PBR Michigan Division 3 Team Of The Week - Pewamo-Westphalia
May 21, 2019
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PBR Michigan Division 3 Team Of The Week - Pewamo-Westphalia
A win over Division 1 East Lansing on Monday in the 10-team Diamond Classic moved the Michigan Prep Baseball Report Division 3 Team of the Week to 24-0 this season. Things do not get any easier for the Pirates, which play defending Diamond Classic champion Grand Ledge next. The state’s top-ranked D-3 team then faces off with Michigan’s number one D-4 team in Portland St. Patrick on Friday..
“We’re playing some tougher teams now, so we’ll find out,” Pewamo-Westphalia coach Mark Rademacher said about how good his team is this year. “We’ve got a good nucleus back from a year ago, other than losing two pitchers, and we’re playing better defense than last year.”
The one-two pitching punch of Brendan Thelen and Ethan Smith has combined to win 18 games so far, Thelen, an uncommitted senior now 10-0 after Monday, and Smith, a junior who is 8-0.
“They have been consistent throwing strikes,” Rademacher said of the hard-working right-handed pitching duo. “You can have the best pitcher in the world, but if he’s not throwing strikes you’re nervous as a coach. We really work on getting ahead in counts and it’s kept us from walking people.”
The double-play combo of players with the same last name but no relation to the pitchers - junior shortstop Ethan Thelen and junior second baseman Keegan Smith - have been vital to the defense.
“We’ve really been consistent on defense,” explained Rademacher, a veteran head coach of 35 years who back in 2017 picked up his 500th coaching victory. “Ethan was at second base as a sophomore but we moved him over this year and he’s done a great job. When the defense is solid, it takes a lot of the pressure off the pitching.”
Solid hitting helps as well and Pewamo-Westphalia has it with three players batting .400 on the season. Keegan Smith and senior catcher Anthony Pohl have led the way along with freshman Tanner Worth. An outfielder, Worth had six hits in a doubleheader sweep against Fowler on Saturday.
“One thing about this team is that we keep our cool pretty well,” Rademacher said about his squad. “When we’re in tight spots in games we do a good job of working our way out of it. It’s a pretty resilient group when it comes to being nervous.”
Will it be enough to carry the team through a tough week ahead and then beyond when the post-season begins in June?
“We’ll see what happens,” Rademacher said. “We go into each game trying to do our best and so far it’s turned out well.
“We’ve got some tough competition coming up and we’ve got to play up to it. The key will be to continue to get good pitching and defense.”