Fleetwood, Kutztown advance in District 3 Tournament
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Liam Hilburt continued his brilliant postseason pitching Monday, throwing a four-hitter as Fleetwood defeated Northern Lebanon 3-0 in a District 3 Class 4A game at Fredericksburg.
The senior right-hander struck out nine and walked just one for the sixth-seeded Tigers (14-8).
Fleetwood advances to the semifinals for the second time in three seasons and will play at East Pennsboro Thursday at 4:30. The second-seeded Panthers (17-2) advanced with a 5-4 win over 10th-seeded Bishop McDevitt.
Dalton Young doubled and drove in two runs, Nick Noll and Carson Brey each had two hits and Hilburt singled and drove in a run to lead the Tigers, who took a 2-0 lead in the fourth and added a run in the seventh.
Fleetwood had eight hits.
Hilburt last pitched in the Berks League semifinals May 11, when he went the distance to beat Muhlenberg 1-0. He needed just 78 pitches in throwing a two-hitter against the Muhls.
Hilburt improved to 7-1 with Monday’s win.
Fleetwood hasn’t reached the championship game since 2008, when they lost to Muhlenberg. The Tigers have never won a District 3 baseball championship.
Eighth-seeded Elco, which knocked off top-seeded Bermudian Springs 12-1, and fourth-seeded James Buchanan, a 10-8 winner over Berks Catholic, will meet in the other semifinal Thursday.
Kutztown 7, Halifax 3
At Halifax, sophomore Chris Bergstrom threw a complete game and the Cougars maintained their dominance over the Wildcats with a win in a District 3 Class 2A semifinal.
Kutztown beat Halifax 5-0 in last year’s championship game.
The fourth-seeded Cougars (12-10) will go for their second straight championship and seventh overall when they meet second-seeded Delone Catholic Thursday at 6:30 at Wenger Field. Only the district champ advances to the PIAA Tournament.
Delone (13-7) advanced with a 5-1 win over third-seeded Newport.
The Cougars scored three times in the sixth and twice in the seventh to break open a close game.
Bergstrom allowed a pair of first-inning runs before settling down. He allowed just one run the rest of the way and finished with a four-hitter.
Kole Schuler had a single, double, scored twice and drove in a run to lead an eight-hit Kutztown attack. The Cougars benefited from three Halifax errors, leading to three unearned runs.
The top-seeded Wildcats end the season at 18-3.
Kutztown is 3-0 all-time against Halifax in district play; it won the first meeting 5-1 in a 2013 quarterfinal.
The Cougars improved to 12-5 in first-round games.
Kutztown’s other championships came in 2019, 2007, 2006, 1995 and 1983.
