Minick, Mustangs don’t miss opportunity to stop Muhls’ unbeaten run

Eventually, teams will start pitching around Tyler Minick, refusing to give him anything to swing at. Until then the Gov. Mifflin shortstop will gladly swing away.

He had two great opportunities Monday afternoon, sitting in hitter’s counts his first two times at bat. He did not waste either chance.

“When they fall behind, they usually throw me the curveball,” said Minick, a dead fastball hitter. “My (future) coaches at U-Conn said if they throw you a curveball that’s hanging, swing.”

He did, and he did not miss.

Minick turned the biggest Berks baseball game of the season — his unbeaten Mustangs against unbeaten Muhlenberg — into his personal showcase, slamming a pair of home runs and a double and driving in four runs in Mifflin’s 12-4 Berks League crossover win at Rulon Griffith Field.

The Mustangs (7-0 Berks I, 14-0) were relentless, with runs in every inning against a Muhlenberg team that’s ranked No. 1 in the District 3 Class 5A power ratings and that set what’s believed to be a program record with its 10-0 start.

The Muhls got one in the first off Mifflin’s top pitcher, Alexander Velez, grabbing the early momentum.

Minick took it right back, slamming a 3-1 fastball to left-center, clearing the 370-foot fence. That sparked a three-run first for the Mustangs.

The Muhls (6-1 Berks II, 10-1), taking advantage of Velez’s wildness, got another run in the second to pull within 3-2. It was shaping up to be the classic meeting you’d expect from Berks division leaders still unbeaten this deep in the season.

Minick had other ideas. After Sean Levan retired the first two batters in the Mifflin second he went 2-0 to Minick. The University of Connecticut recruit was waiting for an offspeed pitch, and he crushed it.

“Pitchers, they don’t want to be the kid that walks me every time,” Minick said, “so I love the challenge. It’s great.”

So were the Mustangs, who banged out 14 hits, didn’t make an error and nearly finished off the Muhls via the 10-run rule in the fifth when Minick hit a one-out, two-run double deep into the gap in left-center to make it 11-2.

“It’s awesome, coming out, doing the job for my team,” Minick said. “There’s no feeling like it. The last at-bat I thought they were gonna walk me, but they didn’t, so I made ’em pay.”

Minick didn’t score following his double but he did after each of his first three at-bats, the third after reaching on an error.

“That was one of the best performances a player of mine has ever had,” said Mifflin coach Chris Hole. “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.”

The Mustangs didn’t miss much. Matt Ventura had three hits, Darien Troche and Velez each had two.

“We came out and we hit the ball where we should’ve,” Minick said.

Minick pushed his season’s batting average to .500. He has 17 RBIs in 11 games to go with five homers. He has struck out three times.

“He went out there and hit every mistake that we threw him,” said Muhlenberg coach Brian Kopetsky. “Hey, good players will do that. He’s a fantastic athlete. We made mistakes and he made us pay for every one of them.”

Velez had trouble commanding his fastball and allowed four hits and six baserunners the first time through the order.

After that he went more to his offspeed stuff, his curve and change-up, and slowed down the hard-hitting Muhls. He didn’t allow a hit to any of the final 17 batters he faced and earned the W to reach 6-0, though he ended up with six walks.

“He didn’t have his best stuff today, but he stayed strong and kept this good-hitting team to two runs,” Minick said. “He cracked but he didn’t break.”

The Muhls weren’t able to go with their No. 1 pitcher, Brad Coley, who started Friday’s win over Wilson. That, obviously, was a factor, and both coaches realized it.

They also understand, and tried to impress upon their players, that as intriguing as this battle of unbeatens was it won’t carry much weight a month from now when the playoffs begin.

“Obviously, you see 10-0 vs. 13-0 and everybody’s excited, which is nice,” Kopetsky said. “It’s a good story. The reality is, it’s another game.”

“We fully realize we didn’t see their (No.) 1 or their (No.) 2 today,” Hole said. “They’re a very good team, a very good hitting team. And, if and when we run into them again they’re going to be better, so we’ve got to keep getting better as well.”