Top-seeded Muhls knocked out in 10-inning District 3 opener

The jinx of the Berks Baseball League champion continues.

Five days after Muhlenberg swept through the league playoffs its season ended with a stunning 8-7, 10-inning loss to 16th-seeded Gettysburg Monday night at Gochnauer Field.

The top-seeded Muhls (19-4) scored in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings.

The Warriors (13-7) took the lead in the 10th on an errant throw as the Muhls tried to turn an inning-ending double play.

Muhlenberg had the tying and go-ahead runners in scoring position in the 10th before Cameron Burr, named to the All-Berks team just a day earlier, struck out to end the game.

The Muhls almost won it in the eighth before Brad Coley was thrown out at the plate.

The Muhls had 12 hits in the game and led 4-1 after the second before the Greyhounds scored six times in the fourth off Coley, an All-Berks pick, and reliever Dalton Follweiler.

Coley, the winning pitcher in the 11-3 victory over Oley Valley in the Berks title game, was charged with six earned runs over 3 1/3 innings; he had a 1.97 ERA entering the game. He allowed just two hits but walked five and hit two batters.

Muhlenberg became the third Berks champ in the last five tournaments to lose its district opener. The Muhls did the same in 2018, losing to Cedar Cliff 10-4. In 2017, Wilson lost its district opener to Warwick 5-3.

It also happened to Reading High, in 2014, and to Fleetwood, in 2012.

The Muhls out-hit the Greyhounds 12-9 and also drew five walks but left seven runners on base.

Sean Levan went 2-for-3, walked twice and drove in two runs. All-Berks center fielder Luis Beato went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Kenay Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Catcher Shane Rosenberry went 2-for-5, including a 10th-inning double.

The Warriors had nine hits, drew eight walks and saw three batters hit by a pitch; they left 13 runners on base. Cody Furman went 3-for-6 with two RBIs and Hunter Gillin went 2-for-5 and scored twice.

Gettysburg pitchers Braden Manning and Carson Kuhns combined for 15 strikeouts. Kuhns pitched the final five innings and allowed four hits and one unearned run.

The Warriors advance to the quarterfinals to meet ninth-seeded Donegal, which beat Greencastle-Antrim 8-4.