Exeter’s Alex Kelsey among five Berks players selected for PA’s Big 26
All-Berks center fielder Alex Kelsey is returning to play for Pennsylvania’s select Big 26 baseball team along with four other Berks players.
Joining him on the team will be Muhlenberg’s Cam Burr, Gov. Mifflin’s Bryce Detwiler, Berks Catholic’s Parker Nein and Oley Valley’s Paul Petersen.
Pennsylvania’s top underclassmen will meet a Maryland all-star squad for a three-game series July 20-23 at FNB Field on City Island.
Kelsey batted .410 as a junior with a team-leading 26 runs scored in 22 games.
The Eagles leadoff batter had a team-best .566 on-base average and a .672 slugging percentage, with 10 extra-base hits. He stole 22 bases, half Exeter’s team total.
Burr, a two-time All-Berks infielder, has batted .351 in leading the Muhls into the PIAA Tournament.
The junior and leadoff batter has a team-best .991 OPS with 24 runs scored in 25 games. He leads the team with 24 stolen bases.
Detwiler, an infielder and pitcher for the Berks I champion Mustangs, batted .402, shares the league lead with 31 runs scored and had nine extra-base hits.
He drove in 18 runs and was 12-for-12 on stolen base attempts. He was the lone sophomore on the All-Berks team.
Nein, the Saints’ No. 1 pitcher, went 2-1 with a 1.48 ERA and 38 strikeouts over a team-leading 28 1/3 innings. He batted .271 and led the team with 15 runs scored. Nein was an all-division pick in Berks III.
Petersen pitched and played shortstop for the Berks III champion Lynx. He led the team with a .394 batting average, .458 on-base percentage and .464 slugging percentage. He drove in a team-best 20 runs and scored 15 times in 23 games.
Pennsylvania leads the series 5-3 after taking 2-of-3 games last year.
Kelsey was selected for the team last season, along with Tyler Minick of Gov. Mifflin, Deven Sheerin of Exeter and Kannon Zdimal of Twin Valley.
Berks Catholic’s Patrick Causa was Pennsylvania’s MVP in the 2014 series.
The event began in 2012. The series was not played in 2017 or 2020.
