Player of the Year Tyler Minick leads All-Berks baseball team
Tyler Minick should just start the game standing on first base. The Gov. Mifflin junior is going to get there, anyway.
He’s put together an incredible season, with a .500 batting average and .616 on-base percentage, and has been named Player of the Year in the Berks Baseball League.
The University of Connecticut recruit was one of two repeat selections, along with Wilson’s Ruben Livingston.
Minick is joined on the first team by junior Alexander Velez, who like Minick was both one of the top hitters and pitchers in the league. They led the Mustangs to a 19-1 regular season and the Berks I title.
Berks champ Muhlenberg leads the team with three selections: Luis Beato, Cameron Burr and Brad Coley. Also selected: Tristan Baer of Hamburg, RJ Emrich of Berks Catholic, Grant Fitzgerald of Kutztown, Luke Macdonald of Oley Valley, and Luke Weller of Exeter.
Brian Kopetsky of Berks championship Muhlenberg is the Coach of the Year.
The 11-player team, Coach of the Year, and all-division teams were selected in a vote of the league’s coaches. Players are not selected at specific positions.
Minick bats leadoff and ignites the league’s most productive offense. He’s leading the Mustangs with 28 runs scored, 17 walks and 11 stolen bases; he’s been caught just once on the base paths.
He’s also got power, and leads the league with six homers, a 1.018 slugging percentage and 14 extra-base hits in 21 games. He displayed that power against eventual league champ Muhlenberg, answering the Muhls’ first-inning run with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning. He homered his second time up, doubled and drove in four runs in the 12-4 win.
“That was one of the best performances a player of mine has ever had,” Mifflin coach Chris Hole said after the Mustangs prevailed in the midseason battle of unbeatens. “And the fact that he did it in such key moments, like when they jumped out with that run and we were able to answer right back.
“In the second at-bat, knowing they were going to try to pitch around him, the best he could hope for was a mistake, and he got that mistake. When they hung that curveball, he didn’t miss.”
Minick has also been outstanding on the mound, where he’s gone 4-0 with a team-leading 0.93 ERA. He has struck out 42 over 30 innings.
Livingston, a senior committed to Kent State, has likewise been a dominant two-way player. Despite having little protection in the lineup around him, he has batted .413 with a .582 on-base percentage and an .804 slugging percentage. He leads the Bulldogs with 16 RBIs, 16 runs scored, three home runs and 13 extra-base hits.
He helped pitch the Bulldogs into the District 3 playoffs, beating Boyertown 4-2 on the final day of the season. Overall, he has a 1.53 ERA and 49 strikeouts over 32 innings pitched, with just 11 walks.
Velez has gone 7-0 with two saves over 10 appearances. He has a 1.04 ERA with 53 strikeouts and just 27 hits allowed over 40 1/3 innings.
At the plate, Velez has batted .455 with a 1.115 OPS, a team-leading 28 RBIs and nine extra-base hits.
Beato, an all-division pick as a junior, has batted .431, with a .722 slugging percentage and 13 extra-base hits for the Berks II champion Muhls. He has 20 RBIs and 20 runs scored.
Burr, the Muhls’ leadoff hitter, has batted .422 with a team-best .570 on-base percentage, a team-leading 24 run scored and a team-high 10 stolen bases. He also started and won the Berks League championship game against Oley Valley.
Burr is the lone sophomore on the team, which includes two juniors and nine seniors.
Coley, a senior, is Muhlenberg’s top pitcher. He’s 5-0 with a 1.97 ERA and 70 strikeouts over 39 innings, with just 12 hits allowed.
Baer, a senior, is top pitcher for the Berks III champion Hawks, with six wins.
Emrich, a senior catcher, batted .373 with an .889 OPS and 16 RBIs.
Fitzgerald, a senior, is the top pitcher for the Berks IV champion Cougars; he has a 6-1 record.
Macdonald, a senior right-hander, knocked off top-seeded Gov. Mifflin in the opening round of the Berks playoffs and helped the Lynx advance to the championship game. He’s 4-1 with an 0.72 ERA. As a second baseman, he’s batted .271 and leads the team with 18 RBIs.
Weller, a senior shortstop, has batted .500 with a .557 on-base percentage and 1.333 OPS. He leads the team with 27 RBIs and has scored 17 runs. On the mound, he’s compiled a 2.23 ERA with 38 strikeouts over 31 1/3 innings.
