Boyertown misses chance to overtake Norchester
It was worth the wait. Norchester and Boyertown squared off Saturday in an American Legion baseball game with big implications for the Berks County League standings. The game went to the second inning, with the Bulldogs leading 1-0, before inclement weather suspended it until Sunday.
Norchester picked up from where it left off previously, rolling up a 7-0 victory on the Bears at Owen J. Roberts. The win put the ‘Dogs (14-3) a half-game ahead of Boyertown (14-4) atop the Berks standings.
Sam Morris threw a masterful complete game for Norchester, scattering three hits and walking none while striking out seven. He needed to throw just 77 pitches to complete the no-hitter.
The Bulldog offense, in the meantime, banged out 12 hits and secured the win with a fiverun second. Morris helped his mound cause at the plate, doubling twice and driving in a pair of runs.
Jake Iyoob also drove in a pair of runs for the ‘Dogs, and Jordan Siket was a solid 3-for-4 with one RBI. Austin Boaman (2-for3) and Ryan Sayers (2-for-4) had other multiple-hit games.
Caleb Harrison had two of Boyertown’s hits, with Chris Davis (double) adding the third. The Bears had five players pitch, starter Nolan Kline taking the loss after 1-1/3 innings’ work. OLEY/TOPTON 3, BOYERTOWN 0 >> The Bears were held to one hit by Post 217 when they resumed their previously-suspended Berks County League game.
Ethan Martin had the lone safety for Boyertown (14-3), which had four players draw walks — Sam Legerton two — on the day. Oley/Topton got its ultimate game-winning run in its first at bat, adding a pair of insurance tallies in the fifth.
Sean Sutterby went just two innings in his starting stint on the mound, with Jared Waldman working the next three. Both players racked up three strikeouts.
BOYERTOWN 3, EXETER 0 >> Stephen Cisik scattered six hits, and the Bears scored all of their runs in the top of the second inning to defeat the Blue Jays in Berks County League play on July 1.
Cisik walked three and struck out eight in going the distance for the victory. Billy Coleman and Caleb Harrison each had two hits for boyertown, while J.D. Garcia and Collin Gehringer each had two hits for Exeter.
Sr. Babe Ruth baseball
They went all the way to the Scranton area in pursuit of bragging rights to Senior Babe Ruth baseball supremacy from the Montgomery/Berks County area.
When they faced off Friday in the opening round of the Pa. State Tournament, Pine Forge Blue dominated its game with the Boyertown Kodiaks. The Indians dispatched the Bruins in five innings at Dunmore’s Schautz Memorial Stadium.
Pine Forge used five-run outbursts in the second and fifth to bring on the early end against Boyertown, which scored in the third and fifth. It was able to do that despite collecting just six hits, drawing 10 walks and taking advantage of seven Boyertown miscues.
Drew Hartman (2-for-3, double) and Gabriel Willman (2-for4) each drove in three runs for the Indians, with Zane Alderfer and Sam Longacre adding two RBI apiece. Luke Allain also doubled for the Indians, which got a combined five-hitter from Hartman (six strikeouts) and David King. Hitting safely for Boyertown were P.J. Ridell, Hunter Pizzo, Connor Neiswender, Max Knittle and Owen Merkel. WEST SCRANTON 9, PINE FORGE
BLUE 5 >> Staked to a six-run lead in its first at-bat, West Scranton went on to handle the Indians in Saturday’s play from the Pa. State Tournament.
Logan Mabry was one of the
hitting stars for PF Blue, going 2-for-4 with two RBI. Brett Leister chipped in with a 2-for-3 day for an Indian unit that got only within two runs (6-4) of West Scranton before it scored three times in the third inning to drop PF into the losers’ bracket.
The Indians got a combined three innings of solid shutout relief from Vinnie Kershner and Zane Alderfer, who yielded no hits or walks at the end. CHESTER COUNTY 6, PINE FORGE
BLUE 4 >> Saturday’s game against Chester County was a heartbreaker for Pine Forge Blue in the Pa. State Tournament as they lost the lead late in a 6-4 defeat.
The Indians fired up the offense in the first inning. with one run off a Sam Longacre single. After they scored two runs in the top of the third, Chester County answered with two of its own. Pine Forge Blue scored when Luke Allain doubled, scoring one run and Drew Hartman singled, scoring the other.
Chester County went ahead with two runs in the fifth, adding insurance in the sixth.
Brandon Bastian toed the rubber for the Indians, touched for three runs on four hits over three innings while striking out three. Ryan Schwab threw three innings in relief.
Hartman and Longacre both had multiple hits for Pine Forge, each collecting a pair.
KENNETT 15, BOYERTOWN KODIAKS 5 >> The Kodiaks were overwhelmed for the second time in as many days Saturday, falling to Kennett in losers’ bracket play from the Pa. State Tournament.
Connor Neiswender drove in two runs for Boyertown, whose other RBI were recorded by Zachary Hamilton and Hunter Ewing. The Kodiaks did all their scoring in the fourth, after Kennett built a seven-run lead in the early going.
Jr. Legion baseball
BOYERTOWN BEAR CUBS 10, FLEETWOOD 0 >> The Bear Cubs needed just five innings on July 3 to dispatch Fleetwood and set up their post-season plans.
Brandon Shane and Cole Galloway combined on the “mercy rule” shutout. With the win, Boyerown (15-1 league, 25-2-1 overall) clinched the Berks County League’s regular season championship and top seed in the circuit playoffs, which start Sunday, July 7, with a 1 p.m. game at Gabelsville versus the BCL’s number 8 seed.
The victory also enabled the Bear Cubs to clinch a spot in the Pa. Junior American Legion Eastern Regionals. That tournament will be played at the University of Scranton starting Saturday. July 20.