Eagles have a grand time slamming Bulldogs in Berks I opener

Alex Kelsey admits it can be a little boring playing center field when Deven Sheerin’s on the mound for Exeter. Most hitters strike out against him. Few make contact. Those who do are not driving the ball.

Both Kelsey and Sheerin were startled Monday afternoon when Wilson’s Rafael Fernandez drilled Sheerin’s second offering on a line deep to left-center.

“I was caught off guard,” said Kelsey, an all-division pick as a sophomore and arguably the Berks Conference’s best defensive center fielder.

Kelsey slipped on his first move, then nearly tripped himself. He had to hustle back toward the warning track, then dove for the ball – and came up with it.

“That was amazing,” Sheerin said later, after another dominating performance, one that saw him strike out 10 over five innings in an 11-1 victory over the Bulldogs in their Berks I opener at Reiffton. “I loved it, I loved it.”

Sheerin and Kelsey each ripped grand slams in the first inning, an incredible feat at any level, and especially in high school where you don’t see many balls carry over the fence. That gave the Eagles (1-0, 3-0) an 8-0 lead and, considering how Sheerin’s throwing the ball right now, pretty much locked down the win.

Still, a couple hours later, Eagles coach Justin Freese looked back at the first play of the game as the most important.

“(That was) the play of the game,” Freese said. “If he doesn’t catch that ball it’s 1-0 Wilson, because he scores an inside-the-park home run on that. That just gave ‘Dev’ a little momentum on the mound. I don’t think he was expecting to get hit like that at the start of the game. Alex just made a tremendous play for him.”

Sheerin said Fernandez’s drive was a wake-up call. He locked in pretty quickly after that and struck out the next five batters. He didn’t allow a hit until the third, and then not another after that.

Tommy Hunsicker’s RBI single in the third was a clean line drive to left and Fernandez squared the ball up in his second at-bat, driving it to center.

Other than that the Bulldogs (0-1, 2-2) – a team that has dominated Exeter over the past decade – could do nothing against Sheerin.

The Mount St. Mary’s recruit was good last season, when he went 6-2 and struck out 84 over 56 2/3 innings. He’s taken it to another level this season. He threw a five-inning no-hitter at Cedar Crest in his first start, when he recorded 14 strikeouts and allowed just one batter to hit the ball in play.

Just as impressive, he has walked just three – two of them in the third inning Monday.

“Last year I had a lot of ‘velo’ and didn’t know how to use it,” Sheerin said. “This year I feel I know how to use it more. I’ve developed my slider. Has better spin rate.

“Obviously, I could’ve done better (today). I ended up giving up a run there. But in that inning I feel I was able to get under control and get out of it.”

Chase Cupitt has caught every game Sheerin’s thrown for Exeter. He says his batterymate is a different pitcher this season.

“His command has really improved,” Cupitt said. “There were some games last year where he would walk a few batters. But he’s really grown (in) that way. And his velocity’s better; he’s up a couple miles an hour.”

Sheerin has made equally big strides at the plate. He has three homers and nine RBIs in three games and is batting .625. He had two homers all of last season.

“I’m just trying to keep the ball up the middle; I’ve been working on that,” he said. “Not overswinging, just hit the ball up the middle. I got a first-pitch slider and saw the spin and said, ‘If I get that again I’m not gonna miss it.’ So, I got it.”

The Eagles’ clean-up hitter pounded the ball to left-center, about 375 feet, up onto the parking lot in front of the school.

“That not the farthest ball I’ve ever hit, but maybe one of the hardest,” Sheerin said.

“Last year he would try to pull everything, and then he’d pull his front shoulder,” Freese said. “This year’s we’re reminding him ‘up the middle’ and that’s locking that front shoulder in and he’s seeing the ball real well.”

He showed that in his final at-bat when he ended the game with a line-drive RBI single to left, bringing the 10-run rule into play.

The Eagles have been on the other end of that against Wilson several times in the past decade. A couple seasons ago they lost both their games to the Bulldogs by the same score, 10-0. They lost nine straight in the series until Sheerin beat them 3-2 last season.

That – in addition to Sheerin’s dominance, and Kelsey’s bat and glove show – makes Monday’s win significant for the Eagles.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever 10-runned Wilson,” said Freese, Exeter’s coach for 28 seasons. “It’s been many years if we have.”

“I feel great about this team,” Cupitt said. “Going into the season I was kind of worried, because we lost 11 seniors (from an 18-8 team) and there were a lot of new faces here. I think we really have something special going. I’m really impressed with how we’ve played.”

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).