Gov. Mifflin blasts Brandywine Heights in Berks League baseball opener
(This story will be updated with details and postgame reaction later tonight.)
Gov. Mifflin quickly erased bad memories of last year’s Berks League playoff opener by scoring eight first-inning runs and dispensing of Brandywine Heights 12-0 in five innings Thursday afternoon at Owls Field.
The top-seeded Mustang (16-4) got a three-run, inside-the-park homer from Tyler Minick to cap off the first inning.
“Man he can fly,” said Mifflin coach Chris Hole of Minick, who tore out of the box and raced around the bases after his blast landed over the head of center fielder Jaeger Smeltz.
Minick, who leads the Mustangs with four homers, said he has never had an inside-the-park homer in high school. The UConn recruit has more than enough power to clear the fences at most parks, though Owls Field is one of the larger venues used for Berks high school games. It’s 415 to dead center field, where Minick’s homer landed.
The Mustangs will play at another large venue Saturday in the BCIAA semifinals at FirstEnergy Stadium. They’ll play the winner of the Kutztown vs. Fleetwood game, scheduled for later Thursday.
Mifflin was the top seed in last year’s tournament but went out in the first round against No. 8 Oley Valley. Minick, the Berks Player of the Year, was injured at the end of last season, which hurt his team in the postseason.
He was at the top of his game in leading Mifflin’s opening-round rout of the eighth-seeded Bullets (11-7). He walked to lead off the game and scored twice in the opening inning.
Travis Jenkins had a two-run double and winning pitcher Ethan Grim had an RBI double.
Grim’s best work came on the mound where he limited the league’s top-hitting team to one single over four innings. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter.
Brandywine, the Berks IV runner-up, entered with a .368 team batting average and averaging nearly 7.9 runs per game.
Alexander Velez had two hits and scored two runs and Jonathan Radwinski had two hits and two RBIs for Mifflin.
| Brandywine Heights | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | x | – | 12 | 11 | 0 |
| Bullets | AB | R | H | RBI | Mustangs | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Crist, 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Minick, ss | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frisch, 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Unger, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Renner, ss/p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N. Radwinski, ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hall, 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Detwiler, 2b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Fronheiser, p/ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Velez, 1b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Bojt, lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jenkins, c | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Cardinale, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sanchez, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Smeltz, cf | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Koehler, 3b | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Showalter, ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Troche, dh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Parks, c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lehman, cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Haring, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tobin, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| A. Leib, rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | J. Radwinski, lf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| Moyer, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hohl, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Acosta, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Grim, p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Berg, cr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Novotny, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Wunderlich, rf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
E:Jaeger, Smeltz. 2B: Grim. HR: Minick. SB: Showalter, Detwiler, Koehler. LOB: Brandywine Heights 3, Gov. Mifflin 7.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Fronheiser, L (4-2) | 2/3 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 0 | Grim, W (5-2) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Renner | 3 1/3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Novotny | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
WP: Renner. HBP: Troche (by Renner); Christ (by Grim).
