SURREY - When an umpire called for time in the fourth inning of Thursday's American Legion game between Surrey and Burlington, Brady Schwan loudly volunteered to run out and scoop up the bat left behind by the previous hitter.
Rather than following the baseball tradition of keeping silent until he allowed his first hit, the Surrey pitcher joked with his teammates as he toyed with Bulldogs hitters.
"He's a character," Surrey shortstop Dylan Enget said. "He likes to keep it talking, keep the mood up like nothing's happening, nothing big's going on."
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Surrey pitcher Brady Schwan delivers a pitch against Burlington on Thursday afternoon in Surrey. He struck out 10 and threw a one-hitter in the Blue Sox’s 10-0 win.
Schwan was a two-out sixth inning single away from a second no-hitter in three summer starts, settling for 10 strikeouts and a shutout in the Blue Sox's 10-0 victory.
"This is a typical Brady game for us so far this season," Surrey (6-6) coach Jeremy Feller said. "He's been on - early and often."
The summer provides Schwan with an opportunity he didn't have his freshman year at Southwest Community College in Creston, Iowa.
The southpaw arrived on campus eager to showcase his talents at the college level. But frequent arm issues derailed those plans.
"People have been telling me for a whole time that I threw wrong, but it never really affected me until the last couple of years when I started to slowly throw slower and slower," Schwan said.
Schwan was sidelined and redshirted at Southwest. Now he's back on the mound, this time showcasing a simpler, shorter windup.
The results: Three starts. Three complete games. Three hits and one run allowed.
The Burlington (2-12) bats fell silent Thursday. In addition to a fastball he used to challenge Bulldogs hitters, Schwan continuously fooled his opponents with curveballs of varying speeds and a knuckleball he likens to that of New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey.
"I'm just trying to switch up my stuff," Schwan said. "The first time through the order, throw a lot of fastballs. Second time, use a lot of junk.
"I'd throw it slow sometimes and then other times, I'd come up with a faster curveball. It just seemed like they really didn't know how to handle it."
The Blue Sox didn't let up at the plate. Surrey scored in four different innings, thanks in large part to a Burlington defense that committed seven errors.
In the sixth inning, Bulldogs catcher Cody White screamed at some of his teammates after nobody covered second base on a stolen base attempt, allowing Blue Sox second baseman Trevor Heinze to advance to third. During the same at-bat, Michael Feigitsch hit a dribbler to the pitcher. Nobody covered first, allowing Feigitsch to reach with an infield single that drove in the Blue Sox's 10th run.
"You want to have success," Burlington coach Jason Brooking said. "We were far from successful today."
Surrey swept the doubleheader, taking the second game 18-8.