Muhls’ hit parade leads them back to Berks title game

When it comes to swinging the bat, Brian Kopetsky compares his current Muhlenberg baseball team favorably to his 2018 squad, which went 20-3 and won a Berks League championship.

That team batted .324, averaged nearly eight runs per game and was led by Berks Player of the Year Sean Guilbe, who went on to professional baseball.

The Muhls have been putting up even better hitting numbers so far this season and will have a chance to match the vaunted 2018 team’s championship resume when it plays for the Berks title Wednesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The second-seeded Muhls, who feature four .400 hitters in their lineup, advanced to the title game by pounding out 13 hits in a 10-7 win over third-seeded Exeter. Muhlenberg will meet eighth-seeded Oley Valley, an 8-6 winner over Wilson in the other semifinal, back at FirstEnergy at 6:00.

Eight different Muhls (18-2) had hits; nine different players scored runs. And they did it against Exeter’s best pitchers.

Gio Cavanna and Brad Coley each had three hits and winning pitcher Cameron Burr had two hits and three RBIs to lead the Muhls, who led 2-0 after the first inning and 5-2 after the second.

They got some help in the first from the Eagles (15-6), who committed three errors and misplayed a fly ball. Sam Martinez drove in one run with a double and Kenay Rodriguez brought home the second with a sacrifice fly.

The Eagles tied it in the top of the second, Alex Kelsey scoring on Owen Wisner’s sacrifice fly and courtesy runner Jake Miezwinski scoring on a passed ball.

The Muhls (18-2) took command with a three-run second, opening the inning with four straight hits off Exeter’s top pitcher, Devin Sheerin.

Cavanna had an RBI double, Burr an RBI single and Sean Levan an RBI single to make it 5-2.

Sheerin, who entered with a 4-1 record and 2.01 ERA, was removed after three innings, and after allowing seven hits and six runs, four earned.

The Berks II champion Muhls got to Luke Weller for a pair of runs in the fifth, both scoring on Burr’s double to the gap in left-center. Weller was the starter when Exeter fell to Muhlenberg 11-2 in a Berks crossover game April 25 at Gochnauer Field.

Burr allowed just two hits through five innings but run into trouble in the sixth, when he gave up consecutive singles to Weller, Nick Sydor and Kelsey, the third hit driving in a run to make it 7-3. Dalton Follwieler relieved at that point and, after hitting the first batter he faced, escaped a bases-loaded jam.

The Eagles rallied in the final inning, trimming Muhlenberg’s 10-3 lead by getting five hits and scoring four runs. Sean Levan, who came on with two outs in the seventh, struck out the final batter with the bases loaded to earn the save.

Cavanna went 3-for-3 with a walk and is 10-for-11 over his last four games.

The Muhls got 13 hits in a 9-4 opening-round win over Kutztown.