Berks III-champion Lynx are more than OK with Chase Kegerise on the mound
Before his freshman season began Chase Kegerise had no idea how much he would get on the mound for Oley Valley.
With last year’s ace, Luke Macdonald, graduated and Chase Reifsnyder unable to pitch because of a hand injury the Lynx have needed the 15-year-old left-hander a lot more than he imagined.
“I’m OK with that,” he said Wednesday after throwing a complete game in a 5-2 win at Berks Catholic as the Lynx clinched the Berks League Division III title.
The Lynx (9-2, 11-7) are more than OK with having Kegerise on the mound so often. He’s won a league-leading five games, including two in the last week, and has been critical in helping Oley Valley become the first Berks team to clinch a playoff spot.
“You can’t say enough about the kid,” said Lynx coach Jeff Pinder. “A freshman, thrown in a big game like that? The kid’s a competitor. He just goes out and works and works and works.”
Kegerise took a two-hit shutout into the sixth and finished with a five-hitter and just one walk on 92 pitches. His team didn’t score until the sixth, when it erupted for three runs. That certainly didn’t make his job any easier against the league’s winningest team.
“It was a little nerve-wracking, because you don’t know what’s going to come up when you’re on the mound,” Kegerise said, “but I fought through it and threw strikes and got them out.”
If Kegerise was nervous he sure didn’t show it. He threw loose and easy the whole afternoon, stayed ahead of hitters, kept the ball down and induced one ground ball after another. He finished with 15 groundball outs.
“That’s him,” Pinder said. “When he’s on, like he was today, (throwing) all three pitches for strikes, he keeps the ball down in the zone and he’s going to get a lot of ground balls.”
“He has arm-side run on his fastball,” said junior Paul Petersen, Oley’s No. 1 pitcher who plays shortstop when Kegerise is on the mound. “He keeps the ball down and does what he can to create weak contact. I love it. (I get) a ball hit to me almost every inning.”
Pinder said things were a little tense before the game. His players knew they faced a big game. Had they lost they would’ve needed to beat hard-hitting Berks IV leader Brandywine Heights Friday to win their first division title since 2018. A loss Wednesday could’ve cost them the automatic berth into the league playoffs.
“We came into this game with a lot of confidence,” Petersen said. “We’ve seen (Chase) pitch all year. Just a great pitcher. He kept his composure really great today. Big situation for him. A lot of people (feel) pressure in that situation. He did a great job; did more than we can ask for.”
Petersen’s two-run double in the sixth snapped a scoreless tie. Through five innings Berks Catholic sophomore Trey Stricker did an outstanding job on the mound, limiting a potent Oley lineup to three singles and no walks.
It was his throwing error, not his mound work, that opened the door for the Lynx.
Reifsnyder gave himself up with a bunt to move Tyler Drobek to second. Stricker fielded it but threw high to first for an error, allowing Drobek to reach third. One out later, and with Reifsnyder on second after a steal, Petersen rifled a double to left to make it 2-0. He came home one out later on Kegerise’s single to center.
“It’s a big, big inning for us,” Petersen said.
The Saints answered with a pair of runs in the sixth to make it 3-2 but the Lynx knocked Stricker out in the seventh on Reifsnyder’s two-out single and Gryffin Cappelano’s RBI double. Cappellano scored on Sean Hoffman’s single.
The loss leaves the Saints in a three-way tie for second in Berks III with Hamburg and Wyomissing, which meet Thursday. There are multiple scenarios that could help them qualify or knock them out of the league playoffs. Berks Catholic does have a higher power rating than either, which could be a tiebreaker.
As for the Lynx, they can make their playoff plans.
“I’m just happy for them, a young team, winning a division, getting in the playoffs,” Pinder said. “I can’t say enough for the kids. They come out and have fun. They’re a great group of kids. They just play well together.”
Even with the division title in hand Oley Valley could end up as the No. 8 seed in the BCIAA playoffs because of its power rating and could again open against Berks I champ Gov. Mifflin. That was the scenario last year when the Lynx upset the Mustangs in the opening round and reached the championship game.
“(Coach) Pinder tells us every year it’s a big goal to make county playoffs,” Petersen said. “He wants to get a chance and if we can, do something big, make a big upset.”
| Oley Valley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | – | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| Berks Catholic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Lynx | AB | R | H | RBI | Saints | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Reifsnyder, 3b | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Walls, lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Cappellano, 2b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Fidler, ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Petersen, ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Nein, 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Hoffman, 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Rodriguez, c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Kegerise, p | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Hearaing, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Firek, dh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Sterner, dh/p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Palmiotti, cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moschak, 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Remmel, rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Curley, 3b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Auge, c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bradley, rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Drobeck, lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Mace, cf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 30 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 25 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
E: Stricker, Curley. 2B: Petersen, Cappellano. SB: Reifsnyder 2, Cappellano. LOB: Oley Valley 6, Berks Catholic 4. DP: Berks Catholic 2.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Kegerise, W | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | Strricker, L | 6 2/3 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Sterner | 1/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
