Berks III-leading Saints out-hit Cougars to score win in battle of division leaders
2024 Berks baseball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Berks Catholic allowed a pair of first-inning runs Monday in a key Berks League crossover game against Division IV leader Kutztown but that proved to be but a small obstacle for the Saints.
They tied the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, put up a seven spot in the third and held off the visiting Cougars for a 12-8 victory. The teams combined for 27 hits.
The win was the third straight for the Saints (6-1 Berks III, 8-2) and helped them maintain their slim lead over second-place Oley Valley (5-2, 7-5) in a tightly contested division.
“It’s always tough when you’re the home team and you go out and give up runs in the first,” said Saints coach Brandon Shurr. “To be able to get those two runs in the bottom of the inning was really important for our guys to stay in the game.”
| Berks III | League | Overall |
| Berks Catholic | 6-1 | 8-2 |
| Oley Valley | 5-2 | 7-5 |
| Wyomissing | 4-2 | 5-7 |
| Hamburg | 4-4 | 6-9 |
| Schuylkill Valley | 1-6 | 2-10 |
The way the Saints have been hitting lately a two-run deficit was miniscule, even against a program as sound as Kutztown, which had its No. 1 pitcher, Colten Mathias, on the mound.
Berks Catholic is averaging a league-high 9.8 runs per game and batting .341 as a team after collecting 15 hits off four Kutztown pitchers Monday.
The Saints have been particularly hot at the plate over the last week, scoring 40 runs in their last three games.
Monday they got three hits and three RBIs from cleanup hitter Parker Nein, two hits and two RBIs from leadoff hitter Dillon Walls and three hits and two runs from No. 7 hitter Michael Bradley. Seven different players hit safely.
“One thing that separates us right now is we don’t have a big drop-off (in our lineup),” Shurr said. “Sometimes in high school baseball one thru five is pretty good, then your 6-7-8 hitters are kind of average. We have some guys hitting 7, 8, 9 having really, really productive, effective team at-bats for us right now.”
Bradley, who has been hitting in the lower part of the lineup all season, is batting a cool .455, has a .586 on-base percentage and is tied for the team lead with 13 runs scored. Mikey Fidler, who went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs Monday out of the No. 9 hole, is batting .348.
“Michael, Maxx (Mace) and Mikey (at the bottom of the order), that’s what gives us the advantage right now against some teams,” Shurr said.
Wall, a sophomore, finished last season with a flourish and has even better this season. He leads the team with a .500 batting average, .590 on-base percentage and a .593 slugging percentage. He is one of three Saints, along with Nein and Bradley, to have compiled an OPS over 1.100.
“We were really excited about Dillon coming into this year,” Shurr said. “Having him at the top of our lineup is a real luxury, and a challenge for other teams. He’s getting on at a high percentage and he causes some issues when he’s on the bases.”
Trey Stricker, who struck out nine over six innings, improved to 3-0 with the win. He has struck out 22 over 17 innings this season.
The Cougars (5-2 Berks IV, 7-7) got their licks in, for sure, collecting 12 hits; they scored in five different innings, pulling within 10-6 in the sixth. Colin Hamm went 4-for-5 and drove in two runs. Colin Diehl, Mathias, and Ashton Dunn each had two hits.
Stricker limited the damage by walking just one batter over his six innings.
The Saints are off to their best start since 2018, when they last won a division title. They finished 18-4 that season and went unbeaten in Berks III for the second straight year. Berks Catholic was 14-2 at one point late that season.
Despite the hot start the Saints don’t have much room for error in Berks III, where Wyomissing (5-7) beat Tulpehocken Monday for its fourth win in its last five league games and remains in striking distance at 5-3 in league play. The Spartans have gone 5-2 since an 0-5 start.
The Saints’ only losses are to Fleetwood and Oley Valley. They lost at home 7-1 to the defending Berks III champion Lynx on April 13. They’ll play again at Oley May 1.
“We’ve done a good job the first time through (the division),” Shurr said. “We’ve just gotta be able to do it again, and we’ll definitely get a chance to make up for that Oley loss and get another crack at them.”
