Luke Weller-Exeter

Luke Weller and his teammates didn’t think there was a chance that they would be playing on Friday. However, the staff at Exeter did a great job preparing the field after heavy rains came through Berks County on Thursday. The Eagles faced Twin Valley in their league opener. Both teams had been putting up a lot of crooked numbers on the scoreboard. The Raiders were averaging 9.8 runs through their first five contests. Exeter wasn’t far behind at 8.8 runs per game. Right-handed pitchers Deven Sheerin and Kannon Zdimal made sure that wasn’t going to happen on this sunny afternoon in Reiffton. Sheerin held Twin Valley to one run on five hits over six frames. The 6’5, 230-pound junior struck out nine while walking just one. The 2021 all-division selection features a fastball near 90 mph. Zdimal matched Sheerin for five innings. The junior limited the (4-1) Eagles to two hits and one run. Zdimal finished with seven strikeouts and two walks. His outstanding effort wasn’t enough as Exeter pulled out a 3-1 victory. The Raiders scored first thanks to a 2-out, RBI single by sophomore Roman Cieless in the second inning. The Eagles threatened in the third when they loaded the bases with one out. Zdimal got out of the jam by striking out Sheerin and Weller, two of Exeter’s top hitters. Speedy sophomore Alex Kelsey went all the way around to third base on an infield single and throwing error by freshman shortstop Kooper Zdimal in the fifth inning. Brady Hannahoe’s RBI groundout tied it at 1-1. Kelsey made a nice running catch in center field on a line drive by Paul Colombo with the go-ahead run on second base in the top of the sixth inning. Sophomore Owen Rhoads replaced Zdimal on the mound for the bottom of the sixth. Weller led off with a triple to right field. The go-ahead run scored on a wild pitch by Rhoads. The ball got stuck in the padding of the backstop which prompted an argument from Twin Valley’s first-year head coach Corey Schnoke. He claimed that since it was a dead ball in the field of play, the runner should return to third base. After a meeting of the umpires, the run was counted and the Eagles had a 2-1 advantage. Colin Payne followed with a pinch-hit RBI single to make it 3-1. Three of Exeter’s five hits came in the sixth. Weller told me that extra insurance run gave him even more confidence as he went out to pitch the seventh inning. The senior righty retired the Raiders in order for the save. Weller talked about his approach to closing, as well as his key triple late in the game. The shortstop is one of eleven seniors on the Eagles’ roster. He said they have a close connection because they’ve been playing together since they were kids. Meanwhile, the (5-1) Raiders only had one senior in their starting lineup. Weller was an honorable mention all-division pick a season ago when he went (5-1) with a 3.08 ERA. He knows that the competition in Division 1 is always tough. Weller takes pride in his work ethic. He mentioned that former Phillies second baseman Chase Utley inspired him. We also discussed his favorite teachers, including head coach Justin Freese who earned career win #274.