Bywaters

In silencing West Chester’s lineup, Bywaters retired the first 16 batters he saw. By the time the Golden Rams solved him for their first hit in the sixth inning of a seven-inning game, Shepherd had all its runs and could absorb a much-too-late Golden Ram rally to win, 5-2, in the opener of a conference doubleheader.

Bywaters had been stingy in all his appearances in his first season at Shepherd. But he had never started a game.

His mastery of the West Chester batting order came only a day after another Shepherd starter, Chris Chaney, had pitched his way past the East Division contenders himself.

Bywaters and Chaney brought to mind the ancient baseball truism applied to the game, ever since Cy Young was winning his 511 Major League games and Baltimore had four 20-game winners in the same season in Dave McNally. Pat Dobson, Mike Cuellar and Jim Palmer. That adage came ages before the creeping influence of hitting and pitching analytics on the game and offered, “Baseball is anywhere from 75 percent to 90 percent pitching.”

Keer

On an afternoon with biting winds and raw conditions, Chaney had muffled West Chester bats last Sunday at Fairfax Field. Shepherd prevailed, 3-1, in a nine-inning game where Adam Miller got credit for a save with three hitless, scoreless innings in relief of Chaney’s six innings of steady work. The Shepherd defense was required to be ready for any eventuality because Chaney worked so rapidly he was almost like a man who couldn’t be late for an important appointment.

Chaney needed minimal offense, and he got it when Daniel Keer provided the Rams with a two-run homer that trumped a solo round-tripper from Luke Cantwell. The Rams earned a win over Braeden Fausnaught, one of the PSAC’s most effective pitchers.

After Fausnaught left, Keer wrangled a bases loaded, two-out walk for Shepherd’s other run.

In Monday’s doubleheader played in Aston, Pa., Bywaters saw to it that West Chester’s losing skid reached five games by throwing his strikes right at them. Mostly ahead in the count and using both his fastball and breaking pitch to ring up 16 outs in succession, Bywaters saw only three routine fly balls lifted to the outfield, while fanning six in his early-inning domination.

Peyton Mason, like Bywaters a new addition to Shepherd’s everyday lineup, homered and drove in two of the Rams’ runs. Mason and Ross Mulhall contributed two hits to Shepherd’s nine-hit offense in the opener of Monday’s twinbill.

Mason

West Chester spotted Shepherd a two-run lead in Monday’s nightcap, but then made sure it wasn’t going to suffer a three-game sweep by the West Virginia Rams by scoring the game’s next 15 runs against the beleaguered pitching of starter Nick Trabacchi and relievers Tanner Dixon and Aaron Snyder.

In taking a 15-6 verdict, West Chester used its 18 hits and the 25 base runners it had to leave the afternoon with a split of the day’s conference games.

Keith Flaherty, Joe Kaleck and Zach Wright all had Golden Ram homers and Wright, Kaleck, Flaherty and Sean Szestowicki all had three-hit games.

Shepherd had homers from Mulhall and Mason (again) but couldn’t keep pace because of the effective pitching of Colin Kennedy and Kyle Lazer, who combined to work the first eight innings. Ryan Hadaway had a three-hit game as did Mulhall, who was 5-for-8 on the baseball-weather afternoon.

Shepherd may have gained only a Monday split, but if it found mid-season treasures in Bywaters and Mason the lengthy afternoon was well worth it.

Miller

Chaney