The Bryce is right as Mustangs shut down Muhls
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It would accurate, but also misleading, to refer to Bryce Detwiler as Gov. Mifflin’s No. 2 starter.
It’s true that teammate Ethan Grim throws in the mid 90’s, has major college scouts lined up behind home plate when he throws, and is arguably the best right-hander in the Berks Baseball League.
Detwiler’s not far behind, a fact he displayed Wednesday in a dominant five-inning performance against Muhlenberg in the Berks County Showcase at Owl’s Field.
The junior right-hander allowed just two hits and struck out eight in the Mustangs’ 10-0 win and he did it against one of the league’s – and one of District 3’s – best teams.
“The results spoke for themselves tonight,” said Mifflin coach Chris Cole after watching Detwiler’s 65-pitch masterpiece.
“He can pretty much touch 90 (mph),” Hole said. “When you can throw offspeed pitches for a strike, combined with that quality (fastball), that’s gonna have some great results.”
Detwiler has.
He’s won each of his five starts, has struck out 36 batters over 26 2/3 innings, and has pitched to a team-leading 1.57 ERA. And this may be just the tip of the iceberg.
He’s already got a scholarship to play at the University of Connecticut; that’s because of a booming bat that’s putting up PlayStation numbers (his batting dipped to .575 Wednesday after a 2-for-4 night).
As a pitcher he’s just developing. He’s added 5-6 mph on his fastball since his sophomore season and that’s only going to increase as he continues to grow. He’s nearly 6-2 and 210 pounds now. He’s got a brother and grandfather who are 6-6 and a father who goes 6-5.
He and his teammates – Grim, Matt Koehler, Travis Jenkins – make regular trips to Next Play Sports in Schuylkill Haven where they train and refine their individual games.
“They got my mechanics right (in the offseason) and gave me different workouts to help me throw harder,” said Detwiler said of trainer Russ Franz and his staff.
The Muhls (5-3 Berks I, 9-4) produced just one minor threat, after a one-out walk and Cam Burr’s single put runners at the corners in the third. Detwiler got out of the jam when Grim, playing second base, drifted back a step into the outfield behind second base to grab Shane Rosenberry’s lazy liner, then rifled a throw home to nail Anthony Cipolla at the plate.
“He was excellent (tonight),” said Jenkins, the Mustangs catcher, of Detwiler. “Pounded the zone. Gave us a quality start. All you can ask for.”
The game was out of hand by the time Grim turned that inning-ending double play. The Mustangs (6-2 Berks I, 11-2) had put up eight runs in the top of the third to build their 10-run lead.
They buried the Muhls with a robotic attack that saw the first seven batters of the inning reach base and six different batters deliver RBI hits. Grim had a pair of run-scoring singles.
“We swung the bats very effectively,” Hole said. “We were individually having very effective at-bats. We were patient enough to get ourselves in hitter’s counts, and when we did, tonight we didn’t miss. We were clicking.”
The mercy-rule victory was impressive because of the team Mifflin did it against. Muhlenberg hadn’t been shut out since last May, in the District 3 Class 5A Tournament (by Lower Dauphin). The Muhls had allowed a league-low 25 runs in their first 12 games and had yielded eight runs in their previous five games – the Mustangs got that many in one inning.
It was an important win for the Mustangs, and not just because they needed it to keep pace with Berks I co-leader Wilson, which beat Exeter 11-0 earlier in the evening.
Two weeks ago they lost 4-3 when Muhlenberg scored twice in the top of the seventh at Rulon Griffith Field. They took exception to the fact that the Muhls celebrated on their home field.
“They celebrated like they won the World Series,” said Jenkins, “so we had to come out and show ’em who’s boss.”
“It was disappointing to see how they reacted,” Detwiler said. “They acted like they won the county championship, but they didn’t win anything yet.”
The Mustangs haven’t either, but if they’re able to throw Grim and Detwiler out there in the postseason they’ll have a strong chance to win league and district titles.
The Mustangs have outscored their competition 119-38; their two losses were both by one run, one in nine innings. They’re not far from behind unbeaten.
They’ll get another key test Monday when they head to Twin Valley to play the Berks II leaders – and the only team in Berks without a league loss.
“We’ve just gotta keep working hard,” Detwiler said. “The games we lost, we just made a couple mistakes; if we don’t make those then probably the roles are flipped and we win those games.”
| Gov. Mifflin | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | – | 10 | 12 | 0 |
| Muhlenberg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Mustangs | AB | R | H | RBI | Muhls | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Detwiler, p | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Ca. Burr, 2b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Adams, lf | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Rosenberry, c | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Jenkins, c | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Keller, ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Radwanski, c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lopez, p/rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Grim, 2b | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Smeltzer, 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Eschbach, 2b | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | G. Moody, cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Barrett, dh | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | High, 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Angstadt, ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Clinese, ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Guigley, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | C. Moody, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bourland, dh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Co. Burr, p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Koehler, 3b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Cipolla, lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Casantini, 1b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Frias, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Berg, rf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Hohl, rf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Wunderlich, cf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Totals | 23 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
2B: Koehler, Casantini. SB: Barrett, Detwiler Berg. CS: Jenkins. SF: Wunderlich. LOB: Gov. Mifflin 6, Muhlenberg 3.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Detwiler, W (5-1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | Lopez, L (2-1) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | |
| C. Moody | 1/3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| Co. Burr | 2 2/3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
WP: Lopez 2, Moody. B: C. Moody 2. PB: Rosenberry. HBP: Grim (by Lopez).
