Shamas returns to form in Mitchell College sweep
New London — Mitchell College pitcher Tyler Shamas mastered New England Collegiate Conference competition during his first three years.
A three-time All-NECC first team selection, he posted an impressive 23-6 overall record and never had an earned run average higher than 3.36.
But something was missing this season.
Shamas struggled to the tune of an unusually high 8.49 earned run average entering Saturday's conference doubleheader against Daniel Webster College.
Signs point to Shamas returning to his stellar form after the senior righthander went the distance, throwing a two-hitter in a 5-1 victory in game two to complete the sweep. The Mariners won by an identical score in the opener.
"I definitely needed it for my confidence," Shamas said. "It just wasn't there at the beginning of the year. I had a couple of things in my mechanics that I needed to fix and I fixed them. Now I'm throwing strikes again."
On the surface, it seems a bit strange for a pitcher with his strong resume to suffer from a lack of confidence.
But this is a different year in so many ways for Shamas and the Mariners, who had to replace seven starters and then lost senior captain Neftali Arroyo to a season-ending shoulder injury on March 22.
"We lost 12 seniors and I played with them for three years," Shamas said. "We got a new team, so it was a little bit different atmosphere. Other than that, I took the summer off and that might have been it."
It also didn't help that Shamas was shut down for a few weeks in February due to a shoulder problem. He appears fine now.
Despite playing with a rebuilt lineup, the Mariners just keep piling up wins. They climbed to 17-3 overall on Saturday and reside atop the NECC standings at 7-1.
"I'm happy where we're at," coach Travis Beausoleil said. "We've got to play better. We're still young and making young mistakes. But if you would have told me that we'd be 17-3 at the beginning of this year, I would say, you're crazy. But we're not done."
The Mariners are attempting to win their third straight regular season and conference tournament titles and return to the NCAA tournament.
To reach their ultimate destination, they'll need both Shamas and ace Al Jordan Johnson, a Fitch High School graduate, to set the tone.
Johnson has done his share, improving to 5-0 with a win in game one. He went six innings, allowing six hits and striking out nine.
Mitchell has the league's best pitching staff, owning a NECC best 3.98 earned run average.
If Shamas (2-0) continues to head in a positive direction, the Mariners will be tough to beat. He got stronger as the game progressed on Saturday, retiring the final 13 batters after allowing an unearned run in the third inning. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter.
The Mariners are far from the Bash Brothers, relying on clutch hitting to overcome their power shortage. They've specialized in winning cliff-hangers, going 7-0 in games decided by two runs or less.
In game one Saturday, they took advantage of an error, three walks and a balk to score four runs in the first inning. Sophomore Garet Griffin had an RBI double.
Game two was a pitcher's duel as Shamas battled Daniel Webster junior Nick Goodin.
Junior Francis Prettitore knocked in Mitchell's first run with an RBI single in the first. The Mariners took the lead for good with an unearned run in the third. Then they broke it open with three runs in the sixth.
Sophomore Jack Finnegan had an RBI single and then hustled around to score from second on freshman Dan Frattaroli's infield single that plated two runs.
Finnegan, who's from Old Saybrook and attended Xavier in Middletown, is competing to take over the starting right fielder position left vacant by the loss of Arroyo.
"He made a big case," Beausoleil said.
Mitchell will face a few roadblocks later this month with conference series against Becker College and Elms College. The Mariners feel good about their chances.
"I don't think we should lose a series for the rest of the season in conference," Shamas said. g.keefe@theday.com