Bears’ toughest opponent may be jam-packed schedule
For the 2016 Boyertown Bears American Legion baseball team, the biggest challenge may very well be the schedule. The Boyertown High School team won the school’s third PIAA baseball title, its first since 1991 and its first in the AAAA classification, with a 4-1 win over Plum on Thursday, June 17. The result has been that the Bears Legion team had its schedule delayed and rearranged.
In particular, the Bears are currently in the middle of an intensely busy streak in which they are scheduled to play 18 games (including all 14 of their Berks County League games) in 17 days.
So far, the results have been a mixed bag for the Bears, who started the season 6-2 playing a slate of non-league games without the services of several key players from the high school squad. The Bears began the congested portion of the schedule on Friday, June 18, the day after the high school championship game. They suffered a heartbreaking, 4-3 loss to Exeter (leaders of the West division at the time) despite being one strike away from victory on three different batters.
The Bears were able to rebound, however. First, staff ace Andrew Bauer (one of the high school players to join the squad) tossed a 3-hit shutout as the Bears defeated West Lawn, 1-0. Then the Bears won a marathon, 14-inning decision over Daniel Boone 4-3 on Father’s Day. Unheralded Brandon Wieand got the win with six innings of relief while rookie Cory Melchior (another of the high school players) drove in the winning run with a single through the drawn-in infield. The Bears then won a rematch at home with Exeter, 7-3, as Melchior added four more hits and drove in three runs.
From there, the Bears reached a high point of sorts. Traveling to Owen J. Roberts High School, the Bears took on division and league-leading Norchester, who at that point was the only other team with only one league loss. The Bears rallied for the tying run in the top of the fifth inning, then exploded for three more in the sixth to win the hotly-contested game, 6-3. Wieand again came through, pitching two clutch inning to get the save in relief of starter Mike Xanthopoulos (the losing pitcher in the first Exeter game despite allowing only 4 hits).
After this high point, however, the Bears have cooled off somewhat. First, they lost a rematch at home with Norchester, 2-1, thus closing the gap between the two division leaders to one game in the loss-column. Next, the Bears dropped two of three games in a curiously-scheduled exhibition tournament. The disastrous string ended with a somewhat lackluster, 3-2 upset loss at Twin Valley on Sunday.
The Bears, however, have little time to hang their heads, as they have a full slate of league games (plus one non-league) game this week. On Monday, they host Conrad Weiser, while on Tuesday they host Twin Valley in a rematch (these two games are the only nine-inning games in the group). The Bears then travel to Daniel Boone on Wednesday and West Lawn on Thursday before returning home for a Friday, July 1 game versus heavy-hitting Shillington. The Bears then play at Conrad Weiser and at home versus non-league Rockland County (N.Y.) on Saturday before closing the regular season at Shillington on Sunday. Of these games, perhaps the most noteworthy is the Friday, July 1 game. In conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Borough of Boyertown, this game will have an old-time theme, with ushers wearing old-time garb, admission (and food) prices being $1.50, and old-time organ music being played.
The Bears are currently tied with Norchester with three league losses, fewest in the league. They will be using this week to clean up various loose ends in their game in preparation for the Berks County playoffs, which open on Wednesday, July 6.
DUGOUT CHATTER >> The Bears host the State Tournament at the end of July … Melchior and middle infielders Quinn Mason and Mike Raineri are among the team’s leading hitters, with Tyler Kreitz leading in on-base percentage.