Senators walk off Belgrade on Jim Knight Memorial Night
HELENA — Aaron Fuzesy, Shreveport-bound come August, wasn’t lonesome, on’ry, or mean stepping on first base as his ninth-inning walk-off laser beam rocketed over the right fielder’s head and Brayden Beatty met him at the mound to lift the senior skyward in celebration.
“Fastball a little out,” Fuzesy said. “That is what we’ve been working on so much and early in the game, I was pulling off of it. On that one, I really stayed through.”
Redemption for a pair of run-scoring errors – an E9 in the fifth and E4 in the seventh – Fuzesy’s first-pitch heroics lifted Helena 7-6 over Belgrade on 4th Annual Jim Knight Memorial Night.
Wearing special occasion gray and baby blue jerseys, the Senators memorialized longtime Helena umpire Jim Knight, a staple behind the plate at Kindrick Legion Field for decades.
Knight lost a five-year battle with cancer in 2021 following a 32-year officiating career spanning ASA, American Legion, MLB Pioneer League and the NAIA.
His son Brian Knight, an MLB umpire and former Helena American Legion baseball player, visited Kindrick for a second straight summer, this year presenting his father’s namesake honor to Senators catcher Tizer Lindgren pregame.
Lindgren, a recent Helena Capital graduate, joins teammate Brayden Beatty and former Senators Walker Bennett and Tyler Tenney as an award recipient.
“I’m so grateful,” Lindgren said. “It’s such a cool award to get. They were telling me I’m the first catcher to get it, too, so I thought that was really cool.”
The Jim Knight Memorial Award is voted on by the Helena umpire pool and presented to the Senators player who “best demonstrates integrity, sportsmanship, character, and Jim’s passion for the game of baseball.”
Helena Senators teammates mob Aaron Fuzesy following his ninth-inning walk-off single in a 7-6 victory over the Belgrade Bandits Thursday at Kindrick Legion Field. Fuzesy finished 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI. Gary Marshall, BMGphotos.com
Helena Senators catcher Tizer Lindgren was presented with the 4th Annual Jim Knight Memorial Award Thursday evening at Kindrick Legion Field. Tizer Lindgren, Brian Knight (Jim's son and MLB umpire), Cameron Todd (Jim's grandson).
Helena Senators catcher Tizer Lindgren fields a sacrifice bunt during Thursday's 7-6 victory over the Belgrade Bandits at Kindrick Legion Field. Lindgren threw out a would-be Belgrade base-stealer in the fourth inning. Gary Marshall, BMGphotos.com
Helena Senators right fielder/second baseman Aaron Fuzesy finished 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI Thursday in a 7-6 victory over the Belgrade Bandits at Kindrick Legion Field. Fuzesy supplied the walk-off single in the ninth inning. Gary Marshall,
Helena Senators right-hander Cohen Sassano tossed three innings of no-hit, shutout baseball in Thursday's 7-6 victory over the Belgrade Bandits at Kindrick Legion Field. Gary Marshall, BMGphotos.com
