Foley Baseball Wraps Up Undefeated Regular Season
The Foley baseball team is headed to the postseason with a perfect 20-0 record. The Falcons defeated Albany 3-1 in their regular-season finale on a dramatic walk-off home run by Brady Wirth.
The Falcons reached the state tournament for the first time in school history in 2019 and were looking forward to building on that success when the 2020 season was abruptly cancelled due to the pandemic.
"It was difficult coming off the season we had the year before that and knowing we had a good team coming back," head coach Mike Beier said. "We got the notice in the fieldhouse and we felt like, wow, this is really going to be over."
Foley's calling card this season is the team's depth, particularly at pitcher. Beier says the team features four quality starting pitchers, including two left-handed hurlers.
"If we can get to the state tournament we have a chance possibly of winning it all because we have two, top-end pitchers that can get us to the finals," Beier said.
The all-hands-on deck approach has worked wonders for Foley. Beier says you need to look no further than Wirth's home run against Albany to see just how much the team has relied on every player on the roster.
"We had our nine hitter (Wirth) hit a walk-off home run against Albany," Beier said. "We have a lot of MVPs on this team, it's really been a team where someone has stepped up offensively a lot."
The Section 6AA playoffs will begin on Monday. Despite the team's unblemished regular season record, Beier cautions that the section playoffs should not be taken for granted, noting the tough games section opponents gave them throughout the regular season.
"A lot of people just assume we are going to state, but I don't think they have watched us or watched the other teams," Beier said, noting the nail-biters the team played against Albany, Royalton and Pierz in particular.
"It's definitely going to be tough to get out of the section," Beier said. "I think too many people just assume we are going to be in the state tournament but we are going to have to continue to play well and get some key bounces."