This year brought more anguish as Nyweide struggled to rediscover the form that had served him so well the past two summers, first in the Cape League and then last year for the Keene Swamp Bats of the New England Collegiate League. Walsh, though, continued to bet that Nyweide’s true self would reemerge.

That faith was put to the test early on Saturday, as Nyweide walked the game’s first two batters on nine pitches.

“I thought he struggled at the beginning, and I was a little nervous because he struggled early last time,” Walsh said, referring to Nyweide’s last start against Dartmouth, when he lasted just 2.1 innings.

Walsh got Dryden warming up in the bullpen, but Nyweide quickly calmed down. Despite giving up a run in the second, he struck out the side to end the inning. After that, he was lights-out and Walsh knew well enough to stick with him.

“I think definitely I was my own worst enemy the first two innings,” Nyweide said. “I think I threw 50-some odd pitches. One of the things I learned from the summer was basically you fake it ‘til you make it and you just got to keep plugging and we finally had a few quick innings.”

Nyweide retired 11 batters in a row at one point en route to his one-run, five-hit complete game.

“I think it got easier as the game went on,” Nyweide said. “I just kept feeding off the intensity of the other players.”

“After he settled down in the beginning, it was obvious they weren’t going to touch him,” shortstop Mark Mager added. “We had that game Wednesday when we threw Benny. We weren’t sure what we had [entering this weekend]. To have [Nyweide] throw the way he did today was huge.”

Nyweide had been a man on a mission all week long. While most of the team was still basking in the glow that was the aftermath of last Wednesday’s improbable ninth-inning comeback against Brown, Nyweide was getting his work in, throwing in the bullpen. After he was done, his catcher, sophomore Mickey Kropf, stopped to talk to reporters about the game-tying triple he had hit. Nyweide, a portrait of focus, picked up his bag and strode away quietly. He had some loose ends to tie up.

On Saturday, he took care of business.

“We’ve relied on Benny so much,” Nyweide said after the game. “I think it’s about time we took some pressure off of him.”

Crockett has a full two weeks to rest now. He has Nyweide to thank.