Kutztown bows out of playoffs
Mustangs’ Weber troubles Cougars; Kutztown awaits district playoffs
LAURELDALE >> Top-seeded Governor Mifflin rolled into the semifinals of the BCIAA baseball playoffs on May 11 with a 6-0 whitewash of No. 8 Kutztown in the first game of doubleheader at Muhlenberg High School.
Wilson defeated Daniel Boone in the nightcap at Muhlenberg by a 6-1 score. The Mustangs and Bulldogs were slated to meet in the semifinals Monday, at First Energy Stadium. Twin Valley and Fleetwood, also each victorious Thursday, were Monday’s other Berks League semifinalists.
The young bats of the Cougars – the majority of Kutztown’s lineup was comprised of sophomores and freshman – proved no match for Mifflin starter Noah Weber, a senior, who carried a perfect game into the fifth inning and allowed just two base hits en route to a complete game shutout.
Mifflin played like a top seed – efficient, opportunistic, aggressive – in taking out the Cougars.
“You don’t take anyone for granted in the (Berks) playoffs because you don’t get a do-over,” Mifflin head coach Chris Hole said. “So we came into this expecting a dogfight. We talked at length about respecting the opportunity we had in front of us and I’m really proud of boys for doing the little things correctly and maintaining focus throughout.”
Zach Schell, a junior, broke up Weber’s perfecto with an infield single in the top of the sixth. A second single soon followed, but nothing materialized off it and that was it for Kutztown’s output.
“In all honesty, we haven’t seen a pitcher like that all year,” Kutztown head coach Tim Mertz said. “We were behind on him. I don’t know that he was throwing much breaking stuff; he was throwing fastballs and just moving it around, at least for the first four innings.”
Weber recorded a four-pitch inning and a five-pitch one and completed the game tossing just 65 pitches. Mertz was OK with his hitters’ aggressive approach at the plate.
“We were trying to get early fastballs,” Mertz said. “We didn’t want to get deep
into counts and see a lot of junk.”
Weber was aware of his performance in the moment but tried to block it out.
“I was aware (of the perfect game) but I tried not to think about it,” he said. “First time around, we threw fastballs, then second time around we started to throw off-speed stuff to see where their bats were at.”
Weber’s performance impressed Hole.
“Noah did a fantastic job for us,” Mifflin’s skipper said. “When he’s on for like he was (Friday), he’s throwing down in the zone, to both sides of the plate, all three pitches working; it makes it difficult for a hitter to stay balanced when you don’t know what’s coming at you.”
Mifflin jumped on Kutztown with three runs in the bottom of the first inning without the benefit of a base hit. Kutztown starter Dustin Renninger plunked AJ Sczpekowski to lead off the frame and walked Trey Paige. Two batters later, Isaac Ruoss walked to load the bases. Phillip Henry hit a ground ball that was booted, allowing Sczepkowski and Paige to score. Ruoss later came in on an RBI groundout off the bat of Joe Adametz.
The Mustangs made it a 4-0 game the next inning on an RBI single from Paige, then tacked on two more in the fourth.
With Weber on cruise control, those six runs proved more than enough for Mifflin to see it through.
Kutztown now awaits the start of the District 3 playoffs. The Cougars (11-9) entered the week ranked No. 3 in Class AA.