GEORGETOWN — It’s no secret how dominant the Georgetown baseball team has been this spring.
Truly, it’s been pretty staggering stuff.
After Monday’s 6-0 shutout victory over Newburyport, the Royals are now 16-1 overall, and are the clear-cut No. 1 team in Division 5. Don’t believe me? Well, other than being the last team in the entire state to finally take their first loss, the Royals have been the wire-to-wire top dogs in Div. 5. With the release of the latest MIAA power rankings on Tuesday morning, they came in with an overall rating of 3.8446.
No. 2 Hopedale? 2.2969.
Which, by all standards, is a pretty meteoric gap.
“We just love baseball,” said junior Hayden Ruth. “We love to do it, and we get out here every day and work our butts off. We’ve got a good crew, good energy, and we just love the game.”
It’s not hyperbole to say that it’s all started with the pitching.
Following Monday’s shutout of the Clippers (12-6), Georgetown now boasts an insane team ERA of 1.53 for the season. Ruth himself has been the arm behind two no-hitters, and as a unit, the Royals have posted eight shutouts while holding four other opponents to less than two runs.
And it’s all thanks to one man.
Remember Kyle Greenler?
A member of the Georgetown Class of 2018, Greenler became the school’s first Division 1 athlete when he committed to pitch for Elon University in North Carolina. He spent four years as a high-leverage reliever for the Phoenix, then just last spring used his extra COVID year of eligibility to pitch for the University of Georgia in the power-5 conference SEC.
Now, he’s returned to his roots as Georgetown’s pitching coach.
And you better believe that when he talks, the Royals listen.
It was just last year that Greenler was pitching against future MLB draft picks every night in the SEC. So bringing that knowledge back to the program that helped shape him, and spreading it with the current crop of ballplayers, has truly turned this Georgetown pitching staff from great to elite.
“Kyle’s been great,” said Georgetown coach Phil Desilets, now in his 9th year with the program. “I mean listen, he was pitching at Georgia this time last year, you know. So anything he says, these guys are like glued to it. He’s done a great job with it. He put in a throwing program and a maintenance program, and these guys have just been doing what they need to do every single day.”
For the most part, Georgetown has relied on its “Big 3” to eat up innings.
They’ve been so good, and the Royals have won so many games, that not many other guys have really been needed.
Ruth currently has the best ERA at 0.88, allowing just three earned runs over 24.0 innings pitched with 28 strikeouts and a 5-0 record. But after posting a two-hit shutout against Newburyport on Monday, senior Ty Gilmore now also has a 5-0 record with a 1.08 ERA and 31 punchouts in 39.0 innings. Lastly, fellow senior Carter Lucido is 4-1 with a 1.64 ERA, surrendering just six earned runs all year with 30 Ks in 25.2 innings.
Again, those three have carried the lion share of the workload.
“(Greenler) has personally helped me out a lot,” said Ruth. “But he’s also helped out Ty, helped Carter, and really everyone. He’s been huge for us.”
And it hasn’t just been in how Georgetown pitchers are attacking batters.
“He’s been a really big help,” said Gilmore. “He’s showed a lot of the pitchers how to properly warm up, do the bands, the whole routine. Personally, he’s worked with me on my splitter, getting more movement, so he’s just been super helpful.”
There’s really no questioning the results.
Georgetown has now scored at least six runs in 13 of 17 games, so the offense has been there. Plus, out of the 27 total runs the team has allowed all year, 23 of them have been earned — so the defense has been strong, too.
But the pitching, spearheaded by Greenler, has been the key.
Georgetown 6, Newburyport 0
Newburyport (0): Connor Stick 2b 2-0-1, Jackson DeVivo cf 3-0-1, Jack Sullivan lf 3-0-0, Parker Cowles 3b 3-0-0, Jack Mercier rf 3-0-0, Ben Perron pr 0-0-0, Ben Cook c 1-0-0, Nick Garbarino ph 1-0-0, Ryan Sanchez dh 3-0-0, Ray Arcand 1b 2-0-0, Brayden Johnson ph 1-0-0, Milo Freundlich ss 1-0-0, Colin Klapes ph 0-0-0. Totals 23-0-2
Georgetown (6): Hayden Ruth rf 3-2-2, Jake Gilbo cf 3-2-2, Ty Gilmore p 1-1-0, Ethan Lee dh 3-0-1, Jason Gioia lf 3-1-0, Carter Lucido 1b 2-0-0, Jake Gilstein c 3-0-1, Oliver Thibeault 3b 2-0-0, Brendan Loewen ss 2-0-0. Totals 22-6-6
RBI: G — Gilbo, Gilmore, Gioia, Thibeault
WP: Gilmore (7 IP, 0 ER, 8 K); LP: Luekens
Newburyport (12-6) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Georgetown (16-1): 1 0 0 3 2 0 x — 6