On a team loaded with senior leadership and MVP-type candidates, Sherburne-Earlville pitcher Caleb Brown stands front and center as a lead character in the Marauders’ 2009 championship season.

On Tuesday of this week, Brown won his eighth decision of the season, the most among all starting pitchers in Chenango County to cap a perfect 10-0 league record for Sherburne-Earlville. Brown was also on the hill last Friday when the Marauders clinched a Center State Conference division title – the team’s first in six years – beating longtime rival Cooperstown.

Twice a week, Brown has answered the call for the Marauders, and he has proven nearly unbeatable. Given that the Marauders are also providing some of their best offensive numbers for whomever takes the mound, the offense combined with Brown’s pitching have jelled into a perfect baseball storm of sorts.

Brown is averaging better than a strike an inning, he has exhibited pinpoint control rarely walking more than one batter a game, and his ERA is around 1.00. That season-long excellence makes Brown an easy choice as our Evening Sun/Smith Ford LLC Athlete of the Week.