Wilson, Muhlenberg, Kutztown ready to hit the road for PIAA openers
Wilson, Muhlenberg and Kutztown will be hitting the road for their PIAA baseball openers Monday.
The District 3 Class 2A champion Cougars (17-6) are looking at nearly a 2 ½-hour trip to Springville to play District 2 champ Elk Lake (19-4) at 4:30.
Muhlenberg, the fifth-place finisher in the District 3 Class 5A Tournament, has a four-hour trip to Wexford to play District 7 champ Shaler (19-4) at 2.
Wilson (19-8), the District 3 Class 6A runner-up, has the shortest trip of the three Berks League qualifiers: Roughly an hour to Villanova Ballpark in Plymouth Meeting, where it faces District 1 champ Central Bucks West (20-6) at 4.
The PIAA baseball tournament consists of four rounds, with the quarterfinals on Thursday, the semifinals June 12 and the championship games June 15-16 at Penn State’s Medlar Field.
Kutztown is making its ninth state tournament appearance and first since 2019, when it lost to Devon Prep in the opening round. Its last PIAA win came in 2007, when it won its first three games before a 6-1 loss to Bald Eagles in the championship game.
The Cougars advanced by beating Halifax 5-1 for their sixth District 3 championship. Bryce Schafer homered and pitched a complete game in that one and likely will be back on the mound Monday.
He’ll face a Warriors team that has won 10 of its last 11 games and scored 30 runs in its three district victories. They beat Mountain View 4-0 in the championship Monday afternoon.
Elk Lake’s top hitter is sophomore Braydon McMicken, who’s batting .443 with 22 RBIs and a .586 on-base percentage in 23 games. Senior Elias Owens is the top pitcher: He’s 8-1 with a 1.19 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 59 innings.
Wilson heads into the state tournament after winning 12 of its last 14 games. Its only losses since late April came in championship games: To Gov. Mifflin 6-3 in the BCIAA title game and to Cedar Cliff 7-1 in the district title game.
Junior Matt VanOstenbridge had a rough outing against Cedar Cliff, getting knocked out in the fourth inning. For the season he’s 6-4 with a 2.27 ERA and 88 strikeouts over 64 2/3 innings.
The Bulldogs are in states for the third time in the last four tournaments. Their last win came in 2019 when they opened with a 6-5 win over Penn Trafford. This is their fourth appearance overall. They also made it in 1988, reaching the PIAA championship game.
Central Bucks West defeated top-seeded Spring-Ford 4-0 in Thursday’s District 1 championship game. The 14th-seeded Bucks edged No. 19 Downingtown West 7-6 in the opening round, then won their next three games by a combined 30-2 to reach the championship. They took out the No. 1, 2 and 3 seeds in the tournament.
Junior Sam Greer allowed just one hit over six innings in the championship game. He has 56 strikeouts and a 3.76 ERA over a team-leading 35 1/3 innings. Julio Ermigiotti has a 4-0 record and team-leading 2.12 ERA.
The Bucks’ top hitter is Max Mcglone, who has a .367 batting average and 1.043 OPS.
The Bucks, who finished second in the Suburban One Colonial behind North Penn, have won eight straight.
Muhlenberg returns to the state tournament for the second time in three seasons and eighth time overall. It’s last win came in a 2008 opener over Marple Newtown, 8-3.
The Muhls, who finished second in Berks I behind Gov. Mifflin, have gone 4-2 in the postseason and won three of their four districts games, including a pair of elimination games, against Lampeter-Strasburg and Shippensburg. Their only loss in the tournament came in the second round to top-seeded Lower Dauphin.
Senior right-hander Dalton Follweiler picked up wins over Manheim Central, Lampeter-Strasburg and Shippensburg to improve to a Berks-leading 8-1. He has a 1.13 ERA over 62 innings, with 42 strikeouts.
Follweiler was an All-Berks pick as was infielder Cameron Burr, who has a team-best .485 on-base percentage and has stolen a team-leading 24 bases from his leadoff spot.
Follweiler will have a challenge against a Shaler team that is averaging nearly seven runs per game and has scored 10 or more runs seven times.
The Titans have allowed just 49 runs and have an average winning margin of nearly five runs per game. They outscored their three playoff opponents 23-2.
University of Alabama recruit Miguel Hugas, who could be taken in the upcoming MLB draft, pitched a complete game in the 10-1 win over Bethel Park in the district title game. He improved to 9-0 with an ERA below 1.00.
Shaler, which has won seven straight, is ranked No. 2 overall in the WPIAL and No. 3 in the state in Class 5A by the Pittsburgh Tribune.
