Sheerin – Berks Sports Report

Deven Sheerin-Exeter

Paul Roberts — Sun, 21 May 2023 11:09:00 +0000

Deven Sheerin called it the biggest start of his career. The 6’6, 230-pound right-hander delivered with Exeter’s season on the line. Sheerin struck out eleven and allowed one hit as #15 seed Exeter upset #2 Gov. Mifflin 4-1 in Shillington. “I feel like my fastball was jumping out of my hand,” he said. The (12-9) Eagles advanced to the District 3-5A quarterfinals. They’ll visit #10 Warwick on Monday. The Mustangs blew out Exeter 8-0 and 11-1 in the regular season, but the Berks County champs hadn’t faced Sheerin. The Mount St. Mary’s commit is (7-2) this year with a staggering 97 strikeouts in 44 innings. He’s given up just 15 hits. Gov. Mifflin sent UConn commit Tyler Minick to the mound on Friday. The 2022 Berks Player of the Year piled up ten punchouts and limited the Eagles to two hits in six frames. All four of Exeter’s runs came in the 3rd inning and three were unearned. Minick hit Jake Franek and Gavin Marr. Carter Redding followed with a sacrifice bunt that Minick threw over Xander Velez’s head at first base. It looked like Minick would get out of the jam by only permitting one run to score. However, freshman Joel Ummarino took a very close pitch that was called a ball instead of strike three. Ummarino walked on the next pitch to force in a run. Jake Hafer, another freshman, hit a sinking line drive to left field that knocked in two runs for a 4-0 advantage. Jon Radwanski made a terrific sliding attempt, but the umpires ruled that he trapped the ball. The (18-5) Mustangs got one run back in the bottom of the 3rd when Velez beat out an infield single with two outs. Sheerin hit Matt Koehler to leadoff the 7th inning. After getting one out, Sheerin had reached the limit of 105 pitches. Head coach Justin Freese turned to sophomore Gavin Miller. Following an error on a potential double play ball to second base, Miller struck out Bryce Wunderlich. Freese opted to intentionally walk Minick and load the bases. Promising sophomore Bryce Detwiler grounded out to Luke Giering at second to end the game. Sheerin gave credit to Miller for closing it out. “He’s a character. He competes. He’s got a lot of maturing to do, but the sky is the limit for him,” Sheerin remarked. Freese earned his 300th career victory over 28 years with the Eagles. Exeter went (18-8) a season ago and qualified for the state playoffs. They lost eleven seniors from that club. This year has been more challenging with a young roster. With a win on Monday, however, the Eagles will be headed back to the PIAA tournament. “I love all these guys. I tell them one more, get one more win and we keep playing together,” Sheerin said.

Deven Sheerin-Exeter

Paul Roberts — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 08:52:00 +0000

Longtime Exeter baseball coach Justin Freese and his players weren’t sure what to expect this season. The Eagles lost eleven seniors from an (18-8) club that reached the state playoffs for the first time since 2008. After an 11-1 rout of Wilson in five innings, Exeter has outscored its three opponents 35-2! Deven Sheerin wasn’t anticipating this type of dominance. The ace pitcher replied, “Quite honestly, no. I thought we’d struggle with the bats a lot, but these young kids proved me wrong.” Sheerin helped himself on Monday afternoon in Reiffton. The 6’6, 230-pound senior launched a grand slam in the first inning off of Owen Geng. Sheerin went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks. The Mount St. Mary’s commit ended the game with an RBI single to left in the bottom of the 5th inning. “I feel like we’re exceeding expectations of everyone and proving a point,” he said. Sheerin allowed just one hit over five frames with ten strikeouts and two walks. He tossed a no-hitter with 14 K in the Eagles’ opener against Cedar Crest. The big right-hander has already blasted three home runs. I asked what would happen if he had to face himself at the plate. “I’d probably strike out on three pitches,” he joked. Leadoff hitter Alex Kelsey started the game with an incredible diving catch in center field. The speedy junior ripped a grand slam of his own to right field in the first inning. Kelsey was the first batter to face freshman Ben Kulp. Interim head coach Bill Underwood went to Kulp after Geng’s fifth walk of the inning. Wilson pitchers issued ten walks. Kelsey had two of Exeter’s six hits and swiped two bags. He led the team with 21 stolen bases and 30 runs a season ago. Freshman first baseman Joel Ummarino went 1-for-2 with two walks. The linebacker on the football team hits third in the batting order. Tommy Hunsicker drove in the Bulldogs’ lone run with an opposite field single in the 3rd inning. The Eagles added two runs in the 4th on a throwing error by Kulp. Exeter hosts Muhlenberg on Wednesday. The Muhls moved up from Division 2 to Division 1 this year. Sheerin believes the competition will be tough across Berks County. “Every division is competitive. I think it’s one of the best leagues in the state,” he stated.

Deven Sheerin-Exeter

Paul Roberts — Mon, 02 May 2022 23:23:00 +0000

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.

Deven Sheerin-Exeter

Paul Roberts — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 19:33:00 +0000

At 6’5 and 230 pounds, Deven Sheerin can be an imposing figure on the mound. The right-hander features a fastball near 90 mph, along with a slider and changeup. Sheerin earned all-division recognition as a sophomore in 2021. He struck out 47 and walked just 9 over 31 innings. Sheerin’s (2-2) record clearly didn’t tell the entire story. His ERA was an outstanding 1.35 over ten appearances. Have I mentioned that he’s also one of the best hitters in the Berks League. Sheerin hit .295 last season with 5 doubles and a home run in 44 at-bats. He’s off to a hot start this year. Sheerin picked up the win and ripped a 2-run double in Exeter’s 7-2 season opening victory at Schuylkill Valley. He put on a show last Tuesday against Pottsgrove. The Eagles won 14-5. Sheerin had three hits including a double and a homer. He drove in four runs and picked up the save by striking out three batters over 1.1 innings. I asked Sheerin if he would rather launch a HR or strike someone out with the bases loaded. Exeter has eleven seniors on its roster. Sheerin likes the team’s chemistry. He told me that sophomore Alex Kelsey has all of the tools to be a great player. We discussed the success that the Eagles’ football and basketball teams have had this school year. Sheerin believes that has motivated the baseball team to do something special. Exeter was (11-9, 6-6) a season ago. The Eagles fell to Oley Valley 5-4 in 8 innings in the Berks County quarterfinals. Exeter lost 3-1 at fourth-seeded Northern York in the first round of the District 3-5A playoffs. The Eagles are off to a (2-1) start. They travel to Garden Spot on Tuesday before their league opener at Reading on Wednesday. Sheerin is a big Philadelphia sports fan. He believes Joel Embiid will win the MVP award and the Phillies will make the postseason. Sheerin likes to relax by hanging out with friends and playing video games. How good is his teammate Colin Payne at MLB The Show? According to Sheerin, Payne is one of the best players in the “world.” We also talked about his favorite teachers and classes at Exeter. Finally, Sheerin revealed his favorite rappers.