Jackson Rucker. Matthew Bartusek. Sam Roselli and the rest of the Fairport baseball team, including Sam Miller, the Section V regular season Class AAA Most Valuable Player, all had appointments Saturday morning.
And as of 11 p.m. Friday, maybe until midnight, they all were still up.
The appointment was early, a 10 a.m. practice, not to swing bats, field groundballs then throw or pitch and catch, but to lift weights.
Were the Red Raiders thrilled about this? Yes, because that meant two days short of Memorial Day their season, now in a loss-means-elimination-from-the-postseason-mode, was still on.
It's a good bet the Red Raiders showed up at Fairport High with smiles on their faces after they won the Section V Class AAA championship when they defeated Rush-Henrietta 6-3 in the tournament final Friday night.
Fairport also won a Section V championship last season.
"This is huge," Rucker said among friends, family and parents, who posed and took pictures after the game at Innovative Field. "The biggest thing is that we still get to play together.
"It's about get to the next practice,"
Play of the game
The bases were loaded in the bottom of the sixth by Fairport, ahead 3-2. Rucker hit a single that drove home two teammates and a throw that got away allowed a third baserunner to score. The Red Raiders were ahead by four runs and Rush-Henrietta down to one guaranteed set of at-bats.
Player of the game
Sam Roselli, Fairport right fielder. Roselli was named the game's MVP after the sophomore gave the Red Raiders a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run double.
By the numbers
3 - Fairport's lead after Matthew Bartusek put down a bunt where Roselli could reach home plate and score in the fourth.
4 - Red Raiders who scored a run and had a hit: William Stanek, Sam Miller, Rucker and Roselli.
2 - Runs allowed, both earned, by Miller as Fairport's starting pitcher in five innings. The Royal Comets had 3 hits, 6 walks, but 13 strikeouts against Miller on the mound.
3 - Number of times Rush-Henrietta half-innings ended with the bases loaded.
0 - Wins the Royal Comets (9-13) had after the team's first seven games. Their turnaround included wins over Honeoye Falls-Lima, Webster Schroeder and Webster Thomas.
3 - Royal Comets who had a run batted in the sectional final: Oliver Wright, Austin Yageric and Quentin Grimes.
2 - Hits by Yageric.
They said it
"We were 0-7 (pause). The kids came to practice every day, they worked their tails off. They never thought there was anyone (another team) they couldn't play with (and win). We lost a lot of close games. Moral victories got old after awhile, but they stuck with me." – Rush-Henrietta coach Brad Basal
"But we're not done. We have a lot more to do," – Fairport first baseman Will Bartusek
"I knew we were going to be back," – Fairport right fielder Sam Roselli
"If you take it a day a time, work hard, that'll get you on a good path to where you want to go," – Fairport shortstop Jackson Rucker
"We'll be ready for it," Rucker said after the final out of the championship game about Fairport's next practice.
Fairport advances to the Class AAA state tournament regional round, where the Monroe County league member takes on the Section VI champion, either Niagara Falls or Lancaster, at 7 p.m. June 1 at Grand Island High.
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