Large comes up big as Beyer wins Windemuth for second consecutive season

During Beyer High School’s 14-1 rout of Ripon in the championship game of the 46th Annual Dick Windemuth Easter Baseball Tournament at Modesto High School, Jack Large demonstrated why he’s a candidate not only for Modesto Metro Conference MVP, but The Bee’s Player of the Year award, as well.

Sure, his two RBI singles during Beyer’s 10-run first inning were nice, but it was out in left field where the 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior distinguished himself.

With the Patriots in command, Ripon’s Angelo Baciocco stepped to the plate to lead off the second and singled sharply down the line. Large immediately broke to his right and backhanded the ball before it could roll to the wall for what would’ve been a certain double. Large stopped quickly, gathered and threw a strike back to second base as Baciocco retreated to first.

In reality, it was an unimportant play in a lopsided contest, but it meant something to Large.

“I try to play the game hard, no matter where we’re at,” said Large, who went 3 for 3 with four RBIs before being lifted in the fourth. “I was able to keep that from going extra bases. Not everyone might have picked up on that, but my coaches and teammates knew it was a good play.”

And just in case some fans missed the nuance of Large’s effort, his next fielding gem was about as subtle as a punch to the gut.

Zach Horwood lifted a foul ball to left that seemed destined to fall out of play. It would have, too, if Large had not raced 90 feet and leaped to reach over a chain-link fence, snagging the ball for the first out of the second inning.

“I was in shock when he made that play,” said winning pitcher Micah Hall, another MVP and Player of the Year candidate who improved his record to 8-0. “I looked over at our first baseman, Ryan Frakes, and said, ‘Wow!’ ”

Large, hitting a robust .531, surprised nobody with his showing at the plate. If his defensive prowess caught anybody off guard, it shouldn’t have, according to coach Dom Duran.

“He is a great defender,” said Duran, who guided his team to the Windemuth title for the second consecutive season. “He worked hard during travel ball and he’s making better steps and better reads. He goes full speed and his teammates feed off that.”

Large gave the Pats a 1-0 lead with a single his first time up, and cleanup hitter Matt Williams followed suit to make it 2-0. A walk to Frakes loaded the bases and catcher Anthony Enwiya made it 4-0 with a two-run single back up the middle. Michael Scott was hit by a pitch to reload the bases and Jordan Pugh walked to force in the fifth run of the frame. Hall then hit a ground ball to third, but the throw to the plate was wild and two runs scored. With two outs, Large stroked a two-run single to make it 9-0. He later scored on another single by Williams.

“Our guys just kind of showed up yesterday, and that’s all they did against a good Patterson team,” said Duran, referring to his team’s 8-4 loss Thursday. “That was a humbling experience for our guys. You still have to perform; it’s not enough just to show up. We did what we had to do today.”

Patterson 8, Modesto 4 – The Tigers scored four runs in the fourth to pull away from the Panthers and claim third place. Antonio Bustos was 2 for 4 for Patterson, while Junior Arellano was 3 for 3 for Modesto. Caleb Sexson and Ricardo Martinez had two hits apiece for the Panthers.

Bradshaw Christian 10, Downey 9 – A day after beating MMC rival Davis 10-9, the Knights found themselves on the wrong end an identical score in the fifth-place game.

Trailing 8-3 in the sixth, Downey scored six runs to take the lead, but BC came back with two in the bottom of the frame.

Downey pulled out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks largely to Ty Nelson’s two-run homer, but the Pride came back with seven runs in the bottom of the frame using five hits, two for extra bases, three errors, a wild pitch and a passed ball.

This story was originally published April 10, 2015 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Large comes up big as Beyer wins Windemuth for second consecutive season."