Sherrer pleased with Post 11's effort against Wilson

By Cam Ellis
Published in Sports on June 3, 2015 1:50 PM

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cellis@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- After a mercy-rule loss last week, Wayne County Post 11 head coach Jason Sherrer discussed his displeasure with his team's intensity through their first two games.

They haven't been the same team since.

Post 11 looked more like a polished team during its 8-2 win over Wilson Post 13 on Tuesday evening. Sherrer's team displayed great defense, timely hitting and serviceable pitching.

"I think ever since we had that talk, there's been no doubt that they've changed," Sherrer said. "If you're going to end up losing a couple games here or there, you might as well lose those games playing hard.

"Everything's changed since the day we had that talk. They've really responded well and played every inning hard."

Tanner Wells started on the mound for Post 11 and settled down after giving up a run in each of the first two innings. The left-hander eventually allowed two runs on four hits, three walks and had two strikeouts in six innings.

"I thought he definitely went better as the game went on," Sherrer said. "He definitely started to feel his stuff. His breaking ball wasn't as sharp early, then it started to come back late. Early on he was hit or miss ... that kind of brought his pitch count up.

"He definitely managed it well and minimized some tough innings that could have been long."

Wells also benefited from a fantastic defense behind him, despite poor playing conditions due to rain earlier in the day. Third baseman and fellow Warrior Zack Smith -- who played out of position -- made a handful of defensive plays that left the few watching from the bleachers applauding.

Smith also homered in the first inning and threw three innings of no-hit, three-strikeout relief.

"He's a very good baseball player," Sherrer added. "He can catch, play first, play short, play third, pitch -- he's just an athlete. He's a baseball guy and he knows his stuff, so it's always easy to know when you have a guy out there that can do that kind of stuff for you."

Post 11 also got contributions from Lee Daniels, who broke an 0-for-4 streak with an RBI double in the eighth.

The encouraging turnaround has pleased Sherrer, whose team has won four straight. But he knows some lineup changes will occur later in the season once he gets a full team.

"One thing I've always believed in is that you're not going to change something unless it's broken," Sherrer said. "If things are rolling, I don't see a reason to change anything just because some other guys are coming in. I think there are some changes we can make ... but it's going to be hard to decide that as it comes.

"That's also a good thing because that means we're playing well."