Brian Brewer was just sitting there minding his own business when a tall, lanky young man approached him at Don Schaly Stadium.
The Marietta College head baseball coach knew that he'd seen this person before...and then it dawned on him.
"The Beaumont kid from St. John Fisher that beat us came up to me when I was in the stands doing a little scouting of one of the games," Brewer recalled.
The previous day, Thursday, Jason Beaumont, a 6-foot-5, 210-pound senior right-hander, pitched a nine-inning complete game in a 5-2 triumph over the nationally top-ranked and defending champion Pioneers in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional tournament.
In the losers bracket, now, Marietta bounced back Friday morning to defeat and oust Washington & Jefferson 9-5, setting up another elimination game that evening (vs. Adrian College). The Pioneers had some time to kill after the W&J win, and Brewer said he was "there for the duration."
There to do some scouting.
Anyways....
"He (Beaumont) just came up and shook my hand," Brewer said, "and said how four or five different people, local fans, came up to him in restaurants to congratulate him on his outing against us and said how good a job he did."
Brewer paused.
"And that was what he said, really classy," the MC skipper continued, "your fans, your people around here are really classy. So it goes back to the fact that the fans are as much and as a big part of this experience as any of us."
After Manchester's starting righty Justin Scott was relieved in the top of the ninth inning in Sunday's regional final, he walked off the hill to a standing ovation from both the Spartan fans on the third base side and the Pioneer fans on the first base side.
"It's classy," said Brewer after MC claimed a 7-3 decision. "It's what we're about. It's what this community is about. It was very well-deserved and a classy move by our people - and expected. I think we expected it."
Battling its way back through the losers bracket, Marietta got an opportunity to face St. John Fisher again in an elimination game on Saturday. This time, the Pioneers were able to win and send the Cardinals packing back to Rochester, N.Y.
Oh, yeah, Beaumont did not pitch for the Cardinals in that game.
To date as Marietta prepares to play Whitworth University of Spokane, Wash., at 8:45 p.m. Friday in its World Series opener at Fox Cities Stadium in Grande Chute, Wis., he's the only pitcher to have beaten the Pioneers in 2012 postseason play.
Ron Johnston is the Marietta Times sports editor, and can be reached at 376-5441 or at rjohnston@mariettatimes.com
