Five players to watch in the Berks League baseball tournament

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2024 Berks baseball coverage presented by

Utilities Employees Credit Union

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The Berks League baseball playoffs are scheduled to begin Thursday with quarterfinal doubleheaders at Owls Field and Gochnauer Field, starting at 4. (If there are postponements due to weather the games will be played Friday.)

The semifinal doubleheader is Saturday at Owls Field (time TBD). The championship game is Monday at 6:05 at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Gov. Mifflin is the defending champion and has won four of the eight tournaments. Only Wilson and Muhlenberg have won championships in that span, since 2015. (The 2020 season was suspended.)

Here’s a look at five players who will impact this week’s tournament:

Cam Burr, Muhlenberg

The senior infielder earned All-Berks honors as a sophomore and junior mostly due to his bat and speed on the basepaths.

This season he’ll make his way onto Berks’ elite squad in large because of his right arm, which has been as dominant as any in the league.

He’s gone 4-1 in five starts, the lone loss 2-1 against Exeter. He’s been on an incredible roll over the last two weeks with 27 strikeouts and just one walk (over 18 innings) in wins over Daniel Boone, Exeter and Reading High. He had a season-high 12 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings in a 4-1 win over Conrad Weiser April 12.

For the season he has an 0.91 ERA and 51 strikeouts over 30 2/3 innings.

The Kutztown University recruit is invaluable as the Muhls’ leadoff batter. He’s hitting a team-leading .348 with a team-high .529 on-base percentage and team-best .500 slugging percentage. He’s also stolen 18 bases and scored 14 runs in 18 games.

As a junior he batted .346 with a team-best .475 on-base percentage and a league-leading 24 steals.

Bryce Detwiler, Gov. Mifflin

After watching teammate Tyler Minick dominate the league the past two seasons Detwiler has moved to the top of the Mustangs’ lineup and put up even better numbers, incredible as that may seem.

The junior shortstop is batting .526 with a .645 on-base percentage and 1.105 slugging percentage. He has 27 RBIs in 18 games and has scored 34 runs. He’s 21-for-21 in stolen base attempts and has a nearly 4-to-1 walks-to-strikeouts ratio (19-to-5).

The University of Connecticut recruit has six home runs; 18 of his 30 hits have gone for extra bases.

He’s become dominant on the mound as well, going 5-2 with a save and a 1.97 ERA in nine appearances. He has struck out 41 batters and walked just six over 32 innings. Both his losses came to Wilson, the first in a relief appearance in a 6-5, nine-inning game.

Detwiler’s best effort on the mound came April 24 against Muhlenberg when he struck out nine and allowed just two hits over five innings in a 10-0 win at Owls Field.

He earned All-Berks honors as a sophomore by batting .403 with five homers, a .736 slugging percentage and 1.212 OPS. He went a team-best 7-1 with a 2.55 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 35 2/3 innings.

Ethan Grim, Gov. Mifflin

One year after anchoring the staff for the county champs the junior right-hander has added about five mph to his fastball and is drawing interest from top Division I programs.

Over seven starts he has gone 4-1 with a 1.67 ERA and 58 punchouts over 37 2/3 innings. He’s walked just eight and opposing batters are hitting only .190 against him.

Grim, who consistently throws in the 92-93 mph range, tuned up for the postseason by pitching six shutout innings against Hershey on Saturday, allowing four hits and striking out six. Early in the season he struck out 10 Hempfield batters over six innings, allowing just one hit.

The only team to hit him was Wilson, which scored five runs and had 10 hits off him in the first five innings of a 6-5, nine-inning victory.

The second baseman has become a feared hitter as well, batting .451 out of the cleanup spot with a .524 on-base percentage and 21 RBIs in 18 games. He has struck out just six times in 51 at-bats.

He has scholarship offers to pitch for the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State, Delaware, and Connecticut as is getting looks from SEC and ACC schools.

Grim went 6-2 last season with a 2.28 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 43 innings.

Paul Petersen, Oley Valley

Next to Bryce Detwiler, the Lynx senior may be the best all-around player in the league.

His .534 batting average is the highest of any player in the tournament; his 1.357 OPS is second-highest, trailing only Detwiler.

Petersen leads the Lynx with 21 RBIs in 18 games, 17 runs scored and 10 doubles. He has walked 11 times and hasn’t struck out in 73 plate appearances.

On the mound has allowed just 23 hits over 33 innings with 27 strikeouts. He’s 4-2 with a save and a 1.70 ERA over eight appearances.

His best outing came April 19 against Tulpehocken, when he allow four hits and one run with seven strikeouts over seven innings in an 8-1 win.

The shortstop has recorded twice as many double plays (six) and errors (three).

Petersen earned All-Berks honors last season when he batted .394 and went 6-0 on the mound. He was an all-division pick as a sophomore.

Petersen has 100 career hits and 100 career strikeouts (as a pitcher).

Matt VanOstenbridge, Wilson

After a dominant junior season that earned him a scholarship to pitch at Penn State the left-hander has taken his game up a notch.

He’s gone 3-1 with a league-leading 0.86 ERA over six starts, with 50 strikeouts over 33 2/3 innings. He has allowed just 11 hits.

VanOstenbridge threw a five-inning no-hitter, with 10 strikeouts, in an 11-0 win over Exeter on April 24 and limited Fleetwood to one hit over seven innings, with 10 strikeouts, in a 1-0 win on April 17.

In his first outing, at Boyertown, he struck out nine and allowed one hit over four innings in a 6-0 win.

He’s made big strides at the plate, too. He was DH’d for as a junior but given a chance to swing this season he has come through with a .333 batting average and eight RBIs in 18 at-bats.

VanOstenbridge earned All-Berks honors last season when he won six games, saved two others and posted a 2.39 ERA over 70 1/3 innings, with 91 strikeouts. That included starts in the Berks and District 3 Class 6A championship games, and in Wilson’s PIAA Tournament opener. He started six postseason games last year and recorded a 2.71 ERA.

He needs two strikeouts to reach 200 in his career.

Stats leaders for Berks playoff qualifiers

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Batting leaders

(Ranked by batting average; minimum 50 plate appearances)

Player, school	Batting avg.	Runs	RBIs	OPS
Paul Petersen, Oley Valley	.534	17	21	1.357
Bryce Detwiler, Gov. Mifflin	.526	34	27	1.750
Roman Cieless, Twin Valley	.453	22	8	1.108
Ethan Grim, Gov. Mifflin	.451	10	21	1.190
Parker Nein, Berks Catholic	.439	16	20	.985
Nick Fiorini, Wilson	.419	14	25	1.177
Jack Gabel, Wilson	.403	23	14	1.048
Paul Colombo, Twin Valley	.391	12	16	1.157
Dalton Young, Fleetwood	.386	6	12	.971
Mikey Fidler, Berks Catholic	.385	14	11	.942
Travis Jenkins, Gov. Mifflin	.382	17	18	1.136
Colin Diehl, Kutztown	.379	17	15	.854
Cam Burr, Muhlenberg	.375	17	7	1.091
Kole Schuler, Kutztown	.359	11	10	.893
Dillon Walls, Berks Catholic	.356	24	7	.961
Nick Noll, Fleetwood	.353	13	6	.860
Maxx Mace, Berks Catholic	.350	11	14	.908

Pitching leaders

(Ranked by ERA; minimum 25 innings pitched)

Player, school	Won-Loss	ERA	Innings	Strikeouts
Matt VanOstenbridge, Wilson	3-1	0.86	32 2/3	50
Cam Burr, Muhlenberg	4-1	0.91	30 2/3	51
Ethan Grim, Gov. Mifflin	4-1	1.67	37 2/3	58
Paul Petersen, Oley Valley	4-2	1.70	33	27
Wylie Loy, Fleetwood	3-1	1.81	34 2/3	29
Owen Rhoads, Twin Valley	2-0	1.83	34 1/3	37
Kevin Eden, Twin Valley	4-0	1.91	25 2/3	31
Bryce Detwiler, Gov. MIfflin	5-2	1.97	32	41
Parker Nein, Berks Catholic	6-1	2.16	35 2/3	45
Liam HIlburt, Fleetwood	5-1	2.16	32 1/3	28
Ethan Weiler, Muhlenberg	3-1	2.46	31 1/3	22
Trey Stricker, Berks Catholic	5-0	2.47	28 1/3	35
Ben Kulp, Wilson	4-1	2.54	30 1/3	36
Chase Kegerise, Oley Valley	2-1	2.59	27	29