game time was moved from 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. to accommodate for Southwestern’s prom, but the Mustangs were off and running from the start despite the early first pitch.
“We come ready to play. It doesn’t matter what time, what day, the weather … it doesn’t make a difference,” Goyette said.
And when it was over, Medina celebrated its latest sectional title in relatively subdued fashion.
“We expect to win,” Goyette said. “We don’t need to jump around, celebrate, put pictures on Twitter or do any of that bull—-. We don’t do the social media thing. We come out here to play, we compete, we win. We’ll celebrate ourselves on the bus home, and that’s it. We don’t need to show up the other team or anything like that. We’ve got bigger goals in mind than just Section VI.”