From Div. 1 to Post 57
Bucknell's Shribman likes his bullpen role for Swampscott Legion
Per man law, Doug Shribman checks ESPN.com just about every day.
After Bucknell captain Matthew Wilson spun a six-hit shutout against college baseball goliath Florida State in the first round of the NCAA Division 1 tournament barely a month ago, something told Shribman, in his first year with the Bison, to check the web again.
"It was strange to see all our faces," he said. "It's usually Paul Pierce, Tiger Woods, or somebody. But it was small little Bucknell. My teammates. My friends."
Florida State bounced back the way an embarrassed bully tends to, pounding the Bison 24-9 and taking a sledgehammer to their 30-24-2 season.
Shribman gave up one run off three hits in two innings of work in the second game, but when he thinks back to the tournament opener and how the Bison win was so extraordinary that even Florida State's fans cheered for Bucknell, he knows he was a part of something special.
"They realized what kind of upset they just saw too," said Shribman. "Their fans kind of realized this is something special going on. To go down to Tallahassee and then, in front of all their fans, shut them down for the first time all year, that was ridiculous. We were kind of shocked, honestly."
Shribman will spend his summer playing American Legion ball for Swampscott, returning from his first season of Division 1 baseball to try to help Post 57 return to the state championship.
Swampscott had a fleet of pitchers who carried the team all the way to the state finals against Brockton last season, and most of those arms, including starters Peter Kinchley , Hunter Gordon, and Mike Scanlon , are back for another run.
Shribman, a bullpen lifer, loves the idea of closing the door.
"It's a whole different mentality," he said. "As a reliever they throw you out and say, 'we need you for the next batter.' I like that a lot better to be honest with you. It gets my adrenaline pumping."
At Bucknell, Shribman showed up mostly for work in the middle innings of games that were already decided. He had a 7.61 ERA in 13 appearances (two starts) for a team that pulled together just four saves all season. His hope for the summer is that he can refine his three-pitch arsenal enough to improve all those totals come sophomore year.
His 88-m.p.h. fastball was enough to make him dominant in his days at Belmont Hill.
"I was able to blow it by everybody" in high school, he said. "But when you get to the next level, they've seen it all."
But he learned as early as the fall season last year, that his natural ability would take him only so far and that he'd have to be more generous with those sliders and splitters.
He said the competition in District 8 is as thick as you're going to find in Eastern Massachusetts, which should make this coming fall a lot easier that last year.
"You don't really want to take a summer off," he said. "Because you come back in the fall, and coaches expect that you've been working hard and toning your game up, making sure that you stay in game shape."
He's coaching a hitters' team in a pitchers' league.
"It's kind of new to me," he said. "In the past, our forte has always been pitching and defense and that's the way I've always approached it. If the other teams can't score, you can't lose."
Despite the change in dogma, Post 150 is 7-2-1 overall and 3-0 in District 8 with a third of its 30-game schedule out of the way.
Joe Katin, Roman Mondalto, and Joe Esposito - who occupy the seventh, eighth, and ninth spots in Southill's lineup - have five home runs and 23 RBIs among them.
"We hit," Southill said. "This is my ninth year, and it's probably the best-hitting team we've had."
But the pitching that's made Post 150 one of the most consistent programs in the league is still there, with names like Triton pitcher Cam Kneeland (three wins) among the arms at Southill's disposal.
"It's a very a diverse team," Southill said.
"We can kind of play to however the game needs to be played. If we're in a tight game and we need to sacrifice or steal a base we can do that. If we're in a game where pitchers aren't doing well and we need to outslug somebody, we'll be able to do that too."
Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.
