Baseball: Berks III team-by-team breakdown
Hamburg
PIAA classification: 4A
Coach: Nick Evangelista, 12th season
Last season: 8-4 Berks III, 13-9 overall
2021 postseason: District 3 quarterfinalist
Must replace: All-Berks P Hunter Shuey, all-division P/3B Jacob Fegley, OF Drew Weidenhammer.
Top players: All-Division P/OF Tristan Baer, C Nate Gilbert, 2B/P Conner Licklider, SS/P Luke Bensinger.
Key players: P Austin Miller, P Issac Krick, P Braden Fetherolf,1B Brayden Kamp, 3B/P Ty Shuey, OF/P Scottie Dunleavy, OF/P Connor Gruber, OF Hayden Long.
Outlook: Won’t have a dominant ace as they did last year but the Hawks have plenty of depth on the mound and plenty of bats and speed. Division favorite.
Oley Valley
PIAA classification: 3A
Coach: Jeff Pinder, first season
Last season: 9-3 Berks III, 21-6 overall
2021 postseason: Berks semifinalist, District 3 champ, PIAA finalist
Must replace: All-Berks P/1B Garet Blankenbiller, all-division C Evan Solley, all-division P Eddie Standhardt, OF Matt Knowles.
Top players: 3B Chase Reifsnyder, SS Paul Peterson.
Key players: P Sean Hoffman, C Brad Auge, 1B/P Ty Yerger, 2B Luke McDonald, OF Joey Vaccaro, OF Andrew McMullen.
Outlook: Lynx playing for third coach in three seasons, but pedigree is still there after winning back-to-back district titles, in 2019 and 2021 (there was no season in 2020). Solid core of position players led by one of the league’s top hitters, Chase Reifsnyder. Will contend for division title.
Schuylkill Valley
PIAA classification: 4A
Coach: Mark Dietrich, fourth season
Last season: 7-5 Berks III, 9-10 overall
2021 postseason: DNQ
Must replace: P/3B Tyler Fronina.
Top players: All-Division C/P Cody Crills, all-division Colin Stoudt 1B/P, C/1B/P Brendan Bernhart.
Key players: 2B/P Zach Rickert, SS/P Eli Houser, 3B Drew Campbell, 3B/C Connor Staub, INF Kyle Spotts, INF/P Brayden Himmelberger, OF Bryce Hill, OF/P Kelton Faulk, OF/P Julian Kemmerer.
Outlook: Panthers have a strong core of players who finished strong last season, with a late win over eventual district champ Oley Valley. Not much experience on pitching staff.
Berks Catholic
PIAA classification: 3A
Coach: Brandon Shurr, third season
Last season: 2-10 Berks III, 5-15 overall
2021 postseason: DNQ
Must replace: P Zach Bollinger.
Top player: All-Division C RJ Emrich.
Key players: P Derek Brynildsen, P Nate Moschak, 1B/P Parker Nein, 1B/P Dante Casantini, 1B/C Denney Rodriguez, 2B Kevin Lawlor, SS Trey Stricker, OF/P Chris Avram, OF Isaac Pichardo, OF/P Max Mace, OF/P William Hess.
Outlook: Saints still among the youngest teams in the division. Solid behind the plate but few experienced pitchers. Should be improved.
Wyomissing
PIAA classification: 4A
Coach: Dave Voigt, third season
Last season: 10-2 Berks III champ, 15-10 overall
2021 postseason: Berks quarterfinalist, District 3 finalist, PIAA qualifier
Must replace: All-Berks C Jimmy Nunez, all-division P/2B Aidan Cirulli, all-division OF Darren Brunner, all-division OF Harry Weiss.
Top players: C Nate Koenig, 3B Ryker Jones, OF/SS/P Tommy Grabowski.
Key players: P/1B/OF Matt Kramer, P/1B Pacen Ziegler, 2B Jayvien Wolf, SS/P Dom Colon, OF Drew Eisenhower, OF Donovan Cruz.
Outlook: Division champs hit harder by graduation than any team in the division. Just one full-time starter returns, Tommy Grabowski, and he’s moving from SS to OF. Very little experience on the mound but still plenty of good athletes.