Streaking Muhls are well-armed to make another run at Berks baseball title
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When Muhlenberg pulled off one-run road wins at Gov. Mifflin and Wilson on back-to-back days last week it should’ve opened some eyes around the Berks Baseball League.
How many teams are capable of doing that?
“That was pretty special, to be able to pull that off,” said Muhls coach Brian Kopetsky. “I don’t know the last time we beat them both on the road in the same season, much less on back-to-back days.”
The Berks I-leading Muhls (3-1, 8-2) added another impressive win to their resume Tuesday night, knocking off defending District 11 Class 4A champ Blue Mountain 8-0. The Eagles had been 9-0.
| Berks I | League | Overall | ||
| Muhlenberg | 4-1 | 8-2 | ||
| Gov. Mifflin | 4-2 | 7-2 | ||
| Wilson | 3-2 | 7-3 | ||
| Exeter | 2-2 | 6-3 | ||
| Reading High | 0-5 | 0-9 |
“The kids were pretty excited about that,” Kopetsky said after his team’s seventh straight win. “Blue Mountain’s a perennial District 11 powerhouse, a perennial team in states.”
The silver lining of that win was seeing junior right-hander Aaden Lopez with a breakthrough effort, one that saw him allow just one hit through six innings while striking out 10.
“We’ve had some pretty good pitching efforts this season, from Cam (Burr) and Ethan (Weiler),” Kopetsky said. “It was nice to see Aaden add to that. He put it all together.
“He had a nice curveball and slider and he was hitting 88 (mph) midway through the game. His velocity was climbing; he was getting stronger and stronger. The kids were excited to see him go out and dominate that way.”
Blue Mountain’s lone hit came in the fifth, a grounder to the hole that shortstop Eli Keller fielded but couldn’t make a throw on.
If Lopez can continue to throw that way the Muhls will be right in the thick of what is unfolding as an outstanding race in Berks 1.
They’ve gotten consistently good pitching from Burr, who has a team-leading 1.11 ERA with 24 strikeouts over 12 2/3 innings; from Weiler, who is 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA; and from Cole Moody, who has a 1.58 ERA over 13 1/3 innings.
The Muhls have a 1.59 team ERA. They are allowing a league-low 1.80 runs per game – less than half the second-best team in that category, Fleetwood, which was allowing 3.7 runs heading into its game Wednesday against Wilson.
The win gave the Muhls a nice boost in the District 3 Class 5A power ratings where they bumped up a couple spots to No. 3, behind only unbeaten Mechanicsburg and Hershey. Mifflin is No. 5. Exeter, the only Berks team to beat the Muhls, is No. 9.
Each of the Muhls’ losses have come by one run. They dropped their opener at Manheim Central 4-3 and lost at home to Exeter 2-1 April 5.
They have shut out their last two opponents and outscored teams 47-11 during their current winning streak.
Muhlenberg finished 16-10 last season, reaching the league semifinals, winning three games in districts and qualifying for the PIAA Tournament.
Muhlenberg won its 13th Berks championship in 2022; only Gov. Mifflin, with 15, has more.
The Muhls won back-to-back Berks II titles in 2021 and 2022 before returning to Berks I last season. Their last Berks I title came in 2018.
The last eight Berks championships have landed at either Gov. MIfflin (4), Wilson (2) or Muhlenberg (2). The last team outside that group to win it was Reading High, in 2014. The last team from Berks III or Berks IV to win the title was Oley Valley, in 2013.
