{"id":38079,"date":"2018-04-30T10:43:08","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T14:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=38079"},"modified":"2018-04-30T10:43:08","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T14:43:08","slug":"royals-athlete-of-the-week-ryan-brewer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/royals-athlete-of-the-week-ryan-brewer\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals Athlete of the Week: Ryan Brewer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week the Eastern Mennonite baseball team snapped a losing skid and jumped right into the heat of the ODAC playoff race with a doubleheader sweep. Junior\u00a0Ryan Brewer<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(Martinsville, VA) played a huge part in that, pitching in each of the Royals\u2019 games last week.<\/p>\n

Coach Ben Spotts states that the consistency that Brewer gives his team as a closer makes him a valuable commodity, particularly in last week\u2019s games.<\/p>\n

\u201cRyan played very well and was instrumental in our success over Hampden-Sydney,\u201d Spotts said. \u201cHe is a veteran on our pitching staff and physically and mentally able to handle pitching twice in the same day. His experience and performance\u00a0on Saturday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0allowed us to win both games, and those wins were big for our program as we look to get into the ODAC Tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brewer pitched 6.1 innings last week, going 1-0 with 1 save and a 1.42 ERA.\u00a0On Saturday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0he retired all four batters to earn a save in the opener, then pitched the ninth and tenth to get the win in the extra-inning nightcap. EMU’s closer entered in the fifth against Shenandoah\u00a0on Wednesday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and threw 3.0 innings to slow down SU’s momentum. Brewer leads the ODAC with five saves on the season.<\/p>\n

Brewer said that he went into the\u00a0doubleheader against H-SC on Alumni Recognition Day like he would any other game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice to see some of the former players and coaches, and it felt even better to win in front of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

During the second game\u00a0on Saturday<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0Corey Willis<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0hit a walk-off home run in the tenth, pushing the Royals to beat H-SC. Brewer said that he could feel the atmosphere change towards the end of the game, and was hoping for the game to turn towards the Royals\u2019 favor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went crazy,\u201d he said of the walk-off. \u201cWe knew that something was going to happen soon, either for us or H-SC. Thankfully it was for us. I was so happy for Corey, he works hard each day and it was nice to see the hard work pay off for him. I was also happy for his home run because that win kept us alive for a chance to be in the tournament. It was just awesome for the whole team.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his three seasons at EMU, Brewer has had to make the transition from a starter during his first year, to a closer now as a junior. While it was a challenge to change roles at first, he has found that he is starting to enjoy closing the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can throw more often and can do what is best for the team,\u201d\u00a0Brewer\u00a0explained. \u201cI enjoy being a closer a lot more, too. It is a lot less stress on my arm and it\u2019s also more fun to come in the game late and shut the door so we as a team can hopefully enjoy wins.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, pitching more often as a closer has brought Brewer the challenge of trying to keep his arm healthy and to stay in good shape as the season goes on. He also adds that with the large majority of the team being underclassmen, keeping them in line has tested his leadership skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a little challenging getting all the freshmen on board and pushing them to be the best they can be,\u201d he said. \u201cWith such a large freshman class, it has been challenging to get them all focused at times, in the classroom and on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going into this season, Spotts noted, Brewer improved his secondary pitches, which have helped him to become a successful closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has always been good at locating a fastball and the development of his secondary pitches has played a big role in his success,\u201d Spotts said.<\/p>\n

Brewer also prepared for the season by developing a third pitch to accompany his fastball and splitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat third pitch has allowed me to get in better counts against hitters and have a better chance to get them out,\u201d he said. \u201cAside from that, I made it a priority to keep my arm healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finishing out the season, Brewer hopes to make it to the ODAC Tournament this year, and then again next season in his senior year at EMU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week the Eastern Mennonite baseball team snapped a losing skid and jumped right into the heat of the ODAC playoff race with a doubleheader sweep. Junior\u00a0Ryan Brewer\u00a0(Martinsville, VA) played ... read more about Royals Athlete of the Week: Ryan Brewer<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":38081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5176],"tags":[],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-38079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baseball"],"yoast_head":"\nRoyals Athlete of the Week: Ryan Brewer - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/royals-athlete-of-the-week-ryan-brewer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Royals Athlete of the Week: Ryan Brewer - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week the Eastern Mennonite baseball team snapped a losing skid and jumped right into the heat of the ODAC playoff race with a doubleheader sweep. 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