Brandon Underhill has embraced a more prominent role with the Welland Jackfish this season.

The 24-year-old Niagara Falls native has found a niche as a long reliever after bouncing between the starting rotation and bullpen last season.

“It’s great,” he said. “Just giving the guys a chance to win every night. Coming in, knowing my role, throwing strikes and attacking hitters and letting the guys work behind me. It’s nice to give the guys a chance to do what they do.”

Underhill feels the role of the middle reliever is crucial.

“It’s very important,” he said. “The guys trust everyone on the team in our pen and being able to give a couple innings here and there and be able to bridge the gap is very important. It’s a huge part of the game and luckily it’s been paying off for me.”

Underhill has a pair of wins in nine games and is averaging more than a strikeout per inning despite not being a flamethrower.

“I would say he’s one of the top guys out of our bullpen, between him and (Deivy) Mendez and (Mike) Mueller,” Jackfish manager Brian Essery said. “Consistently, we go to him when we need longer innings and we’ve needed a lot lately because we haven’t had good starting pitching.”

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