Fort Zumwalt South Ace Throwing Up Zeroes

junior pitcher Gerrion Grim has made a habit out of pitching shutouts in the last few weeks.

Grim pitched a 7-0 and a 6-0 shutout against Washington on April 14. In Tuesday’s shutout he struck out six batters, walked two and gave up just two hits.

“When he gets his second pitch moving and the first strike, Gerrion is very tough,” South head coach Keith DeShurley said after the win over East. “When he gets ahead of hitters, starts making them swing at his pitch, and his second pitch is on, he’s very difficult to deal with, and for the last two games they haven’t scored a run off of him.”

At times Grim had to battle against East. The Lions had men on base, but Grim forced them to strand three runners in the contest.

“I was trying to get ahead and making them swing at my pitch,” Grim said after Thursday’s shut out. “In prior starts I had trouble getting ahead. I had to keep working and keeping working and not give up.”

Grim had four different pitches in his repertoire against Zumwalt East: a four-seam fastball, the slider, the curveball, and the split-fingered fastball. The pitcher credited South pitching coach Bill Friedel’s preparation skills on evaluating East's batters.  

“Coach Friedel does a great job of preparing us,” Grim said. “He tells us to get ahead, stay ahead, and to mix up our speed and hit our locations. He tells us to stay ahead of our hitters and make them hit your pitch. He’s taught this to us from day one.”

Grim is South’s No. 1 pitcher this year. After a year at the junior varsity level he was moved up to varsity last year.

“Last year was a good experience for me,” he said. “It really helped me build myself as a pitcher for this year. I saw A.J. Walkenhorst, our ace last year, he helped me develop as a pitcher for this year. He would discus how he broke down batters and how he thought at different times in the game. He helped me to think as a batter and as a pitcher. I was the No. 3 man and it helped me to get the necessary varsity experience.”

As South’s ace, Grim only wants to see his team progress and work toward the goal of a GAC championship.

“I want to help my team when I’m on the mound to keep building and keep working toward our team goal of a conference championship, win our district, and hopefully keep going,” he said.