‘Special’ season for Kutztown comes to end in District 3 Class 2A title game
2024 Berks baseball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
FREDERICKSBURG — The defending District 3 Class 2A baseball champions had a losing record a month ago.
Kutztown, which was searching for a way to replace five starters and four all-division picks from its championship squad, dropped to 7-8 after being shut out by Brandywine Heights on April 24.
What happened next showed how the Cougars were truly wired; they weren’t losers.
Second-seeded Delone Catholic defeated No. 4 Kutztown 7-1 Thursday night at Wenger Field to become the new District 3 Class 2A champions. The Squires (14-7) ended the Cougars’ season in the process.
One game of that magnitude holds a lot of weight. It doesn’t tell the full story of these Cougars, who went 5-2 down the stretch to get back to the district final for the 11th time in program history.
Senior Kole Schuler, a four-year starter, was all-division and juniors Colten Mathias, Colin Diehl, and Ashton Dunn were all-division honorable mention last year after helping the Cougars win their sixth district championship and make it to the PIAA semifinals.
The rest of the team and how it would mesh was unknown.
“We struggled early on with some leadership in the beginning of the season,” said Kutztown head coach Tim Mertz, who finished his 24th season. “We found our identity closer to the end of the season and started playing some really good baseball. Being back here with a chance to repeat doesn’t happen too often.”
Schuler, Mathias, Diehl, and Dunn were the key returning players on a district championship squad, but leadership takes a different type of effort and patience, especially with inexperienced players stepping into larger roles.
The Cougars (12-11) kept grinding, improving, and sticking together even if the start of the season was rocky.
“We really turned it on at the end of the season,” senior catcher Colin Hamm said. “This team changed. Watching all these young guys grow was special. If that didn’t happen, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
Hamm turned himself into an all-division pick and carved out a role as the team’s starting catcher after splitting duties behind the plate and designated hitter to begin the season.
Junior Chase Sleboda and sophomores Chase Schuler and Chris Bergstrom earned starting infield spots and picked up all-division honorable mention selections.
The new Cougars eventually started moving harmoniously in the same direction.
“Both years have been special,” Kole Schuler said. “Last year we had a tight bond and then lost five seniors. It was a big difference. But this year all of the bonds still worked the same. We all got along. Getting back here is something special.”
Delone Catholic starting pitcher Denver Ostrum was special Thursday, throwing a three-hitter for the Squires (14-7); Kutztown’s only run came on an error.
Ethan Little and JD Sieg each hit RBI doubles in the bottom of the second inning to get the scoring started for the Squires.
Chase Schuler singled to start the top of the third, stole second and scored after Sleboda reached first on an errant throw to first after hitting an infield dribbler.
Ostrum locked in after that and the Squires scored in the bottom of the third on Chris Cole’s RBI single and Ethan Little’s walk. Cole scored on a wild pitch to give Delone a 5-1 lead.
Nic Pierce’s two-RBI single in the bottom of the fifth made it 7-1.
The Squires will play either Mountain View or Elk Lake out of District 2 in the PIAA first round on June 3.
| Kutztown | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Delone Catholic | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | x | – | 7 | 9 | 1 |
| Cougars | AB | R | H | RBI | Squires | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Diehl, rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Staub, 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Hamm, c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Wittmer, ss | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| K. Schuler, 3b/p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Koenig, ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mathias, p/3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dettinburn, cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dunn, cf/p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cole, lf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Gilbert, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Groft, 1b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Bergstrom, 1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mummert, rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C. Schuler, ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Little, dh | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Kerecz, lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sieg, c | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Sleboda, 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Pierce, 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Devine, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
2B: K. Schuler; Sieg 2, Little. SB: Mathias, K. Schuler, C. Schuler. CS: Sleboda. LOB: Kutztown 3, Delone Catholic 5.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Mathias, L (3-4) | 2 2/3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | Ostrum, W (4-0) | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| K. Schuler | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| Dunn | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
WP: K. Schuler. HBP: Sieg (by Schuler).
