Neither the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox nor the Chatham Anglers had anything to lose (except the game, in which Chatham won 4-1) in Sunday’s final matchup of the regular season as they both entered the game having clinched playoff spots. Y-D, who will play Chatham in the first round, continued its postseason preparation by giving outings to seven of its pitchers across the seven-inning game.
Eli Walker (Indiana University) was one of Y-D’s arms given the opportunity to get competitive reps in this game. As a late arrival to Y-D, the pitcher only appeared in three games prior to this one. As noted by Y-D Pitching Coach Eric Beattie, some pitchers who arrived late this summer were at a disadvantage since they had not played in competition for a while. This meant they did not have the opportunity to fix their struggles in a competitive environment, which Beattie noted is different from throwing in a practice setting.
Walker’s performance over 1 2/3 innings looked exactly like the productive outing that Beattie had described. Given the control he had over Chatham’s offense, Walker looked more comfortable than he had in any outing this summer. The right-hander only allowed one hit and posted four strikeouts to lower his season ERA to 4.76.
In this outing, he worked on his timing, body rotation, and to ensure that his throw used a full-body motion instead of just a thrust of his arm.
“I think in previous outings my arm was a little long…I was very stabby with my arm, so it was hard to be on time. In this outing, I was a lot more connected [and] not throwing my body,” said Walker.
He broke down his mental preparation for this outing that allowed him to execute his pitches.
“[I was] envisioning and just seeing myself as success[ful] before getting on the mound, and then [focused on] getting out there and just letting it run,” he said.
Other arms given last outing before the postseason were Peyton Robidoux (Washington), Brisen Tweedy (South Florida), John Lobs (Western Carolina), Easton Harris (Southern Illinois-Edwardsville), Joe O’Regan (Cal State Bakersfield), and Kadan Roach (North Greenville).
Y-D will begin its postseason fight on Tuesday against the Chatham Anglers.
