Deven Sheerin-Exeter

Deven Sheerin was only 11 years old the last time Exeter’s baseball team defeated Wilson. The Eagles shutout the Bulldogs 2-0 in Reiffton on May 9, 2016. Sheerin is now a 6’5, 230-pound junior and one of the best pitchers in Berks County. He limited Wilson to two runs, one earned, over 6.1 innings on Monday afternoon. Exeter held on for a dramatic 3-2 victory. Mike Greenawalt struck out freshman Christo Hunsicker on a high fastball with the bases loaded to end it. Sheerin faced two batters in the seventh inning and got one out before reaching the 100-pitch limit. Sophomore Tommy Hunsicker beat out an infield single to knock in a run and get the Bulldogs within 3-2. Exeter’s longtime head coach Justin Freese opted to intentionally walk Rueben Livingston with two outs. Livingston went 1-for-2 with a towering home run to left in the first inning. The 6’3, 225-pound Kent State commit is hitting .417 with ten extra base hits including 3 HR. I asked Sheerin about Greenawalt’s performance in a tense situation. He said, “I had 100% confidence that he would go in there and get the job done.” Sheerin (4-1) struck out seven, allowed five hits, walked one, and hit a batter. The (11-5, 6-4) Eagles are tied with the (7-8, 6-4) Bulldogs for second place in Division 1. Exeter got on the scoreboard early thanks to Luke Weller’s RBI single in the first. The Eagles took a 2-1 advantage in the third on a 2-out, RBI single by sophomore Alex Kelsey. Sheerin believes that the young outfielder has a very bright future. Wilson had a runner on second base with one out in the fourth, but failed to score. Sheerin ended the threat with strikeouts of Ryan Sekulski and Nick Fiorini. The Bulldogs team batting average is just .220 this year. Livingston kept them in the game with a terrific outing. The hard-throwing right-hander collected twelve strikeouts over six frames. Livingston (0-2, 0.84) gave up four hits and walked two. He has 42 strikeouts and nine walks in 25 innings. Sheerin told me that he has known Livingston for awhile and he enjoys competing against him. Jake Kope took over on the mound in the final inning after Livingston had thrown 96 pitches, 26 were in the first frame. Kope walked the leadoff batter and designated hitter Colin Payne made that hurt with an RBI single to left. Sheerin mentioned that it was a big insurance run. Payne is going to Alvernia to play football and basketball. Weller had two of the Eagles’ five hits. Brady Hannahoe, one of eleven seniors on the roster, was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs. Wilson finished with six hits. Rafael Fernandez had a pair of singles out of the leadoff spot. The Bulldogs are on the bubble for the District 3-6A playoffs. The top twelve teams will qualify for the tournament. Exeter is in good shape to make the District 3-5A field. The top 16 schools make the postseason in that classification. The Eagles have league games remaining with rival Daniel Boone and unbeaten Gov. Mifflin. Sheerin thinks their ball club has improved from earlier this season, but he understands that there’s still work to be done.