Ryan Beaton jokingly boasted his no-hitter Friday night. Of course, he only got two innings of work in before someone pulled the plug, almost literally.
It was actually a blown circuit breaker that caused the field lights to go off suddenly with two outs in the bottom of he second inning of a Class 5A, District 7 meeting with visiting Ocala-West Port.
When it was quickly determined that power could not be restored in a timely manner, the game was postponed, though as a district tilt it must be resumed and concluded at a later date.
As for Beaton, the 5-foot-9, 150-pound right-handed junior started on the mound, working around two straight walks and a hit batter in the first, followed by a 1-2-3 second. He struck out three.
He also scored in a three-run bottom of the first, getting hit on the left arm and coming around on a two-run error. West Port committed three errors in the inning, two of them accounting for all of Central's runs.
"I was in a zone tonight. I was feeling it," Beaton said. "And we had the confidence of beating them last time so badly (13-2 on Feb. 26)."
Prior to Thursday's win at first-year Anclote, Beaton was leading the Bears (3-9) in all major hitting categories with a .375 average, two home runs and seven runs batted in across nine games.
His homer total ties him for the county lead with Hernando's Louis Colaiacomo, who played for the Central the past two years.
"I'm liking it," Beaton said of his season so far. "I'm trying to compete with Louis in home runs. He's my rival I guess since he was here last year. I like the competition."
While he feels good about a smoother swing that has helped him build upon his 2009 numbers (.255, no homers, four RBI), he would like to see more improvement with his pitching.
Against West Port he was making his sixth appearance, five of them starts. He came in having thrown 16 2/3 innings, posting a 1-3 mark with a 4.20 ERA. He did not pitch last year because of elbow tendinitis.
"This year I'm trying to get my pitches back in a groove," Beaton said. "It's a lot better. I don't have any pain like I used to. I'm trying to get my conditioning back."
Though Central reached the regional playoffs last year for the first time since 2002, a slew of transfers have made for an inexperienced roster comprised almost entirely of juniors.
When the season began, Head Coach Mike Ellison pointed to Beaton as one of the key leaders for this young squad. Thus far, he has delivered in that capacity.
"He's one of the first ones to get everybody to perk up," Ellison said. "He's just an all-out leader. He's a great kid to have around.
"For the most part he's done real well. He's hit the ball pretty good. Sometimes he struggles. He hasn't been able to find the complete package yet. But when he hits it, he hits it pretty hard."
Beaton, who hopes to earn a college scholarship in baseball, thinks the team has made significant progress from early on when the Bears started off 0-5.
Such growing pains are understandable considering the situation. But both Beaton and his coach can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
"It's nothing but up," Ellison said. "These guys are going to get better and better and as seniors they'll perform pretty well. It's been a season of experience."
BY THE NUMBERS: RYAN BEATON (THRU 03-15)
HITTING
YR GP AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG
So 18 47 08 12 03 01 00 04 .255
Jr 09 24 04 09 00 00 02 07 .375
TOTALS 27 71 12 21 03 01 02 11 .296
PITCHING
YR GP CG IP H R ER BB K W L ERA
Jr 05 01 16.2 13 20 10 15 11 01 03 4.20
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