Fleetwood’s baseball journey ends one step short of state championship game (updated)
2024 Berks baseball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Daniel Mader — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
BELLEFONTE – The 10-3 loss that ended Fleetwood’s baseball season Monday will sting for a while. Memories of the wins that led the Tigers to their first PIAA Class 4A semifinal will last forever.
“It just sucks right now,” said catcher Dalton Young after playing his final game for the Tigers, “(but) I’ll be thinking about this (playoff run) and definitely will be more proud than sad.”
Just a few weeks ago the Tigers had just one state playoff win in their baseball history — and it was all the way back in 2008.
They fought their way through the state bracket before running into a hard-hitting Indiana club, which took it to them at Governor’s Park in Bellefonte, building an early 7-0 lead. The Indians had 13 hits against three Fleetwood pitchers, with six doubles.
“It’s been a huge up-and-down ride,” said first-year Tigers coach Jon Chwatek.
The Tigers (17-11) saw their season stopped in large part because of Quinnipiac commit Ben Ryan, who went the distance, striking out nine.
“He’s a stud,” Chwatek said. “He threw well today.”
With its win, District 7 runner-up Indiana (16-10) heads to Penn State for Thursday’s championship against District 1 champ Holy Ghost Prep, an 8-6 winner over Danville.
Chwatek sent 10-game winner Liam Hilburt back to the bump after he helped his squad claim a 5-3 win over Montour in the quarterfinals. With a 5-0 record and an ERA below 1.00 in the playoffs, Hilburt had momentum on his side.
The Little Indians jumped on him early. An RBI single from Charlie Manzi made it 1-0 in the first. While Hilburt escaped further trouble, Indiana came right back with three hits in the second, including a bases-clearing double from Ryan for a 5-0 advantage.
“I don’t think (Hilburt) could have thrown a ball that they were going to miss,” Chwatek said. “They were putting contact on everything.”
By the end of the third Indiana led 7-0. The ball took a few odd jumps in the outfield that allowed Little Indians runners to advance on multiple instances, but patience, solid contact and timely hitting was what ultimately put them in a strong position to advance.
Young said the most impressive part about the Little Indian’s offense was their team-wide two-strike approach.
“Every single one of them, when there (were) two strikes, shortened up, made contact, put the ball in play, and it worked out for them,” Young said.
In the top of the fourth, the Tigers fought back. Young sent a two-run single down the right field line to score Carson Brey and Aiden Soumas, pushing his season RBI total to a team-leading 20. Hilburt brought in a run on an infield hit.
Outside of that inning, Ryan coasted through the Fleetwood lineup, finishing with just those three runs on his final line.
Hilburt, who threw complete games in his last four playoff starts, lasted just two innings and 58 pitches. He allowed six runs on six hits and hit two batters. He had allowed a total of five runs in five previous postseason appearances.
Cane Cromer allowed Indiana’s other four runs, including three in the bottom of the fifth after consecutive doubles from second baseman Trevor Smith and shortstop Andrew McGee. Wylie Loy took over in relief, finishing with two strikeouts.
While the Tigers’ impressive postseason run certainly didn’t end the way they wanted it to, they put a cap on the longest playoff run in program history.
“We had an amazing season,” Hilburt said.
Chwatek said the toughest part of the day was saying goodbye to the seniors.
“I’ve been with those kids since they were eight,” Chwatek said. “It’s (been) a huge roller coaster.”
| Fleetwood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Indiana | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | x | – | 10 | 13 | 1 |
| Tigers | AB | R | H | RBI | Indians | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| N. Seidel, rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Smith, 2b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brey, cf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | McGee, ss | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Soumas, lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Ryan, p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| Noll, 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Martin, dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Young, c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Manzi, 3b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Hilburt, p/ss | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Collinger, 1b | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Loy, ss/3b/p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Homer, cf | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Reimert, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Shanik, c | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Cromer, 3b/p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Birch, lf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Bergan, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cosentino, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Sobjak, 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Blystone, cr | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Walk, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| G. Seidel, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Leibman, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 25 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 10 | 13 | 10 |
2B: McGee, Shank, Smith, Homer 2, Ryan. SB: Soumas. LOB: Fleetwood 2, Indiana 5.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Hilburt, L (10-2) | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | Ryan, W (4-1) | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | |
| Cromer | 2 2/3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Loy | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
WP:PB: HBP: Shank (by Hilburt), Ryan (by Hilburt); Hilburt (by Ryan).
