Kutztown pounds South Williamsport, heads to PIAA baseball semifinals
(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)
PINE GROVE – Bryce Schafer pitched six shutout innings and drove in three runs as Kutztown routed South Williamsport 9-0 Thursday evening in a PIAA Class 2A baseball quarterfinal at Stump Stadium.
The District 3 champion Cougars (19-6) advance to the semifinals Monday against District 6 runner-up Mount Union, a 16-1 winner Thursday over District 1 champ Calvary Christian.
All-Berks outfielder Dalton Furst collected three of Kutztown’s 10 hits, scored twice and stole a pair of bases.
Leadoff batter Matt Remick reached base four times, scored three runs, and set the tone for the Cougars. He lined the first pitch he saw into left field for a single, advanced on a wild pitch and a fly ball and scored on Schafer’s grounder to short for a 1-0 lead in the first.
Nick Hugo slammed a two-out double down the left-field line, scoring Furst, who had singled, from first for a 2-0 lead.
Schafer, who threw a complete game in the district final against Halifax, made those early runs stand up. He allowed just three hits, walked only one and, along with Hugo, his catcher, kept the Mountaineers’ running game at bay.
The District 4 runner-up Mountaineers (15-6) saw only one runner move into scoring position against Schafer (6-2), when Kaden Shay reached on a force out in the fourth and stole second and third bases. He was stranded at third when Schafer struck out Kaiser Kistner and got Tadd Lusk to ground out to end the inning.
The Mounties finished with just five hits, collecting two in the final inning off Furst.
The Cougars knocked South Williamsport ace Noah Turner (8-2) from the game during a bat-around fifth that saw them score six times and take a 9-0 lead.
Turner allowed eight hits and six runs, five earned, over 4 1/3 innings and did not strike out a batter. He entered with a 3.10 ERA and 50 strikeouts over 58 2/3 innings.
Kutztown got an RBI single from Dominick Pizzelanti and a two-run single from Ashton Dunn during the fifth. One run was forced home when Colin Diehl was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded; another scored when Remick reached on an error.
Schafer had an RBI single to cap the big inning; he drove in runs in the first and third innings with groundouts.
The win was the fourth straight and 10th in 11 games for the Cougars. Since the start of the District 3 playoffs they have outscored their opponents 33-6.
Kutztown is one win away from reaching the PIAA championship game Thursday 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 Bal Eagle 6-1.
| S. Williamsport | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Kutztown | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | x | – | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| Mountaineers | AB | R | H | RBI | Cougars | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Neidis, 3b/p | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Remick, ss | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| Shay, ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Schuler, 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kistner, 2b/p | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Schafer, p/1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| Z. Lynn, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ott, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wertz, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Furst, lf/p | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| Beck, lf | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Hugo, c | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Minier, cf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Pizzelanit, 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Orosco, ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Hamm, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jones, c | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Mathias, 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hostrander, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gilbert, dh/lf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Turner, p/3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Diehl, rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| J. Lynn, rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dunn, cf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Totals | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 28 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
E: Shay, Lusk. SB: Shay 2; Furst 2, Dunn. CS: Minier; Diehl. LOB: South Williamsport 4, Kutztown 6.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Turner, L (8-2) | 4 1/3 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | Schafer, W (6-2) | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| Neidis | 1/3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Furst | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Kistner | 1 1/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
WP: Turner 2, Neidis. B: Turner, Neidis. HBP: Hugo (by Turner), Diehl (by Neidis).
