Beyer slugger Large says team is chasing elusive blue banner

Hitting. Hunting. High-fiving and hooraying.

Beyer High’s slugger says he does everything with purpose.

Those three words – everything with purpose – have been burned into his psyche, creating a level of expectation for himself and the things he cares about.

So as his high school career draws to a close, Jack Large hopes his legacy on campus will be defined by his dogged pursuit of a Sac-Joaquin Section baseball championship, his all-in passion for the Beyer athletic community, and his love for the outdoors.

“I try to be one of the most spirited guys at school,” Large said. “I get excited when our football team wins league and our basketball team has a good game against Modesto Christian, or our tennis guy (Ryan Lewis) wins MMC.

“Almost all the athletes stick together and that’s all we talk about. There was a pressure on the baseball team because the football players and the wrestlers said we had to sweep league as a school. Once we did, it was exciting.”

Winning the Modesto Metro Conference, it turns out, has been the easy part. Or so it would seem.

The Patriots have beaten six of their last eight opponents by 10 runs or more, including Monday’s 16-1 decision over Johansen High.

Zack Mendez was 2 for 2 with a double and five RBIs, Gaven Rowland drove in three runs and Ryan Frakes and Mason Fontana each had two RBIs for the Patriots, now 18-3 and 15-1 in conference play.

With two games remaining, Beyer has clinched its second consecutive MMC title and the coveted No. 1 seed in the Division I South tournament.

The challenge now is to break through the northern stronghold. Ten of the past 13 Division I titles have been won by Sacramento-area schools. The other three belong to St. Mary’s of Stockton.

Beyer had made three Division I finals appearances (1985, 1996, 2000), but never returned home with a blue banner.

Large says there’s something different about this group and it’s hard to ignore the signs. The Patriots rank in the top-16 in team batting average (No. 4, .362), ERA (No. 6, 1.47) and fielding (No. 16, .945).

“I knew this was a special group when we started our conditioning,” said Large, the reigning MMC Most Valuable Player. “We all had that one goal, which was to win league. Now that we’ve done that, we’re turning the page and trying to hang a blue banner. That’s all we talk about … just how much that would mean to us.”

James Burns: No Stanislaus District team has won a D-I section title since 2002, when Merced topped Elk Grove. No district team has appeared in the D-I final since Buhach Colony in 2008. What gives you the confidence Beyer can end those dubious streaks?

Jack Large: We have the pitching. We have the hitting. And our defense is probably the best around. I think we can do it.

Burns: How has Beyer survived the graduation of 2015 All-District Baseball Player of the Year Micah Hall?

Large: (Kevin) Duffy just overpowers everyone, and then we come back with (Chase) Fetzer, who won’t overpower you but will hit all of his spots. Our Friday guy, (Josh) Escobar, lets the defense work and sometimes I think that’s better than having overpowering stuff.

Burns: Has the new format in the MMC – three-game series as opposed to two-game sets – helped develop that rotation?

Large: If we still played two games a week, that would have cut off innings for Fetzer and Escobar. Come playoff time, they would have been thin on experience and innings. As it is, I don’t think Escobar has been taken out of a game yet.

Burns: Your MMC schedule was front-loaded with Gregori and Enochs. Since then, you’ve run wild on the rest of the MMC. Do you believe that schedule –the way it’s been laid out – has prepared you for the Tracys, Turlocks and St. Mary’s of the baseball world?

Large: When played Enochs and Gregori and Oakdale, the intensity in the dugout has skyrocketed. We turn on that extra gear and get through it. We can hold our own against all of those teams.

Burns: You earned the conference MVP award as a junior. One year later, do you feel like you’ve got to win the MVP again with every at-bat? Does that pressure exist?

Large: Personally, it was cool getting that award, but I think I was more excited about us going to the playoffs. This year, I don’t feel like there’s any added pressure. As a team, we won league. There’s not a better feeling that being part of a team that wins your conference.

Burns: What happened to the mustache?

Large: (Coach Dom) Duran doesn’t let me rock it anymore.

Burns: Why’s that?

Large: In Clovis, before my first game back since tearing my rotator cuff in the fall, I told him ‘I’m all good.’ He looked at me and said, ‘That sucks. You didn’t shave and now you have to wait another game.’ Trevor Ravelli’s dad went and bought me a razor and some shaving cream, and I shaved outside the dugout. I got into the game and got a pinch-hit single. We all signed contracts saying we’d be groomed ... so we’d all look the same. You have to do everything with a purpose.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 1:06 PM with the headline "Beyer slugger Large says team is chasing elusive blue banner."