D-Braves’ Shehan walking in his brother’s footsteps

Jon Shehan took his little brother to the batting cages Sunday morning, and the former Danville Braves catcher and Millersville (Pa.) University baseball coach offered some tips.

Keep your hands close to your body.

Shorten your swing.

And so on.

“When I’m struggling he’s my personal hitting coach,” Chris Shehan said. “He always has something for me to work on and I definitely make improvements every time he comes down.”

The session with his older brother apparently paid off in a big way, as Chris’ solo home run in the fourth inning helped spark the D-Braves to a 13-9 come-from-behind victory against the Princeton Rays on Sunday afternoon at Dan Daniel Park.

After a combined 1-for-8 effort and four strikeouts with his family in town on Friday and Saturday, the D-Braves outfielder — five years younger than his brother and getting the chance to don the same pro uniform — broke out of his short-lived offensive funk on Sunday. Chris went 3-for-5, including the homer, with two runs scored and an RBI as the entire D-Braves offense snapped to life. Seven D-Braves had multiple hits in the game.

“Hitting is contagious. That’s just the way it is,” Chris said. “When things are going bad, things go bad for everybody and when things are going good, things go great for everybody.”

“We talk about once every couple of days,” Jon laughs. “I call him when he’s struggling — which has been a lot lately.”

Honestly, though, Chris has posted some solid numbers despite the D-Braves’ struggles this year. The 6-foot, 205-pounder from Strasburg, Pa., has a .274 batting average with 51 hits, including eight doubles, a triple and five home runs, plus 17 RBIs and two stolen bases in 50 games this season. He’s struck out 44 times and committed only two errors.

The Georgia Southern product was named Southern Conference Player of the Year and a first-team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association after his senior season, when he scored a team record 84 runs and batted .438, tied for second-highest in the country. His .376 career batting average ranks third-best in school history.

Chris was a 30th-round selection of the Atlanta Braves in this summer’s draft, and the unusualness of suiting up for a professional team his big brother used to play for isn’t lost on the 21-year-old.

“When I was in college and I came down here and watched Jon play at Danville a couple of times,” Chris said, “and it’s pretty exciting to be back in his shoes and to get an opportunity to play in the Braves organization.”

Jon signed as an undrafted free agent with Atlanta Braves in 2004, made it as high as Single-A Rome and was a catcher for the 2005 Danville Braves in his final season of playing professional baseball. He posted a .158 batting average in 15 games with Danville.

Jon returned to Millersville, his alma mater, as an assistant coach the following year and assumed head coaching duties this past season — only to lead the Marauders to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division championship, its first division title in eight years. He earned PSAC East Coach of the Year honors in the process.

While the brothers have been fortunate to play for the same professional team, they were only ever able to play together on the same squad once — a summer league team that Jon belonged to needed an extra player, and Chris “just happened to be there.”

“It was a great time,” Chris said. “Playing with my brother who is five years older than me was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Kind of like two brothers — one playing for a pro team the other used to call his own — 400 miles from home and sharing the same batting cage on a warm August morning.

HOW THEY SCORED
TOP OF THE FIRST: Julio Tehran pitching. Diogenes Luis singles to left-center field. Tim Beckham hit by a pitch. Burt Reynolds singles to center, scoring Luis. Elios Otero singles to center. Beckham out at home on the play. Eli Sonoqui strikes out. David Genao reaches safely on a throwing error by third baseman Jon Gilmore. D.J. Jones grounds out to third. Princeton 1, Danville 0
TOP OF THE THIRD: Tehran pitching. Beckham grounds out to third. Reynolds infield single to third. Otero two-run home run to right. Pitching change to Cody Railsback. Sonoqui grounds out to the pitcher. Genao infield single to third. Jones singles to left. Runners advance to second and third on a wild pitch. Ramon Novas strikes out. Princeton 3, Danville 0
BOTTOM OF THE THIRD: Kevin Chavez pitching. Mike Elkerson doubles to right-center field. Joel Campusano grounds out to short, advancing Elkerson to third. Shayne Moody strikes out. Camilo Parra singles on a grounder to right, scoring Elkerson. Jon Gilmore strikes out. Princeton 3, Danville 1
BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH: Chavez pitching. Chris Shehan solo home run to center field. Chais Fuller singles to right. Matt Kennelly lines out to short. L.V. Ware infield single to third. Runners advance to second and third on a wild pitch. Elkerson flies out to short. Campusano singles on grounder to left, scoring Fuller. Moody walks to load the bases. Pitching change to Shawn Smith. Parra singles to left, scoring Ware and Campusano. Gilmore doubles to right, scoring Moody and advancing Parra to third. Shehan pops out to second. Danville 6, Princeton 3
TOP OF THE FIFTH: Railsback pitching. Otero doubles to left. Sonoqui singles to left. Genao doubles to right, scoring Otero. Jones flies out to short. Novas strikes out. Dustin Biell strikes out. Danville 6, Princeton 4
BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH: Smith pitching. Fuller doubles to left. Kennelly flies out to left. Ware doubles to left, scoring Fuller. Elkerson doubles to right, scoring Ware. Pitching change to Juan Santana. Campusano grounds out to second, advancing Elkerson to third. Elkerson scores and Moody reaches first safely on a fielding error by first baseman Eli Sonoqui. Parra flies out to center. Danville 9, Princeton 4
BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH: Juan Santana pitching. Gilmore grounds out to short. Shehan singles to right. Fuller singles to left. Kennelly flies out to short. Ware singles to left, scoring Shehan. Fuller scores and Elkerson reaches first safely on a fielding error by third baseman Diogenes Luis. Campusano singles to right, scoring Ware. Moody grounds out to short. Danville 12, Princeton 4
BOTTOM OF THE SEVENTH: Santana pitching. Parra singles to right and advances to second on a fielding error by right fielder Ramon Novas. Gilmore singles to right, advancing Parra to third. Shehan grounds into a 6-4-3 double play, scoring Parra. Fuller doubles to right. Kenelly walks. Ware strikes out. Danville 13, Princeton 4
TOP OF THE NINTH: Derick Himpsl pitching. Beckham grounds out to second. Reynolds doubles to right. Otero infield single to short, advancing Reynolds to third. Reynolds scores and Otero advances to second on a wild pitch. Otero advances to third on a wild pitch. Sonoqui walks. Genao walks, loading the bases. Jones walks, scoring Otero. Novas bases-clearing triple to center, scoring Sonoqui, Genao and Jones. Pitching change to Steven Kent. Biell strikes out. Luis fouls out to the catcher. Danville 13, Princeton 9

NEWS & NOTES
D-Braves RHP Julio Tehran, ranked by Baseball America as the 10th best prospect in the Braves organization, made his first home start since the season opener against Burlington on June 18. Tehran, who has missed most of the season with soreness in his right shoulder, allowed five hits, three earned runs, struck out three and hit a batter before being lifted from the game after only 2 1-3 innings. … D-Braves RHP Matt Timms was promoted to Single-A Rome. He has a 1-1 record, a 2.45 ERA and has recorded 18 strikeouts and two walks this season. … Former D-Braves closer Craig Kimbrel has appeared in five games for Rome since being called up about two weeks ago. He has three saves and two wins in that span. He has not allowed a run, given up only one hit and has piled up 15 strikeouts in 7 1-3 innings. … Jon Gilmore’s RBI double in the fourth inning was his Appalachian League-leading 20th of the season. He also leads the league with 68 hits. … The D-Braves connected for three doubles in the fifth inning and six overall. … Danville won its first Sunday home game this season. The team had been 0-3. … The victory also snapped Danville’s streak of losing six straight series. … The D-Braves recorded at least 20 hits in a game for the third time this season. They had 23 hits against Pulaski on Aug. 1, which set a season and franchise high.