Mifflin uses another shutout to advance to District 3 semifinals, clinch state berth
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Gov. Mifflin baseball coach Chris Hole says he has two No. 1 pitchers.
Who’s to argue after the top-seeded Mustangs clinched a state-tournament berth with their second straight shutout, beating ninth-seeded Palmyra 3-0 in a District 3 Class 5A quarterfinal Monday at Rulon Griffith Field.
Junior right-hander Ethan Grim was at his best, striking out a season-high 12 in his first complete game of the season. He allowed five hits and walked just one.
In two district playoff games the Mustangs (19-4) have allowed nine hits and no runs. They opened with a 1-0 win over Garden Spot, with Berks Player of the Year Bryce Detwiler going the distance.
| Class 5A quarterfinals | |||
| (1) Gov. Mifflin | 3 | (9) Palmyra | 0 |
| (12) Lampeter-Strasburg | 6 | (4) Southwestern | 4 |
| (2) Mechanicsburg | 9 | (7) Muhlenberg | 6 |
| (6) Shippensburg | 11 | (14) Lower Dauphin | 8 |
The back-to-back shutouts are the first in District 3 play for Mifflin, which played its first district game in 1979.
Mifflin will play 12th-seeded Lampeter-Strasburg (15-7) Thursday at 4:30 back at Rulon Griffith Field.
The winner will play for the championship May 28; the loser will play for third place.
The Mustangs took the lead in the fifth on Detwiler’s two-run homer, his league-leading seventh of the season.
Mifflin scratched across a run in the sixth to go up 3-0. Grim drew a leadoff walk. Courtesy runner Ryan Lehman was sacrificed to second, took third on a passed ball and stole home when Reese Hohl walked off first base to draw a throw. Hohl reached first when he was hit by a pitch.
Grim improved to 6-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.06. He has struck out 81 batters over 54 1/3 innings, allowing only 39 hits.
Palmyra (14-8) heads to the playback round where it will play at No. 4 South Western. The Cougars need to win two games to earn the fifth and final berth to the PIAA Tournament.
The shutout is the seventh of the season for Mifflin and the first time it has posted back-to-back shutouts since beating Pottsville 15-0 and Hempfield 6-0 on March 21 and 22, respectively.
The Mustangs have needed great pitching to advance because they had just three hits Monday and three in Friday’s win. They are batting .139 in the tournament.
Mifflin is in the district semifinals for the first time since 2021, when it opened with wins over Cedar Crest, Manheim Township and Warwick before losing to Wilson in the Class 6A championship game.
