Kutztown advances to Class 2A title game; Muhlenberg, Fleetwood beaten

Kutztown earned a spot in the District 3 championship game for the first time since 2019 with an 11-2 win over visiting Newport Monday in a Class 2A semifinal.

The second-seeded Cougars (16-6) will face top-seeded Halifax (18-2-1) Thursday in the title game at a site and time to be announced. Halifax advanced with a 1-0 win over Delone Catholic Monday.

Kutztown won Class 2A titles in 2019, 2007 and 2006.

Nick Hugo had three hits and drove in two runs and Dom Pizzelanti doubled twice and drove in two runs to spark the Cougars’ 12-hit attack.

The Berks IV champion Cougars have won seven of their last eight games.

Sophomore Colten Mathias picked up the win, going five innings. He allowed four hits and one run.

Kutztown went up 5-0 with a four-run third and 10-1 with a five-run fifth.

All-Berks pick Dalton Furst scored three runs and Ashton Dunn had two hits and scored twice.

Ryder Wands had two hits for the third-seeded Buffaloes (15-6), who committed seven errors leading to four unearned runs.

The Cougars got to Newport starter Brady Kain for 11 hits and 10 runs over five innings.

Last season the Cougars lost in the semifinals to top-seeded Camp Hill, 2-1 in nine innings.

Lower Dauphin 10, Muhlenberg 0

At Hummelstown, top-seeded Lower Dauphin unleashed a 12-hit attack and finished off eighth-seeded Muhlenberg in five innings in a District 3 Class 5A quarterfinal.

The loss was the worst for the Muhls (14-9) since falling 15-3 to Gov. Mifflin on April 3. It was just the second time they were shut out this season; the first came 7-0 at Cedar Cliff.

Muhlenberg heads to the playback round where it will play at fifth-seeded Lampeter-Strasburg Thursday at 4:30. The Pioneers lost to fourth-seeded Greencastle 8-5.

The Falcons (17-4) scored four times in the first off Drew Fidler, who went the first three innings for Muhlenberg, allowing 11 hits and nine runs, eight earned.

The Muhls were held to five hits, all singles, and just one stolen base.

East Pennsboro 3, Fleetwood 1

At Fleetwood, Ryan Stover threw a four-hitter as the fifth-seeded Panthers eliminated the fourth-seeded Tigers in a District 3 Class 4A quarterfinal.

Stover (6-2) lowered his ERA to 1.86 as he struck out seven and walked just one. Fleetwood’s only run was unearned.

Travis Loy’s RBI double gave Fleetwood (13-9) a 1-0 lead in the second.

The Panthers scored three times in the fourth to take the lead.

Jake Karnish and Ryan Moser combined to limit East Pennsboro to four hits, all singles. They also combined for six walks.

The loss was the second straight and fourth in six games for the Berks II champion Tigers, who were eliminated in the BCIAA semifinals by eventual champ Gov. Mifflin 9-7.