TodayShumaker lone to advance in showcase
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Article RatingPOTTSTOWN – Cumberland County sent seven players to Thursday’s Region 4 vs. Region 3 Legion All-Star Game at Owen J. Roberts High School.
The showcase marked the next-to-last tryout before a final team is set for the East squad in the East vs. West All-Star game.
Of the seven local players, only Newville’s Garrett Shumaker advanced to the final tryout, set for 11 a.m. on July 16 at Commerce Bank Park on Harrisburg’s City Island.
Even Shumaker, who hit .237 for Big Spring during the high school season, was surprised that he was the only local player to advance after the workout.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Shumaker said. “Who would have thought that the only one left would be from Newvlle — a team with only like two or three wins this year?”
Newville, with two wins, is currently tied for last place in the Cumberland County Legion standings.
Along with Shumaker, a recent Big Spring graduate who is looking to walk onto Slippery Rock University’s baseball team, Ben Anderson and Ryan Mentzer (Mechanicsburg Post 109), Matt Spiegel and Tyler Shover (Enola Post 751), R.J. Heinlen (Mt. Holly Post 674), and Quinton Taylor (Dillsburg Post 26) all competed Thursday.
After timed sprints, field exercises, and a simulated four-inning game, it was only the first baseman’s number that was announced of the group.
“I wasn’t really sure at first,” Shumaker said. “But when they didn’t say the other first basemen’s numbers, I realized that I had to have made it before they got to my number.”
It wasn’t Shumaker’s bat that advanced him. In fact, none of Cumberland County’s players registered a hit in their at-bats. But Shumaker performed well in fielding drills at first base. Earlier in the morning, he turned a 6.9-second run in what was tied for the 10th fastest time out of the 55 competitors in the sprints.
Anderson finished the run in 6.8 seconds, the fastest of all local players. No one else finished under seven seconds (Spiegel 7.4; Mentzer 7.2; Shover 7.2; Heinlen 7.7; Taylor 7.8).
In fielding, Spiegel and Shover both had accuracy issues in their throws. Mentzer took a hard grounder off his shoulder, which was followed by an inaccurate throw as well.
Heinlen opened things up on the mound for the Region 4 Team that also included players from Dauphin and Lebanon Counties.
The Mt. Holly pitcher threw one inning and faced seven batters, giving up two hits and striking out one. A miscommunication on a pop fly between Heinlen and Mentzer allowed the ball to land safely between the mound and third base.
Still, Heinlen didn’t seem too down after being eliminated.
“I think it depends what round you’re at,” Heinlen said. “At this point, you’d like to make it. Today, it would have been nice to move on since there is only one tryout left. I didn’t really feel like I had my best stuff today on the mound.”
Taylor followed next to pitch the bottom of the second inning. Like Heinlen, he struggled with control, but did strike out one in his inning of work.
