Brewster Baseball Team Saved Best for Last

BREWSTER—The regular-season record was not what the Bears would have liked, but when it came to being ready to crank it up in the playoffs, the Brewster High baseball team played it’s best ball of the spring, and closed the season strong.

Chris Byrnes SKIP PEARLMAN Brewster had to fight through inconsistency during the season, but manager Ed Mulvihill and the Bears always kept one goal in their sights – they wanted to be peaking when the playoffs came around.

And they were. Brewster entered the Class A tournament as the No. 14 seed, and promptly upset third-seed Somers, and then ousted No. 6 Nyack in the quarterfinals.

But Brewster’s season came to an end in the semifinal round after a loss to Lakeland, and the Bears closed the curtain on 2010 with a record of 9-13-1.

“Overall, it was a successful season,” Mulvihill said. “Anytime you get to the final four, it’s got to be considered a success. We went through a tough stretch in the middle—and that says a lot about the kids. They never quit. And we got back to playing good baseball at the end. It’s a good sign for the future.”

Scott Sheppard SKIP PEARLMAN Junior pitcher/first baseman and team captain Chris Byrnes was named All- Section Honorable Mention and All- League, after leading the team in hitting (.435) and RBI (23). He also compiled a record of 5-2 on the mound, and delivered in the playoffs.

“Chris did a great job leading us in hitting,” Mulvihill said. “He batted third, and always had quality at bats. Her got big hits for us all year, and went 9-for-16 over our last five games. On the mound, he pitched his best game of the year in the quarterfinals.”

Senior second baseman and team captain Scott Sheppard was named to the All-League team, after batting .420 (No. 2 on the team), and leading the Bears in runs scored.

Above: Sean Trainor. Right: Brian McNamara. Photos by Skip Pearlman. “Scott was always on base, and was our catalyst,” Mulvihill said. “He always seemed to come up with the big hit late in the game. He had a very good season for us.”

Mulvihill also pointed to contributions from senior P/1B Brian McNamara, junior C Adriel Barnes, junior SS Ryan Winch, senior CF Mike Blank and senior OF Sean Trainor as being key during the season. “They all had a solid season, and came up big at the end,” Mulvihill said. “McNamara pitched a lot of big games and kept us in … They all made contributions.”

The Bears lose four position players and three of their top five pitchers to graduation, but return a solid core of players, leaving the manager optimistic about next season.

“With so many players coming back, we have a good nucleus of offense back,” he said. “But pitching … we have a lot of questions after Byrnes. It could be a coin flip. Some of the young players need to step up. And we’ll go to Class AA next year, so it should be interesting.”