JORDAN DEBOLT
Special to The Leader
For any sports team, chemistry in the locker room is always important. The best teams are often the ones that feel like a big family. This season, the Blue Devils roster will definitely have a sense of family, as it holds two sets of brothers.
Vinny and Kyle Sherman both transferred in this year to once again play together. Michael and Ryan Carmody will also be able to play together — for the first time since high school — for Ryan’s senior season.
The Sherman brothers, who are only one year apart, played baseball together at North Collins High School. After their high school days, they both moved on to play a year together at Erie Community College before older brother Vinny moved on to play D2 baseball at Georgetown College in Kentucky. They both enrolled at Fredonia this fall and are very excited to be a part of the Blue Devils this season.
“It was a very tough decision for me,” Kyle said. “But I always had Fredonia at the top of my list. I’ve known some of the guys before coming here, so it was easy to get comfortable with the team. The community is awesome, and I’m glad to be a student athlete here.”
Knowing that Kyle would be playing at Fredonia, Vinny decided to make a move, as well, and come back to the Western New York area to play with his brother for the Blue Devils.
“After going away to school in Kentucky last year, I wanted to be closer to my family and friends,” Vinny said. “And, of course, I wanted to finish my last year of playing baseball with my brother.”
The Carmody brothers both played at Valley Central High School in Montgomery, N.Y., before coming to Fredonia. Ryan has played on the team for three seasons and is entering his senior season. His little brother, Michael, is entering his freshman season here at Fredonia. For Mike, the decision to join his brother here at Fredonia was a very easy one.
“I loved the school, and having the opportunity to play baseball with my older brother again wasn’t one I was going to pass up,” Mike said. “Ryan brings leadership to the team; he’s the hardest worker I know on and off the field.”
Having a brother on the same team can be both a good and bad thing. Obviously, it’s fun and exciting to play college athletics with a sibling, but he can also be one of your biggest critics. However, when asked, these sets of brothers praised each other both on and off the field and showed confidence in each other’s abilities.
“Kyle is a scrappy player, and he loves it,” Vinny said of his brother. “He takes pride in stealing bases and doing the little things right that you need to win games. He has unbelievable patience at the plate, and I hope he has a really good year this year.”
All four of these players will be competing for playing time on a roster that returns six of its nine starters from last season, as well as two out of three of its conference starting pitchers. The Blue Devil roster includes a combined 21 juniors and seniors. This creates extremely high expectations for the upcoming season.
“I think the sky is the limit for this team really,” Vinny said. “We have a great group of guys who are all really close friends, and we all believe that we can be a top team in the SUNYAC this year.”