Bryce Detwiler shutout carries Mifflin to 2nd round
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There was no hand-wringing in the Gov. Mifflin dugout Friday afternoon over the fact that All-Berks pitcher Ethan Grim couldn’t take the mound in a District 3 Tournament opener.
The Mustangs simply went to their other All-Berks pitcher, Bryce Detwiler, and the junior right-hander delivered.
The Berks Player of the Year pitched a four-hitter and went seven innings for the first time in a 1-0 victory over 16th-seeded Garden Spot in a Class 5A first-round game at Rulon Griffith Field.
“We have total faith in Bryce,” said Mifflin coach Chris Hole after seeing Detwiler strike out seven without issuing a walk. “We feel we have two No. 1’s.”
Grim, who is being recruited at the Division I level as a pitcher, might be considered the Mustangs’ ace. Detwiler, a University of Connecticut commit who was recruited as an infielder, gives the top-seeded Mustangs (18-4) a pair of aces that will trump most opponents. He did Friday, becoming the first pitcher this season to shut out the Spartans (13-8).
“He was dialed in today,” Hole said. “He had several pitches working that were able to keep them off-balanced. He made a couple big pitches when he had to, when they were able to get some guys on base, and overall did a fantastic job.”
Detwiler improved to 7-2 and lowered his ERA to a team-leading 1.78. He has 56 strikeouts over 47 innings with just nine walks. Friday was the third time this season he has pitched five or more innings without allowing a run.
He had to be on top of his game as the Spartans countered with an ace of their own, Ryder Hertzler. The 6-4 junior allowed just three hits over six innings and became the first pitcher this season to hold Mifflin under two runs.
The run the Mustangs did score was unearned. It came in the third after Detwiler walked and took second on a passed ball. He scored when Branson Adams’ grounder was mishandled for an error.
“He was real quality,” Hole said of Hertzler, who entered the game with a 5-1 record and 2.25 ERA. “He had a really nice curveball that he threw a lot and pretty good giddy-up on his fastball. He was tough. Three hits is misleading. We did smoke some balls, but right at people.
“We just lacked that one bit hit to make it a more comfortable game, but credit to them: They made some plays. They turned a double-play that took us out of two runs. They were a scrappy team.”
Mifflin advances to the quarterfinals Monday against ninth-seeded Palmyra, a 7-3 winner over eighth-seeded Hershey. The Mustangs will play all their games in the tournament at home through the semifinals.
They can expect Grim to take the ball against the Cougars. He was eligible to pitch Friday but after throwing 101 pitches Monday against Wilson in the Berks League championship game Hole saw no reason to bring him back so soon.
“We just didn’t want him to bring him back on short rest,” Hole said. “With Bryce on full rest, it was no decision.”
The shutout was the sixth of the season for Mifflin but most of the others weren’t close; the lone exception was a 2-0 win at Hershey earlier this month. Grim went six innings in that game.
The 1-0 victory is just the second for Mifflin in its 25 District 3 Tournament appearances. The only other came in 2017 when it beat Central Dauphin 1-0 in a 15-inning Class 6A quarterfinal.
“At no point did I go into this game thinking we were going to steamroll them,” Hole said of playing the No. 16 seed. “I knew their pitching would make it a competitive game. We were one run better today and that’s what I hope to be on Monday.”
The winner Monday advances to the district semifinals and clinches a PIAA Tournament berth. The loser goes into the playback round and will need to win two straight elimination games to qualify for the state tournament. Five teams advance from District 3 in Class 5A.
The district win is the first for Mifflin since it opened the 2022 tournament with a 12-2 victory over Hempfield.
Last year the Mustangs went out in the opening round, falling to Exeter 4-1 at Griffith Field.
