SUMMER BASEBALL SPECIAL EDITION
Look back on the summer baseball season with our A-to-Z review and American Legion Baseball Mercury/ Berks-Mont All-Area team inside today’s edition.
Right on the heels of an exciting spring baseball season, this summer season provided no shortage of thrillers throughout. The Spring City American Legion team earned its first trip to the Pa. State playoffs in half a decade, while the Jr. Legion program captured its third state title in the past four years. Hamburg captured the inaugural Division 2 Pa. Legion state title while the Pine Forge Senior Babe Ruth team came up just short of making a second straight Senior Babe World Series appearance.
Here’s an alphabetical look back at some of the highlights from the summer baseball season:
A» A’s. The Muhlenberg A’s became the first team to go through the entire season and the Schuylkill-Berks League without a single loss on the way to the league title. The team finished 13-0 against league opponents including the championship game, a 10-2 win over the Post 217 Patriots.
B» Bear Cubs. The Boyertown Bear Cubs Jr. Legion team was putting together a solid campaign before running into Spring City during the Berwick regional final. Needing to win just one game on the final day, Boyertown was ousted by the Red Sox 5-2, then 1-0 to end their season at 39-4 overall.
C» Cal Endy. The Norchester right-hander was named the Berks League Sr. Legion’s Outstanding pitcher. He finished the season with an impressive 6-0 record along with a 2.08 ERA through the Berks County League playoffs. During that run, he struck out 38 batters against only 20 walks.
D» Division 2. The Hamburg Legion baseball team won the inaugural Pa. Sr. Legion Division 2 state title, closing it out with a 13-3, six-inning win over McConnellsburg Post 561. It was the state’s first foray into Division 2 baseball, a format designed for smaller schools/territories.
E» Extra-base hits. Daniel Boone outfielder Matt Stevens led the Berks County League in extra base hits with nine doubles. Meanwhile, Spring City first baseman Kasey Caras led Chester County with eight doubles and four triples. Hamburg’s Logan Adams led the SchuylkillBerks League with four doubles, three triples and a home run.
F» From player to coach. Mitchell Pinder, who was a catalyst in the infield during Pine Forge’s run to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series last season, returned as an assistant coach to the Indians this season. PF earned a third straight berth in the Sr. Babe Middle Atlantic playoffs.
G» Going yard. For the year, the Spring City Legion baseball team posted 11 home runs, highlighted by Nick Price, who finished with four long balls. As comparison, all seven teams in the Berks League combined for nine home runs on the year.
H» Hosts. There must be something to playing at home, as the host of each playoff bracket did some damage. Ephrata, the host of the 2017 Pa. State Championship, went undefeated on their way to claiming the title with a 7-0 win over Wesleyville and a place in the Mid-Atlantic Regionals in Leesburg, Va. Mount Olive, the host of the Pa. Sr. Babe Ruth championships, also claimed the title on its home turf. West Lawn, the host of the Region 2 playoffs, reached the regional championship round while Spring City, host of Region 3, blew through their bracket without a loss.
I» Incoming contributor. Chris Davis proved to be a valuable piece for the Boyertown Legion baseball team. After Quinn Mason went down with an injury, Davis filled in seamlessly, taking over shortstop duties. For the regular season, he finished with a .440 average along with six runs scored, four RBI, a double and a triple. He was also the hero with the walkoff hit in the Bears’ opening-round win over Shillington during the Berks County League playoffs.
J» Josh Fulmer. Nearly any time the Norchester infielder put the bat on the ball, it was hit hard. Fulmer finished the regular season with a .447 batting average along with five doubles, a triple, 22 runs scored and 18 RBI. He also had nine stolen bases.
K» Kahn. Tom Kahn, manager of South Parkland, had plenty of pitchers armed and ready in light of the new pitch-count regulations (see below). During the team’s run to the Region 2 title, Kahn and the Trojans featured eight different pitchers and used six pitchers over the final three games to claim the title.
L» Longacres. Brothers Sam and Ben Longacre were key to the Pine Forge Senior Babe Ruth baseball team’s run to the doorstep of the World Series. Typically batting backto-back at the heart of the order, the Longacres provided plenty of pop throughout the year.
M» Michaud. Cam Michaud proved to be Spring City’s workhorse during their run to the Pa. State playoffs. For the year, the right-hander finished up with a 1.57 ERA with a 4-2 record including nine-inning postseason complete game efforts against Downingtown and Broomall-Newtown. He had 47 strikeouts against 20 walks.
N» Norchester. The Bulldogs had the most players earn All-Berks League honors in the circuit. Endy, Andy Blum and Josh Fulmer were named to the 2017 All-Star Team while Blum, Austyn Levengood, Jordan Siket, Dan Stofko and Leif Wergeland were named to the All-Underclassmen Team.
O» Opposite-handed catcher. Twin Valley’s Colby Hiddemen lit it up during the Berks County League playoffs. The lefty-throwing catcher hit .538 with a double and six RBI during the Raiders’ postseason run, which came up short against Norchester in the championship round. Nevertheless, it was a strong turnaround for Twin Valley after missing the Berks playoffs in 2016 and starting the season 1-6.
P» Pitch-count regulations. Similar to how the PIAA adopted a new pitch-count rule during the spring season, American Legion baseball did the same. Under the new rules, no pitcher could throw more than 120 pitchers, and days of rest were required based on the number of pitchers thrown. That provided problems for a handful of short-armed teams during the regional playoffs.
Q» Quinn McKenna. After a forgettable senior season with the Spring-Ford High School team, McKenna utilized his power in a big way this summer with Spring City. The Lehigh University commit posted four doubles, a triple and three home runs — including a key solo homer against Falls during Region 3’s winners’ bracket final — along with 28 RBI and 34 runs scored.
R» Ryan Murphy. West Lawn’s big dog, Murphy was named the Berks County League’s Most Valuable Player. He finished the regular season with a .463 batting average which included five triples and a home run along with 19 RBI and 17 runs scored.
S» Spring City. Turned out to be a strong summer for the Red Sox’ entire program. The Senior Legion baseball team earned a trip to the Pa. State playoffs at Ephrata after blowing through the Region 3 playoffs while the Jr. Legion program captured its third state title in the past four seasons at Homer City following a title in the Berwick Regional. For good measure, the Spring City Sandlot team was also crowned state champions on July 18 in a 7-3 victory over Philadelphia’s Taney Dragons.
T» Twins. Twin brothers Mason and Logan Pennypacker returned for their final seasons with the Pottstown Steelers. With them, they brought plenty of valuable experience as the young team rallied to finish the season 12-8 in Bux-Mont League play.
U» Upper Providence Little League. Upper Providence earned a trip to the Mid-Atlantic Regional – one step from playing in the Little League World Series – after claiming the Pa. Little League title.
V» Veteran’s Hospital. All proceeds from the Schuylkill-Berks vs. Lehigh Valley All-Star Game at FirstEnergy Stadium went to the Lebanon Valley Veteran’s Hospital. The league estimated that proceeds reached as much as $2,500, more than double the year prior.
W» Wieand. Boyertown Sr. Legion pitcher Justin Wieand was strong for the Bears all season long. For the regular season, he posted a 1.73 ERA with a 4-0 record in 26 complete innings pitched, including a pair of complete game efforts. He struck out 17 batters and walked eight.
X» Xanthopoulos. Who else? Mike Xanthopoulos was a beast for the Boyertown Legion baseball team. The fiery right-hander posted a 2-1 record with a 1.59 ERA during the regular season and also hit .377 with three doubles and a home run. All that, after he hadn’t registered a single plate appearance with the Boyertown High School team.
Y» Youndt. Janson Youndt was near impossible to get out during Hamburg’s run this season. His .500 average only stands as proof. The first baseman finished with a team-best 16 runs scored and 21 hits. He also had three doubles, a pair of triples, nine RBI and only six strikeouts. On the mound he was plenty effective, boasting a 3.38 ERA in 21-1⁄3 innings pitched. He finished with a 1-2 record.
Z» Zuber. Pine Forge manager Richard Zuber led the Indians to a third straight appearance in the Sr. Babe Ruth Mid-Atlantic Regional playoffs where they came up just short of a second straight World Series appearance. The longtime outspoken manager had arguably the quote of the summer saying: “People think Pine Forge is out in the boondocks, which it partially is, but they have to start realizing that we are the team in Boyertown. We’re not second fiddle to anyone,” following the team’s loss in the Pa. state title game.