Bulldogs win arms race, punch ticket to Berks championship game
2024 Berks baseball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Wilson used a nearly identical strategy in its BCIAA baseball semifinal victory that it used in the quarterfinals.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If you have a deep pitching staff, use it.
This time the Bulldogs handed the ball to sophomore Ben Kulp, who struck out five through 5⅓ innings while allowing only two runs as third-seeded Wilson defeated No. 2 Twin Valley 6-3 Saturday afternoon at Owls Field.
The strong start from Kulp allowed Wilson’s ace Matt VanOstenbridge to come in and close out the game while preserving himself for a start in Monday’s championship rematch at FirstEnergy Stadium against rival and top-seeded Gov. Mifflin.
The same formula worked in the Bulldogs’ favor Thursday with Christo Hunsicker’s strong start helping Wilson win 7-2 over Berks Catholic in the quarterfinals.
“Having three solid arms and all of the depth is incredible,” Kulp said of the Bulldogs’ deep pitching staff. “It’s nice knowing going into playoff tournaments that we have the depth to play aggressively.”
Twin Valley defeated Wilson 10-3 in the regular season and scored eight of those runs once VanOstenbridge was removed from the game.
“We wanted to get ahead of batters early in counts this time and then work different off-speed pitches to keep hitters off balance, give them different views inside and outside,” Kulp said.
The Bulldogs (15-6) are aiming for their first BCIAA title since 2019 and revenge after losing in the title game to Gov. Mifflin last season after beating the Mustangs twice in the regular season.
Wilson again swept the Mustangs in the regular season this year.
“We’re focused on the task at hand,” Kulp said. “One game at a time, one day at a time. It’s just about staying focused at practice and preparing for each specific game. If we play baseball our way, no one can touch us.”
Wilson jumped on Twin Valley’s top pitcher Owen Rhoads early, scoring three runs in the top of the second inning and running up his pitch count to 42.
Ryan Marmolejos’ RBI single scored Chase Ulrich; CJ Fernandez hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Cooper Kennedy; and Jack Gabel’s sacrifice fly scored VanOstenbridge to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.
The Raiders (15-5) got on the board in the bottom of the inning when Jon Oxendine knocked in Paul Colombo, who had reached on a single.
Colombo then drilled a ball into deep right field for a double that scored Rhoads to make it 3-2 in the bottom of the third.
Both starting pitchers settled in for the fourth and fifth innings, allowing no runs.
Christo Hunsicker made the offensive play of the game in the top of the sixth when he roped a two-run double to left center with two outs to score Tommy Hunsicker and Marmolejos.
“That definitely got us some momentum for the defense to stay motivated and gave us a bit of a cushion so Matty could do his thing with even more confidence than he already has,” Christo Hunsicker said.
Colombo, who went 3-for-3 on the day, was the lone player to get the better of VanOstenbridge during his appearance with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth to keep the Raiders within striking distance at 5-3.
Fernandez hit a looper into shallow right field to score Ulrich for an insurance run in the top of the seventh for the Bulldogs and VanOstenbridge shut the Raiders down in the bottom of the seventh, picking up his 200th and 201st strikeouts in the process.
The Raiders set their sights on districts, where they’ll be the No. 4 seed.
| Wilson | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Twin Valley | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Bulldogs | AB | R | H | RBI | Raiders | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| T. Hunsicker, 3b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Cieless, lf, p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gabel, ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Majewski, 2b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C. Hunsicker, 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Vaughan, ss/p | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fiorini, cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Rhoads, p/2b/ss | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kulp, p | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Colombo, 1b | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| Kennedy, rf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Eden, cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Herbein, c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lord, 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| VanOstenbridge, dh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Crunkleton, c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Marmolejos, lf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Oxendine, rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Fernandez, 2b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Zdimal, 2b/p/lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ulrich, cr | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Raines, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Snyder, c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 28 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 26 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
E: T. Hunsicker, Gabel, Lord, Vaughan 2. 2B: C. Hunsicker, Colombo 2, Eden. SB: Fiorini. S: Fernandez, T. Hunsicker. SF: Gabel. LOB: Wilson 11. Twin Valley 5.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Kulp, W (5-1) | 5.1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | Rhoads, L (2-1) | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| VanOstenbridge | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Zdimal | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Cieless | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| Vaughan | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
WP: Rhoads, Zdimal. HBP: Kulp, Rhoads, Zdimal.
