Kutztown clobbers Brandywine, clinches Berks IV title (updated)

After a rare off year the Kutztown Cougars are back in the Berks League playoffs.

The Cougars dug out of an early three-run hole and put the game away by scoring nine runs over the fourth and fifth innings to clinch the Division IV title Monday with a 15-4 rout of Brandywine Heights at Mertztown.

“It said a lot to me to be able to do that,” Cougars coach Tim Mertz said of his team rallying from a 4-1 deficit after two innings.

The Cougars (6-3 Berks IV, 10-5) lead the Bullets (4-5 Berks IV, 6-7) by two games with two to play but hold the division tiebreaker advantage, having swept the season series.

The Berks IV title is the second in three seasons for the Cougars, who won the Berks III title in 2019. (There was no season in 2020, due to COVID-19.)

Kutztown finished 4-7 in the division last season, four games behind Brandywine, which swept the series 7-5 and 2-0.

The Cougars returned eight starters from that team, including all-division picks Grant Fitzgerald, Nick Hugo and Matt Remick.

“I felt beginning of the season that we were going to be the best team in the division,” Mertz said. “I felt last year that us getting playoff experience was huge for the young group. Most of our games (this season) have been close. That’s been a plus; we’re able to play in a tight game.”

The Bullets went up 2-1 in the first on Carson Renner’s two-run homer; he has homered in three straight games.

The Bullets needed to win out and see Kutztown lose its final three games to have a shot at the division title and led 4-1 after scoring twice in each of the first two innings. Fitzgerald (5-0) settled down after that and gave his team a chance to come back. Fitzgerald went five innings to earn the win; he allowed nine hits and four runs, two earned.

Dalton Furst went 3-for-6 and scored three times to lead a 15-hit Kutztown assault. Bryce Schafer went 3-for-5 and scored twice.

Furst had a two-run single and Schafer a two-run double in the fourth, helping the Cougars to an 8-4 lead.
The Cougars got to Renner, Brandywine’s top pitcher, for seven hits, six walks and seven runs, three earned, over 3 2/3 innings.

“Renner was really struggling to find the plate,” Mertz said. “He was over-amped up (for the big game). We were disciplined, made him throw strikes and we were able to put the ball in play when it got into the strike zone, and that was huge for us.

“The fourth inning was big for us; when we got that momentum swung to our side and we were able to relax a little bit.”

The Cougars won the first meeting 4-2 as Fitzgerald went six innings, allowing one run. Renner also started that game for the Bullets.

Kutztown is in strong position to return to the District 3 Class 2A playoffs; it entered play Monday ranked No. 4. The top six teams qualify. The Cougars reached the semifinals last season.