Kutztown Cougars ready, eager, for next challenge in PIAA Tournament (updated with postponement information)

The games are supposed to get tougher once you reach the postseason but they haven’t for the Kutztown Cougars.

They have averaged better than eight runs per game and are batting .351 since the start of the district playoffs three weeks ago.

The Cougars played a strong regular season schedule and faced top Berks League pitchers such as Parker Nein of Berks Catholic, Matt Kramer of Wyomissing, Jake Karnish of Fleetwood and Carson Renner and Nate Fronheiser of Brandywine Heights.

They haven’t seen anyone that good since the District 3 Tournament began.

“Not really,” said All-Berks left fielder Dalton Furst after banging out three hits in a 9-0 win over South Williamsport in a PIAA Class 2A quarterfinal Friday at Pine Grove. “We haven’t really seen anything too challenging.”

Kutztown is one of the smallest schools in the Berks League. It’s challenged in the league playoffs against larger schools and top programs such as Gov. Mifflin, Muhlenberg, and Wilson.

Once it reaches the postseason and faces like-sized schools it’s ready because coach Tim Mertz challenges his guys throughout the regular season.

The Cougars faced eventual District 11 Class 4A champ Blue Mountain, eventual District 11 Class 2A champ Schuylkill Haven and district qualifiers Delone Catholic and Northwestern Lehigh in non-leaguers. They have played 15 games against district-qualifying teams and it is paying off now.

“We had a pretty hard schedule this season,” said Furst. “That’s made us feel more comfortable in these playoff games.”

It should help them Tuesday when they meet Mount Union in a PIAA Class 2A Tournament semifinal at Big Spring High School at 4. (The game was orginally scheduled for Monday but was pushed back due to rain in the forecast.)

The District 6 runner-up Trojans (24-2) had an easy time of it in the state quarterfinals, dispatching District 1 champ Calvary Christian 16-1 in four innings. They have lost to just one team this season, District 6 champ Bald Eagle, which plays in the other Class 2 semifinal.

The Trojans lost to Bald Eagle 1-0 in 10 innings in a non-league game May 8 and 11-5 in the District 6 championship game.

The District 3 champion Cougars (19-6) have won four straight and 10-of-11; their only loss in the last month came to Class 4A Fleetwood 5-1 in a Berks quarterfinal. They are playing in their first state semifinal baseball game in 16 years.

Kutztown is one win away from reaching the PIAA championship game Friday at 10:30 a.m. at Penn State’s Medlar Field. The Cougars’ only appearance in the championship game came in 2007 when they fell to Bald Eagle 6-1.

Mount Union has won four PIAA championships, the most recent in 2019. It has qualified for the state tournament 29 times, has reached the title game six times and the semifinals 13 times. The Trojans lost in the opening round of state play the last two seasons.

Mount Union went unbeaten in Inter-County North play, outscoring its league opponents 183-17. Overall, the Trojans are averaging 10.6 runs per game and have an 8.8 average winning margin. It’s 24 wins are the most in the state.

The Trojans’ lineup features three .400 hitters and seven regulars batting .300 or better.

Junior Blaine Hunsinger leads the team with a .533 batting average, .622 on-base percentage and 37 runs scored. Senior Braylan Knable is batting .429 with six homers and an .809 slugging percentage. Junior Cainen Atherton is batting .393 and leads the team with eight homers and 35 RBIs.

They pounded Wyalusing’s Blake Morningstar, a Wake Forest commit and potential MLB draft pick, for two homers and eight extra-base hits in a 7-3 first-round victory. Atherton led the way at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a home run, double and two RBIs.

The Trojans have stolen 84 bases; according to stats on maxpreps.com they have been thrown out just twice.

Staff ace Bryce Danish is 9-1 with a 1.01 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 55 2/3 innings. He last pitched in the opening round of states June 5.

The Mount Union staff has a combined for a 1.23 ERA, with seven shutouts; it has allowed more than two runs in a game just four times and more than four runs just twice.

Kutztown can flash some impressive stats, too.

Third baseman Kole Schuler is batting .427.  Furst is batting .402 with a team-best slugging percentage over .600. Second baseman Dominick Pizzelanti is batting .402.

Remick is batting .352 with a team-leading 38 runs in 25 games. Bryce Schafer is batting .373 with a team-high 30 RBIs after driving in three runs against South Williamsport.

Schafer (6-2) is eligible to pitch after throwing six innings Thursday. So is sophomore Colten Mathias (6-2), who pitched the opening game of states.

Mount Union likely will provide the stiffest test of the postseason but the Cougars are playing with purpose and focus.

Furst said he’s not surprised to see his team one win away from the state championship game.

“I trust these guys,” he said. “I believe in every single one here.”

“It’s not a fairy tale (to be here) because we’re very confident and we believe in ourselves,” said Remick.