Boyertown’s playoff run ends
Boyertown’s legion postseason run ends in forgettable fashion
“I stayed long after all the other guys and sat at the field and just reminisced of the good times and the bad. I recalled the tough wins and even tougher losses.” – Boyertown second baseman Michael Raineri.
BOYERTOWN » Well after the stands were cleared, the field was raked and the gates were locked, Michael Raineri sat all alone inside the third-base dugout at Bear Stadium last Sunday night.
He looked out at the field — the place he’d called home the past four spring and summer baseball seasons — and found himself completely engulfed in memories.
“I stayed long after all the other guys and sat at the field and just reminisced of the good times and the bad,” the Boyertown Legion baseball team’s middle infielder said. “I recalled the tough wins and even tougher losses. I shed a few tears as I realized it was over.”
It would have been easy for Raineri to sit there and play back what happened that particular evening — the No. 3-seeded Bears faltering defensively and allowing two runs to cross in the bottom of the ninth inning. That enabled top-seeded Norchester to advance back to the championship round of the Berks County playoffs in 3-2 walk-off fashion as the Bears’ season was ended by the Bulldogs for the second straight year.
But that was the last thing on his mind.
Rather, he sat back and reminisced on the old times, the glory days as a member of Boyertown.
He thought back to the late night practices, the laughs shared both in the dugout and on the field and of course, the time the Boyertown High School team was welcomed back at Bear Stadium with the 2016 PIAA Class AAAA trophy in-hand from Penn State University.
Of all the memories that Raineri glazed over that night, his most favorable one took him back to his rookie season with Boyertown legion.
On Boyertown Midget Baseball League (BMBL) Night that year, youth members of the Boyertown program were invited to run out onto the field with a player of their selection. Standing with Raineri at shortstop was by far the highest amount of youngsters compared to any other position on the field — an image that has yet to leave Raineri’s memory.
“I remember them telling me that I was their favorite,” recalled Raineri of that night, “it was another humbling moment for me. It made me realize that I have kids looking up to me, and that I need to be a good role model
for them. Some of those kids continued to come back and watch us boys play for the next two seasons and I’d always make it a point to go up to them and talk after games, whether it was my worst or best game.
“You don’t choose to be a role model, the kids choose you, and being a role model for those kids was one of the most humbling and greatest experiences of my life.”
Safe to say Raineri will have plenty more chances to lay the groundwork for those behind to follow. He’ll begin his collegiate baseball career at Misericordia University next season, where the Cougars have qualified for the District III NCAA Tournament during each of the past seven seasons.
*** For the year, Mike Xanthopoulos swung the big bat for the Bears registering a .333 batting average with 26 hits and eight RBI against just four strikeouts. His breakthrough summer hitting performance came after he hadn’t registered a single plate appearance while pitching for the Boyertown High School team this past spring.
The right-hander brought plenty of fire out to the mound this summer, where he posted a 2-1 regular season record in 39-2/3 innings pitched.
Nick DiCiacco turned in a solid regular season for the Bears, finishing up with a .348 batting average with three doubles and RBI while Quinn Mason hit .429 despite sitting out a stretch of games while dealing with a concussion.
Filling in his place, first year man Chris Davis was plenty serviceable. The shortstop hit .440 in nine games with a double and six runs scored. He also posted the game-winning RBI during the Bears’ Berks County playoff opener against Shillington.
Davis’ next-man-up approach was what drove the Bears all season long.
“We had a lot of young kids who were hungry for our spots,” Raineri said. “In a way that was probably the best thing for this team because it showed us that nothing is given, nothing is guaranteed. It doesn’t matter what you did last year, last year is over and done with. You have to prove yourself again this year.”
“Chris did a great job filling in for Quinn,” said longtime Boyertown manager Rick Moatz. “When (Quinn) came back, Chris was doing so well at short and we needed someone in the outfield, so we put him out there.”
Batting out of the twohole most of the season, the speedy Raineri hit .262 on the year with 14 runs scored, nine RBI and a team-high eight stolen bases.
Third baseman Tyler Kreitz was a defensive fixture at the hot corner. At the plate, he hit .259 with 12 runs scored and eight RBI.
Being a part of Boyertown baseball all of his life, Kreitz had been no stranger to the small-ball approach that the Bears have been known for through the years.
“I went into every at-bat thinking ‘What can I do to help my team?’” recalled Kreitz. “Whether it’s getting a bunt down or driving a run in, each at-bat I had a job to get done.” *** For the year, the Bears finished 11-7 in Berks League play, behind only eventual champ Norchester (13-5) and West Lawn (11-7). The Bears opened the season with consecutive losses against the Bulldogs and Owls before picking up three consecutive wins. For the regular season, three of their losses came against Norchester and two others against Twin Valley.
After opening up the postseason with a 4-3 walkoff win against Shillington, the Bears fell 10-5 against West Lawn. They then got back on the horse with a 4-2 win over Exeter on the shoulders of Jared Waldman’s complete game fivehitter.
*** Norchester ended up claiming its second straight Berks Conference title on Tuesday, July 11 with a 10-0 win over Twin Valley in the second round of the championship game. The Bulldogs had put together an undefeated run through the Berks County Legion playoffs before the Raiders got the better of them in the championship opener, 6-4, on Monday night to stretch it to a two-game series.
Along with host West Lawn, both advance to the Region II Tournament, which will be underway next week.