Exeter uses late rally to hand Twin Valley its first loss

Exeter right-hander Devin Sheerin remembers a tough loss last year at Twin Valley when he took a shutout into the seventh inning only to lose it, and the game, on a squeeze bunt.

Sheerin found himself in another pitcher’s duel against the Raiders Friday at Reiffton. This time the Eagles backed him up with some late runs, scoring in each of their final two at-bats to win 3-1 in a Berks Baseball League opener for both teams.

The loss was the first for Raiders (0-1 Berks II, 5-1), who were off to their best start since 2016, when they opened with five wins and finished 19-4.

The win will serve as a big confidence-builder for the Eagles (1-0 Berks I, 4-1), who head into their Berks I opener Monday against defending champ Wilson believing they can compete with the top teams in the league.

“Twin Valley’s a very nice team,” said Exeter coach Justin Freese. “They’re well-coached, they’re a good program. They’re a playoff team. They’ll be around later in the season.”

The Eagles won because they were better on defense. They not only played error-free ball but came up with several terrific defensive plays to take hits away.

Left fielder Owen Wisner went back on Owen Rhoads’ deep drive in the first to take away extra bases. Center fielder Alex Kelsey made a nice running catch to rob Kannon Zdimal to end the third. Shortstop Luke Weller made a diving catch to spear a line drive and take away a hit from Ben Spiri in the sixth, potentially saving a run.

“It gives you a lot of confidence when guys are making plays like that behind you,” said Sheerin.

“Early on we didn’t expect our defense to be that strong,” said Freese, “but our outfield guys have made a pact: Nothing’s falling. They’re going to do whatever they have to do to lay out, make the catch, do what they need to. Owen, Alex, ‘Doby’ (right fielder Ian Dobraniecki) and then (Colin) Payne (who finished in right), they made the plays they had to make.”

The 6-5 Sheerin, an all-division pick last season as a sophomore, is one of the harder throwers in the league but the aggressive Raiders continued to put the bat on the ball. He allowed six hits over six innings and pitched out of trouble several times; Twin Valley had a runner in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth but couldn’t break through.

Sheerin finished with seven strikeouts before turning it over to Weller, who pitched a perfect seventh to pick up his first save of the season. Sheerin has allowed just one earned run over 10 innings this season, with 14 strikeouts.

“He was right on top of things,” Freese said of Sheerin. “He made one mistake: The 0-2 pitch, the check-swing single (by Roman Cieless in the second) that gave them the lead, but other than they he threw fantastic.”

The Raiders got a strong effort on the mound from Zdimal, who went the first six innings and allowed just three hits and an unearned run. He was let down by his defense, which committed three errors behind him and helped run up his pitch count.

Exeter tied it 1-1 in the fifth when Kelsey reached on an infield single, then went to third on a throwing error on the play. He scored on Brady Hannahoe’s grounder to first.

When Zdimal couldn’t come out for the seventh because of his pitch count the Eagles pounced, with Weller drilling a triple just inside the line in right to lead off the inning. Courtesy runner Quinnten Westley scored for him on a wild pitch to give Eagles the lead at 2-1. They got another run when Nick Sydor singled and scored on Payne’s pinch-hit, two-out single.

“We preach to the kids about trying to get starters (out of) the game,” Freese said. “Every team’s got a great No. 1; the goal is to get him out of the game (in the) fifth, sixth inning, that way you get the back end of their pitching staff, hopefully, and get a chance to score. It worked for us today.”

The Eagles have a pair of No. 1’s. Weller, who had struck out 13 over 9 1/3 innings in two starts, was available to finish things Friday.

“He said if we needed an inning today he could definitely give us an inning,” Freese said. “We told him if we got the lead, we’d go to him late. He makes an unbelievable play at short in the top of the inning, then leads off the sixth with a triple, then closes the game out. Can’t say enough about Luke; he’s been awesome.”