Deven Sheerin, Exeter slam Wilson in five-inning Berks I opener
(This story will be updated later tonight with a full box score, additional details and postgame reaction.)
It’s hard to overshadow Deven Sheerin when he’s on the mound.
Sheerin managed to do it — with his bat.
The Exeter senior slammed a first-inning grand slam, the delivered a game-ending RBI single in the fifth as the Eagles routed Wilson 11-1 in a five-inning Berks League Division I opener at Reiffton.
Leadoff batter Alex Kelsey followed with a grand slam of his own, giving the Eagles (1-0, 3-0) an 8-0 lead in the first inning.
“It’s rare to see that in a high school game,” Exeter coach Justin Freese said of two grand slams in a game, much less the same inning.
Freese, coaching the Eagles for three decades, said he couldn’t remember that happening before. He also couldn’t recall the last time Exeter 10-runned Wilson (0-1, 2-2), which is traditionally one of the strongest programs in the league.
The Eagles certainly didn’t need all those runs, not with Sheerin on the mound. He’s been absolutely lights out this year, and he was again Monday when he struck out 10 and allowed just one hit over five innings.
The overpowering 6-5 right-hander struck out five straight batters at one point and at least one batter in every inning. He was coming off a season opener in which he struck out 14 batters over five innings.
Sheerin didn’t allow a hit until the third inning, when Tommy Hunsicker lined a solid single to left, driving in Jordan Shutter to cut Exeter’s lead to 8-1.
Other than that, Sheerin allowed just one well-hit ball, a liner into the left-center gap by leadoff man Rafael Fernandez in the first. Kelsey, a superb center fielder, got a late break on the ball but managed to run it down, spearing it with a diving catch.
“If he misses that, it’s an (inside-the-park) home run, and gives them some momentum,” Freese.
Sheerin followed that with a pair of K’s to end the first and the Eagles essentially put the game away with a pair of slams.
Kelsey had a big day at the plate, with a pair of hits, two runs scored and four RBIs. He also stole two bases.
The Eagles ended it in the fifth when Matt Heckler drew a leadoff walk, Joel Ummarino reached on a two-out infield hit and Sheerin drove a line single to left to bring home pinch-runner Carter Redding.
| Wilson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Exeter | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 11 | 6 | 0 |
| Bulldogs (2-2) | AB | R | H | RBI | Eagles (3-0) | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Fernandez, cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Kelsey, cf | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| T. Hunsicker, 3b/p | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Cupitt, c | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| C. Hunsicker, 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ummarino, 1b | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Sekulski, rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sheerin, p | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| Fiorihi, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Miller, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Crocona, lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cordora, ss | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Shutter, c | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Mackey, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Frantz, 2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Blew, 3b | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gabaldon, 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Marr, 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bilodeau, ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Westley, lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Ruiz, 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Giering, 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Redding, rf | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Heckler, rf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Totals | 20 | 11 | 6 | 9 |
E: Kulp. HR: Sheerin, Kelsey. SB: pdateKelsey 2, Cordora. LOB: Wilson 2, Exeter 7.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Geng, L | 2/3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 0 | Sheerin, W | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |
| Kulp | 3 1/3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | ||||||||
| T. Hunsicker | 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
PB: Cupitt. HBP: Cordora (by Kulp).