Matt VanOstenbridge dominant again as Wilson blanks Oley Valley
Junior Matt VanOstenbridge continued his pitching dominance Thursday, allowing just two hits over six shutout innings in Wilson’s 6-0 victory over Oley Valley in a Berks Baseball League quarterfinal at Gochnauer Field.
VanOstenbridge struck out eight and did not walk a batter in collecting his fourth win. Sophomore Christo Hunsicker completed the shutout with a perfect seventh striking out two.
The second-seeded Bulldogs (14-6) won their seventh straight game to advance to a Saturday semifinal against third-seeded Muhlenberg, a 6-3 winner over Daniel Boone. They’ll play at 9 a.m. in the first game of a double-header at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The seventh-seeded Lynx (13-8) saw their five-game winning streak snapped.
Wilson scored single runs in the first and third innings before going ahead 5-0 with a three-run fourth. Tommy Hunsicker singled twice, walked, scored a run and drove in a run. Jordan Shutter had two hits and Nick Fiorini doubled and scored twice.
VanOstenbridge improved to 4-2 and lowered his ERA to 1.91, one of the lowest in the league. He has struck out 69 batters over 47 2/3 innings, allowing just 26 hits.
The Berks III champion Lynx were shut out for the third time this season and lost by six runs or more for just the second time. They averaged 5.9 runs per game during the regular season and batted .311, fourth-best in the league.
Wilson has outscored its opponents 60-16 during its winning streak, which includes shutout wins over Reading High and Gov. Mifflin. VanOstenbridge went the distance in the win over the Mustangs and is the only pitcher to shut them out this season.
The Bulldogs are back in the league semifinals for the fourth straight time. They won the BCIAA championship in 2019 and reached the title game in 2021. (There was no tournament in 2020.)
| Oley Valley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Wilson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | x | – | 6 | 8 | 4 |
| Lynx | AB | R | H | RBI | Bulldogs | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Reifsnyder, 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T. Hunsicker, 3b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Cappellano, 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Gabaldon, 2b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Petersen, ss/p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | C. Hunsicker, 1b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Hoffman, 1b/2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Crocona, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kegerise, p/1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sekulski, rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Firek, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fiorini, lf | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Remmel, rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fernandez, cf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Auge, c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Shutter, c | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Drobek, lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Sensenig, dh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Fries, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bilodeau, ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ruiz, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 3 |
2B: Cappellano, Fiorini. SB: T. Hunsicker. LOB: Oley Valley 8, Wilson 6.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Kegerise, L (4-2) | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | VanOstenbridge, W (4-2) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Petersen | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | C. Hunsicker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |