Cougars expecting a fruitful season after year of growth

Nick Hugo says he was devastated when Kutztown’s baseball season ended last May with a 6-1 loss to Camp Hill in the District 3 Class 3A semifinals. He wanted to go further; he wanted to play in the state tournament.

“I know we were a young team and didn’t have many expectations before the season,” said the Cougars junior catcher, “but after that loss I wanted to get right back at it, hit the gym, hit the weight room, hit the cages.”

That’s what he and the Cougars did.

Ten months later they’re ready to reap the dividends of a trying but learning 2021 season and the hard work they put into the offseason.

“I like the fact that we’re a year older,” said Cougars coach Tim Mertz. “You can see that growth, the maturity.”

Mertz put a young team on the field last season. He had just one senior in the starting lineup, leadoff batter and center fielder Sam Schaeffer. The rest were juniors and sophomores, talented but lacking varsity experience.

That often showed. The Cougars had trouble getting off the field. They were giving teams four and five outs in an inning. Walking too many batters.

They lost a bunch of close games and finished 9-12 and out of the postseason, a rarity for the Cougars.

“We couldn’t make a play (in the field that) we had to make,” Mertz said. “It was a mental thing.”

The Cougars lost a pair of close games to Berks IV champ Brandywine Heights. They were up 3-2 in the fifth inning of the first meeting, at Mertztown, before the Bullets broke it open with a five-run sixth.

Three weeks later they battled Chase Renner, the division’s top pitcher, in a scoreless tie through five. They ended up losing 2-0. Little things, Mertz said, cost his team.

“We could’ve won both of the games,” he said. “We should’ve won both games.”

The Cougars will get a chance to show how much they’ve improved and to even that score April 11 when the division rivals meet for the first time. They’re expected to battle it out for first place the entire way.

The Bullets bring back a strong core from a team that went 14-7 and reached the District 3 Class 3A semifinals before being turned back by eventual champ Oley Valley.

They return three all-division players, including junior pitcher and shortstop Carson Renner, the most accomplished player in the division.

Expect another close battle between the Cougars and Bullets, and for each to make extended postseason runs.

“They play the game the right way, so you have to play flawless to beat them,” said first-year Brandywine Heights coach Ron “Boo-Boo” Schaeffer of the Cougars. “Tim’s a very good coach and he’s going to win close ballgames, so in order to beat him you’ve got to play a clean baseball game.”

Kutztown won the 2019 District 3 Class 2A championship when Grant Fitzgerald was a freshman. He sees similarities between this team and that one, especially the way he and his teammates went at it in the offseason. They worked with Larry Chester, Kutztown’s football coach and strength and conditioning coordinator, to get stronger and faster.

“I’ve seen the growth,” said Mertz.

“He got us better, stronger,” said Fitzgerald, a senior and the team’s No. 1 pitcher. “We (worked with him) my freshman year and we won the district. This year we got back at it and expect big things from it.”

Fitzgerald will be central to the success. He pitched in tough luck last season, finishing with a 3-5 record. He drew all the tough assignments, and didn’t get much backing from his defense. He and Mertz are expecting the latter to change.

“(It’s all about) making the routine play,” said Fitzgerald, whose infield defense should be improved with the return of junior Kole Schuler at second base, junior Matt Remick at shortstop and Dalton Furst at third.

Fitzgerald, termed a “crafty left-hander” by his coach, doesn’t have the overpowering stuff to pitch through mistakes but he’s got experience now and confidence in his stuff.

“Grant’s a lefty with a lot of run,” said Hugo. “He’s got good pitches, good movement. He’s there with the ‘velo,’ he’s there with location. I think we should expect a really good year out of him. He’s matured a lot. He’s gonna define himself as one of the best pitchers in the county.”

Fitzgerald will be backed on the mound by Remick, Furst, and senior Jacob Rabert.

The Bullets may be even deeper and more accomplished on the mound. Behind Carson Renner, who posted a 3.05 ERA over a team-leading 41 1/3 innings last season, they’ll have senior Chad Maggs, juniors Grant Parks and Jaegar Smeltz, and sophomore Nate Fronheiser.

“Pitching will be the key,” Mertz said. “If I have consistent pitching, we will make noise throughout our league and in the county. If we can do away with that one (bad) inning, we’re going to be OK.”

While Hugo and his teammates were disappointed by their loss in districts last year Mertz was encouraged by the opening-round victory. His No. 1 goal last year was to get that young team playoff experience; they did that.

“Last year was all about (gaining) experience for us,” said Fitzgerald. “We’re gonna be a lot better than we were.”

“I expect a lot out of us,” said Hugo, “and I think Coach does, too. So do my teammates.”