Change is good for Matt VanOstenbridge, Wilson in win over Manheim Township
2024 Berks baseball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
For the longest time Matt VanOstenbridge and his changeup weren’t on speaking terms; they just didn’t understand each other.
Now the changeup is one of his best friends.
The Wilson left-hander mesmerized Manheim Township with the pitch Monday, using it to record more than half his 10 strikeouts in a 4-1 victory in a District 3 Class 6A quarterfinal at Wilson West.
| Class 6A quarterfinals | ||||
| (9) Ephrata | 6 | (1) Cedar Cliff | 5 | |
| (4) Wilson | 4 | (5) Manheim Township | 1 | |
| (7) Waynesboro | 1 | (10) Cumberland Valley | 0 | |
| (3) Hempfield | 4 | (11) Penn Manor | 3 |
“This is what I expect every time I go out there,” VanOstenbridge said after improving to 5-1 and lowering his ERA to 1.02.
“Keep them around four hits or under (with) a high strikeout number.”
The Penn State recruit went the distance, allowing just three hits, to send the fourth-seeded Bulldogs into a semifinal Thursday against No. 9 Ephrata, which took out top-seeded Cedar Cliff 6-5 in 10 innings.
That gives the Bulldogs, who lost to Cedar Cliff in last year’s championship, one last chance to play at home.
VanOstenbridge can touch 90 mph with his fastball but what made him so effective in mowing down the Lancaster-Lebanon League champs Monday was his ability to throw both his curveball and changeup for strikes.
“The offspeed stuff is what’s been setting me apart,” he said.
“When you throw the changeup well, everything else becomes that much better,” said Wilson coach Bill Underwood. “Excellent job by him just pumping the strikes in there.”
VanOstenbridge was a key figure on the offensive side, too. He delivered a key base hit in the four-run second that tilted things in Wilson’s direction.
“Once we got those runs on the board I knew it was kind of a lock,” VanOstenbridge said of the 4-0 lead. “I knew I could just cruise from there.”
The Bulldogs (17-6) saw their first six batters reach in the second inning. After Ben Kulp drew a leadoff walk, VanOstenbridge was instructed to sacrifice but bunted foul. Underwood called off the bunt and went to what the Bulldogs call ‘Slash.’
“The third baseman was playing halfway up,” VanOstenbridge said, “(so) I squared, (then) pulled back and hit it hard.”
VanOstenbridge slashed a single through the right side.
Freshman Ryan Marmolejos followed with a sacrifice bunt to the left side but Township pitcher Trey Eckman was slow to get to it and Marmolejos beat it out for a single that loaded the bases.
“His did his job there – more than the job,” said senior captain Tommy Hunsicker. “He was able to get on base and move the runners.”
C.J. Fernandez and Hunsicker kept the line moving with RBI singles and Jack Gabel drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-0. Nick Fiorini’s sacrifice fly scored Fernandez with the final run.
“(That lead) takes the pressure off me,” VanOstenbridge said. “ It means I can afford to make a couple mistakes and we’re still gonna be up.”
VanOstenbridge didn’t make many mistakes.
The fifth-seeded Blue Streaks (18-7) broke through against him in the third when he allowed a leadoff single to Kaden Kemp, then walked Angelo Billiard.
First baseman Christo Hunsicker made a key defensive play that put the lid on a potential big inning.
When No. 9 hitter Braden Leed show bunt Hunsicker came in quickly, pounced on the ball, and fired to third for a force.
“Kudos to him for having the confidence to make that play,” Underwood said. “It was huge for us.”
Ben Connors delivered an RBI single to make it 4-1 but poor baserunning on the play cost the Streaks a second run and Connors was tagged out trying to reach second.
VanOstenbridge dug in after that, striking out eight of the next 13 batters. He didn’t allow another hit until Christian Kleckner’s two-out double in the seventh – Township’s only extra-base hit.
VanOstenbridge went seven innings for the second time this season and recorded 10 strikeouts for the third time.
“This is one of the better games I’ve seen him throw,” Tommy Hunsicker said.
VanOstenbridge threw a five-inning no-hitter against Exeter, with 10 strikeouts. Other than that this was VanOstenbridge’s best game, catcher Tyler Herbein thought.
“When he threw his first pitch (a curveball for a strike), I thought: ‘We’re gonna have a good game today,’ ” Herbein said.
VanOstenbridge has always had an outstanding curveball but what is making him so tough right now is his ability to mix that with his changeup. He has allowed just 24 hits in 47 2/3 innings, with 67 strikeouts.
He said he’s been trying to throw the changeup since he was in Little League but kept it on the back burner because it wasn’t effective.
“It was my worst pitch,” he said. “I could never learn how to throw it. The past year it’s really picked up and it’s started to become one of my best pitches.
“Last summer, it really started to pick up. I threw in Georgia against one of the top teams in the nation and struck out 13 guys. That’s where that changeup (started to) get really good.”
| Manheim Township | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Wilson | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Blue Streaks | AB | R | H | RBI | Bulldogs | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Connors, lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | T. Hunsicker, 3b | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| Boll, rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gabel, ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Sauder, cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | C. Hunsicker, 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Flury, c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fiorini, cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Carrasco, 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Kennedy, rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kleckner, ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Kulp, dh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Herbein, c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Kemp, 2b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | VanOstenbridge, p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Delvecchio, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ulrich, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Billiard, 1b | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Marmolejos, lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Leed, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fernandez, 2b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Eckman, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Shirk, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 23 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
E: Flury, Kleckner. 2B. Kleckner. SB: Gabel, T. Hunsicker, Ulrich. SF: Fiorini. LOB: Manheim Township 3, Wilson 8.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Eckman, L (4-2) | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | VanOstenbridge, W (5-1) | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |
| Shirk | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
