Mustangs will make their best pitch in condensed BCIAA tournament

Not that top-seeded Gov. Mifflin needed any more help but the Mustangs should benefit as much as any team from the BCIAA’s tighter playoff format this season.

Unlike past tournaments, when there was a four- or five-day layoff between the quarterfinals and semifinals, this year there’s just a two-day window.

Any pitcher who throws more than 50 pitches in the quarterfinal round Thursday won’t be eligible to pitch again in the Saturday semifinals.

And a pitcher who goes the distance in the opening round may not be capable of returning to start the championship game on Monday.

“It’s going to (favor) whichever team can roll out the most arms,” said Daniel Boone coach Jason McCord. “If you have a team that’s ridden one guy all season it challenges them. (The eventual champion) is gonna be the deepest team, the team that can score runs and the team that can play defense because it’s not always going to be No. 1’s on the hill.”

The team McCord described is the Berks I champion Mustangs (15-4), who have again been dominant this season. Mifflin scored more runs than all but one team in the league and allowed fewer than anyone. It won nine games by 10 runs or more, including six in a row during one stretch in April.

Of course, even Superman’s power is reduced by Kryptonite. The Mustangs are no different. They were stopped twice by Berks I rival Wilson (13-6), with Matt VanOstenbridge on the mound each time. In the most recent meeting he pitched a two-hitter in a 1-0 victory.

That, plus the memory of Mifflin’s opening-round loss to eighth-seeded Oley Valley in last season’s tournament, means there will be no givens Thursday when the eight-team, three-round tournament commences.

“There’s gonna be some tough match-ups,” promised Mifflin coach Chris Hole. “Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. That happened with us last year.”

Despite several challenges at the league seeding meeting Tuesday the teams will enter the tournament ranked 1-8 according to the District 3 power ratings. Daniel Boone challenged to move up from No. 6 to No. 5 based on its two head-to-head wins against Fleetwood; No. 7 Oley Valley challenged the seed of No. 4 Kutztown, based on its two head-to-head wins over the Cougars. Both challenges were denied by a vote of the eight playoff coaches.

So, here are the first-round match-ups:

BERKS PLAYOFF PAIRINGS			Thursday
(1) Gov. Mifflin	vs	(8) Brandywine Heights	at Owls Field, 4:00
(2) Wilson	vs	(7) Oley Valley	at Gochenauer Field, 4:00
(3) Muhlenberg	vs	(6) Daniel Boone	at Owls Field, late
(4) Kutztown	vs	(5) Fleetwood	at Gochenauer Field, late

Gov. Mifflin, despite three losses over the final three weeks of the season – two to Wilson, one to Manheim Central – remains the favorite, for many reasons.

The Mustangs are far better at run prevention than anyone in the league, and it’s not even close. They committed fewer errors than any team and allowed 2.1 runs per game; Daniel Boone was second at 3.85.

That’s due in large part to the Mustangs’ pitching depth, though they’re not as deep as they were when the season opened. Senior Alexander Velez, the Berks Pitcher of the Year in 2022, hasn’t thrown in a game since April 3 due to arm soreness and it appears unlikely he’ll be given the ball in the Berks playoffs.

Still, Mifflin boasts a rotation of senior Tyler Minick and sophomores Bryce Detwiler and Ethan Grim which has combined for a 10-4 record and 2.25 ERA. It also has a shutdown closer in Matt Novotny.

Who gets the ball Thursday against No. 8 Brandywine Heights (11-6) remains to be seen; Hole isn’t saying.

“We have a lot of quality arms,” he said. “Minick, Detwiler and Grim have all thrown very well, and they all have different strengths. Minick is the player that’s most battle-tested, but we’re still building him back up (he didn’t start pitching until midseason). I want to believe he’s going to keep us in most games and be that guy who’s a true competitor out on the mound.”

Minick, the 2022 Berks Player of the Year, wasn’t able to pitch late last season and was injured just before the Berks playoffs began; that’s a big reason the Mustangs went down in the first round.

The UConn recruit is healthy and one of three players in the Mifflin lineup batting over .400 and one of four with an OPS of over 1.000.

“Gov. Mifflin, being who they are, it’s hard not to pick them to be there,” said McCord.

The Mustangs have won three of the last seven BCIAA Tournaments and own a record 14 county titles. Still, you can make a case for several other teams.

There’s second-seeded Wilson, which has finished with a flourish, winning its last six games. The Bulldogs possess the league’s hottest starter, junior Matt VanOstenbridge, who has 61 strikeouts and has allowed just 24 hits over 41 2/3 innings. He has a 2.18 ERA.

“He’s a true, true No. 1,” said Hole.

The Bulldogs open against No. 7 Oley Valley (13-7), which heads into the postseason on a five-game winning streak.

Defending champ Muhlenberg (12-7) is the No. 3 seed and opens against No. 6 Daniel Boone (12-8). The Muhls have solid pitching, some threats at the top of the lineup and will steal you blind if given a chance: They’ve been successful of 78-of-84 attempts in 18 games.

The Blazers finished third in Berks II and are the only team in the tournament with a losing league record. Still, they have as deep a pitching staff as any team and have allowed fewer runs per game than every team except Mifflin.

Fourth-seeded Kutztown (15-5), the two-time Berks IV champ, will likely be overlooked. The Cougars haven’t played a schedule as demanding as Muhlenberg, Wilson or the other big schools. However, they come in on a roll, with six straight wins, by a 63-9 margin, and have the pitching depth to fight through this kind of abbreviated tournament.

The Cougars open against fifth-seeded Fleetwood (12-7), the Berks II champ.

The Mustangs will have their hands full with eighth-seeded Brandywine Heights (11-6), the league’s highest-scoring team at 7.9 runs per game. The Bullets are batting a league-best .368, have a league-leading .463 on-base percentage and a league-high 15 homers.