Twin Valley, Exeter move on to semis
Twin Valley junior Megan Burnett did her job in the top of the eighth inning and gave the Raiders an opportunity to successfully defend their Berks Softball League crown, which they’ve won in the past two active seasons (2019, ’21).
She blasted a two-run homer to left field in the extra inning to lift the fifth-seeded Raiders to a 4-2 victory over fourthseeded Fleetwood in a Berks quarterfinal Saturday at cloudy Laureldale. Exeter beat Gov. Mifflin 6-1 in the first game of the doubleheader.
“I’m glad you knew it was going out,” Burnett said of her homer. “I had no idea. I mean it felt good, but not that good. I was just trying to run as fast as I could. I haven’t hit a home run all season, so I wasn’t expecting it.”
As a designated hitter, Burnett’s sole duty is to swing the bat and she did just that in one of the highest pressure moments of the season.
“Since I don’t get any time on the field, hitting is my main goal,” Burnett said. “Getting hits is my main priority, all the time.”
Twin Valley co-coach Kim Walsh said the coaching staff told the team to sit back on pitches; they were swinging hard because they were anxious and if they just waited a bit longer they’d start putting balls into play.
“She just did a good job of waiting for it,” Walsh said. “She’s our DP (designated player) so her one job is to hit, and she did her job today.”
The Raiders (14-6) fell behind by a run in the second inning when Fleetwood’s Morgan Koehler scored from second after an errant throw to first base off a bunt by Haylie Mauger.
Both teams went scoreless for the next three innings due to efficient pitching from Fleetwood’s Kaitlyn Pytleski and Twin Valley’s Erin Cromwell, who were backed by solid defensive play.
Cromwell, a freshman, pitched a complete game and reached base in all four of her plate appearances with two singles and two walks.
This Twin Valley team is different from the past championship squads, even last season’s, yet the target on the Raiders’ back remains; having a freshman pitcher go the distance in her first playoff game shows the culture that’s been built.
“I was very nervous to start,” Cromwell said. “This has been my dream my whole life, just playing and even being here is amazing and what I’ve always wanted to do. I’m so thankful that my dad has pushed me this hard and got me able to be here.”
Cromwell has been focused on softball since she was 6, an interest that was stimulated by her dad, Darryn, who played baseball at La Salle University.
Her nerves started to fizzle out after the first few innings and the Raiders finally tied it 1-1 in the top of the sixth when she scored on a single by Sayge Hervey.
Casey Levan then hit an RBI single in the top of the seventh to give Twin Valley its first lead of the game at 2-1.
But the Tigers (14-5) weren’t finished. Koehler lined a triple with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and Mauger beat the throw to first for an infield RBI single to tie it.
Then Burnett did her job, blasting the ball into a tree behind the left field fence and Cromwell calmly got the final three outs to seal it for the defending county champions.
“Absolutely,” Burnett aid when asked if she and the team are thinking about winning their third straight county title. “It’s what we’ve been working for all season.”
“I’m just here to keep it going,” Cromwell said of Twin Valley’s softball success.
Next up: The top-seeded Exeter Eagles.
Exeter senior Taylor Mentzer’s top sport is soccer, in which she is used to blasting goals into the back of the net; Saturday, she blasted another type of ball out of the park to spark the Eagles’ quest to return to the Berks final for the first time since 2017 and win it for the first time since 2016.
Mentzer, a UNC Greensboro commit for soccer, rocketed a two-run homer to left in the bottom of the first and the Eagles (16-2) never looked back in a victory over the eighth-seeded Mustangs. They will face Twin Valley in a semifinal Tuesday at Lyons, time to be announced.
“I just didn’t want a changeup,” Mentzer said of her two-run shot. “The first pitch was a called strike and I knew she was coming hot on the second one. I just ripped it.”
The blast set the tone and provided junior starting pitcher Morgan Herb a confidence boost that allowed her to settle down and pitch a four-hitter.
“That’s great from a pitcher’s point of view because it gives me the confidence to be able to throw one that hits the backstop or let someone on first base and it’s not that big of a sweat,” Herb said of Mentzer’s homer. “I can work my pitches more confidently because we have that cushion.”
That cushion grew when Haley Speicher, a Bucknell commit, hit an RBI single in the second and Cheyenne Boyles and Taylor Hill had RBIs in the third.
Sophia Schmehl scored after a wild pitch in the fourth for the Mustangs (128), but it was not enough as Mifflin fell to Exeter for the third time this season.
Exeter tacked on another run in the fifth on Hill’s second RBI.
“We knew we beat them twice before so we definitely didn’t want to take them lightly,” Mentzer said. “We knew they were gunning for us and wanted to win this game too. We had to come out strong, start off the first inning big, and set the pace.”