Waechter’s wait was worth it, dominates in semifinal win

After hitting and playing defense in his first two trips to the FHSAA state final four, Jesuit senior righty Kaden Waechter made his first pitches from the mound at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers and proved the wait was worth it – going the distance on 106 pitches to lead the Tigers to a 5-2 semifinal victory against Green Cove Springs Clay.

By Jarrett Guthrie, Editor

FORT MYERS – In two previous visits to the FHSAA state baseball final four, two-way Jesuit standout Kaden Waechter had to settle for two bullpen warmups as the now-Tigers senior was held off the mound in his team’s 2024 state title win and last year’s semifinal exit.

But the third trip?

The third trip proved to be very much the charm for the talented right hander, who delivered a complete-game, nine-strikeout gem as Jesuit defeated Green Cove Springs Clay, 5-2 in this year’s Class 4A state semifinal.

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That earns the Tigers a spot in Wednesday afternoon’s state title game against Orlando Bishop Moore (winners 1-0 in 11 innings Tuesday against Plantation American Heritage) from Hammond Stadium at 2 p.m.

“I don’t know how smart a coach I am,” Jesuit’s three-time state title winning head coach Miguel Menendez joked, “because this is the first time (Waechter) has actually pitched here (in the final four).”

Though he contributed offensively (4-for-10, run, RBI) and on defense in his two previous final four visits, Waechter wanted his shot with the ball in his hand to start a game.

“I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a couple of years now,” Waechter said. “I’ve warmed up in that bullpen twice, but I haven’t been able to touch that mound except in the (2024 championship) dogpile, so whatever I need to do for this team to get another dogpile and another ring is what I was going to do.”

After Waechter ended his opening inning with the first of those K’s, Clay (19-14) picked up two quick groundball outs, before Cannon Murtagh worked a five-pitch walk, stole second and took third on a wild pitch. With the game’s first run 90 feet from home, Tigers junior Griffin Boesen got to work on his impressive offensive day placing a double down the line and just out of reach of a diving Devils’ leftfielder Caden Looney.

“It was important that Kaden set the tone at the top of the first, which he did,” Menendez said. “If we could come out and find a way to score in the first inning, I thought it would put a lot of pressure on those guys.

“It looked like we weren’t going to be able to execute that with two quick outs, but I thought Cannon Murtagh had an excellent at-bat to draw the walk … and Griffin with the double down the line to score the run.”

 

Boesen would add an RBI ground out in the third and a second line-drive RBI double in the fifth inning.

“Last time I faced (Clay starting pitcher Rylan McMahan) it was a lot of fastballs in(side) and he was kind of attacking me,” Boesen said. “So, I told myself if he wants to challenge me, I’m going to challenge him. He worked me away, then I was kind of early on a couple of inside fastballs, but (on both doubles) with two strikes I was just trying to have team at-bats.”

After the first double, fellow junior Bryce Besece battled from an 0-2 count, fighting off five foul balls and sending the ninth pitch skipping up the middle to drive in another first-inning score.

“To me the at-bat of the whole game, was Bryce Besece with two outs, down 0-2 works a nine-pitch at-bat and gets a base hit to give us a two-run lead,” the Tigers head coach said. “I think that made it a little bit easier for Kaden on the mound.”

Late-season JV call-up, sophomore Mason Greco (a productive, but odd 0-for-0 at the plate with two walks and a stolen base) built the Tigers lead up a run in the second inning with an RBI sac fly to score Tyler Trombley (running as the speed-up for catcher Brady Marshall, who hit a leadoff single).

With a lead in his pocket, Waechter went to work, facing the minimum for the next two innings (including striking out the side in the third) before running into a little trouble in the fourth as JC Rosette broke up the no-hitter after one out and scored on a line drive single by McMahan.

JC Rosette had the Devils first hit, then motored around third to score a run in the fourth inning.

However, that was all the earned damage Waechter was offering as he struck out three in that fourth inning.

“I think I hung a couple of pitches there and didn’t execute,” Waechter said. “But other than that, I think it was about me having the same mentality of going right after them and attacking the whole game.

“Those were two good hitters who did a good job, but other than that I was able to work around it.”

Rylan McMahan pitched five innings for Clay, taking the loss with five runs allowed. 

McMahan made his second start of the season against Jesuit, after allowing two runs across 5 1/3 innings during March 20th’s regular season game. On Tuesday, the junior lefty struck out a pair, while allowing five earned runs on seven hits in his five innings on the mound in the semifinal.

“We knew the McMahan kid was really good,” Menendez said. “This is the third time we’ve faced him in the last year-and-a-half – we faced him last year as a sophomore and early this year up at Clay and he dominated us. He had 12 (actually 10) strikeouts in 5 1/3, and if you look at the final score it got out of hand (a 12-0 Jesuit win), but it was a 2-0 game with him in the game.”

Jesuit senior Wilson Andersen breaks down the first base line on his third inning leadoff double.

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RBI #2 of the game for Griffin Boesen came on this ground out to second base.

Clay senior Lukas Moore opened the seventh inning with a single to left field and would eventually score an unearned run, as the Devils made one last effort (aided by three Tigers’ errors) to rally on the Tigers. But a ground ball to second baseman Hudson Rivera wrapped up the win.

“For about six innings, I thought we played really, really good,” Menendez said with a chuckle, “we found a way to make it interesting in the seventh. But we talk about it with these guys all the time, the last three outs of somebody’s season are always the hardest outs to get.”

Cannon Murtagh has some fun after a one-out single to right in the fifth inning.

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And Griffin Boesen doubled in his third run of the game a few pitches later.

Jesuit will have one of the state’s most experienced high school arms take the ball for Wednesday’s state championship game, as senior Wilson Andersen will pitch for the fourth year from Fort Myers. The Mississippi State signee, who earned the save in Jesuit’s 2024 state title win over American Heritage, was clear and confident win asked after Tuesday’s game about his upcoming start.

“I’m locked in,” he said. “I’m just going to trust my training, trust my teammates and go out and compete – it’s really a dream come true and I’m excited for the opportunity.”

⚾ Class 4A State Semifinal ⚾

Jesuit 5
Green Cove Springs Clay 2

C 000|100|1 – |2|3|0
J  211|010|x- |5|8|3
W – Waechter (6-3); L – McMahan (9-4)
2B – Boesen 2, Marshall, Andersen (J). Records – C (19-14); J (27-6).

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A little confusion early, but still recorded as an out as sophomore rightfielder Mason Greco and centerfielder Cannon Murtagh both call for a ball in the first inning.

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Tigers 2B Hudson Rivera throws to first for an out.

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Cannon Murtagh walked with two outs in the first and swiped second base.

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Junior Bryce Besece pulled his hands in and sent this pitch skipping up the middle for an RBI hit.

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Jesuit assistant coach Louis Martinez

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A nice play on the run by Clay CF Bradley Herringdine on Mason Greco’s RBI sac fly.

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Everybody loves a trip to the state playoffs, even the littlest Tiger – bat boy Drew Lamb.

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Jesuit pitching coach Daniel Gibson helps C Brady Marshall with his pitch communication earpiece.

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Wilson Andersen scores a run in the third. 

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Third base coach Tim Nalls keeps an eye on the shortstop with a Tigers runner taking his lead off second.

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Jesuit head coach Miguel Menendez (second from right) flanked by three of his assistants – all former Jesuit baseball players – Tim Nalls ’97, Ryan Stanley ’02 (behind the bench) and Daniel Gibson ’10.

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Hudson Rivera singles in the fourth inning.

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Cannon Murtagh stomps on home plate scoring the Tigers final run of the game in the fifth inning.

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Griffin Boesen gives the dugout the DOUBLE-thumbs-up after his second RBI double (third total RBI) of the game.

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Pinch-runner Tyler Trombley books it to third base after tagging up on a fly ball.

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The moment immediately after an amazing leaping catch for an out by Jesuit SS Wilson Andersen.

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Centerfielder Cannon Murtagh brings in a fly ball.

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Brady Marshall starts his swing on his sixth-inning leadoff double.

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Mason Greco walked and stole second base in the sixth.