CANTON — West Branch All-Ohio pitcher Beau Alazaus twirled a complete-game four-hitter as the Warriors reached Ohio high school baseball's Elite Eight for the third time in school history. Alazaus keyed a 6-0 shutout of Youngstown Ursuline in a Division II regional semifinal Thursday at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.
“Heck of a pitcher…heck of a pitcher,” said Ursuline head coach Paul Kempe of Alazaus. “He’s one of the best in the Youngstown area and one of the best in Northeast Ohio and the state.”
“I can’t say enough about Beau Alazaus,” lauded West Branch head coach Rick Mulinix. “He’s one of the best pitchers in this area and has been for the last three years.”
The win sends the Warriors (25-6) into Friday’s Division II regional final against the Kenston Bombers (15-15-1) at 5 p,m. at Munson Stadium. Kenston advanced through its semifinal Thursday, defeating CVCA 8-0.
“It was obviously a different type of environment today,” said Mulinix. “I told them after the national anthem, take a deep breath now. It’s just a baseball game. Don’t pay attention to anything else and just play the game you’ve played hundreds of times, and I think we did that.”
The Warriors, who were state runner-up to St. Paris Graham in 1973, will be making their third appearance in a regional final but first since 2008.
“There’s 190 teams in Division II and there’s eight left and all of these eight teams are going to be good, so at this point, we stress it’s not so much about the other team, it’s about us,” remarked the Warriors’ head coach.
Alazaus struck out eight and walked just one in raising his record to 10-1 on the season. He tied a West Branch school record for pitching wins in a season and sports a sub-1.00 ERA. He also pitched West Branch to a 3-0 win over Ursuline in their season opener back in March.
“That was fun,” said Alazaus of the latest win. “They (the Irish) have scored a bunch of runs lately, so I thought coach Mulinix put together a great game plan. He watched a few games and he knew what their weaknesses were and we attacked them.”
Alazaus also received plenty of help from the Warrior bats. West Branch had nine hits against Ursuline’s outstanding senior right-handed pitcher CJ Frasco who worked the first six innings and took the loss.
Leading West Branch at the plate were Aaron Tucker (two-run single, double), Boston Mulinix (double), Anthony Perry (two singles, double), Alazaus (two-run single), Jeremiah Thomas (RBI single), Charlie Biskup (single) and Jaxon Robb (RBI ground out).
“We can swing the bats, one-through-nine,” praised Rick Mulinix.
After a scoreless first inning, West Branch gave Alazaus a four-run cushion in the top of the second. It all started when Perry ripped a double to right field and scored on a single through the middle by Thomas one batter later.
Charlie Biskup then singled to right, eventually moved to third and scored on Robb's RBI ground out, making it 2-0. Gavin Bell and Boston Mulinix then drew walks, moved up to second and third and scored when Aaron Tucker smashed a two-run single, upping the Warriors’ lead to 4-0.
“That was huge for us,” said Tucker of the early 4-0 lead. “We wanted to come out right off the bat and put a couple runs up and that’s what we did. It can be defeating for a team (opponent) when you have a good pitcher like Beau on the mound, so I was glad we could get those four runs across.”
“We knew we were going to get a battle with him (Alazaus) and CJ, that’s two of the best pitchers in Northeast Ohio and that second inning really killed you a little bit, but our guys battled and I’m so proud of our guys and our coaching staff,” said Kempe.
With Alazaus keeping the Irish at bay offensively with a combination of a sneaky fastball and big, bending curve ball, West Branch added two insurance runs in the seventh.
It started when Boston Mulinix hit a double to left that was lost in the sun. He later scored along with Hunter Shields (hit by a pitch) on a two-run single to center by Alazaus, making it 6-0.
“He helped his own cause with a huge hit to put us up by six and seal the deal as far as that goes,” said Mulinix of his star pitcher.
Alazaus, the 6-foot-6 right-handed senior who is a Walsh University commit, then retired the Irish 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh, sending the Warriors into the Elite Eight.
“Give the credit to his dad (Warrior pitching coach Shawn Alazaus, a former member of the New York Yankees organization),” Rick Mulinix said. “His dad’s been his pitching coach and he calls his games for Beau and does a great job.”
“He has been through it all and he always tells me to have a slow heartbeat out there and stay calm and that always helps me out,” remarked Beau Alazaus of his father.
Alazaus is thrilled to have an opportunity to play for a regional title Friday, with a spot in next week’s state tournament at Akron’s Canal Park awaiting the winner.
“Obviously we’re one game away and a chance to do it tomorrow and that’s exciting,” he closed.
Anthony Perry will be on thehill for the Warriors on Friday against Kenston.
“Credit to West Branch, they’re very well coached and best of luck to them (Friday),” said Kempe.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: West Branch High School baseball advances to OHSAA regional final
