Right now, everyone’s running second behind rampaging Gov. Mifflin
Is everyone other than Gov. Mifflin playing for second place in the Berks Baseball League?
Based on another terrific start by the Mustangs, who are 7-1 with five straight 10-run victories, it may appear that way.
“The real battle (in Berks),” said Wyomissing coach Dave Voigt, “is for second, behind Mifflin.”
The Mustangs didn’t lose until their 20th game a season ago; they dropped their second game this season, 8-1 at Dallastown on March 21.
Since then it’s been a virtual repeat of last season when they recorded a 19-1 regular season record that included five wins by 10 or more runs and five shutouts. The Mustangs scored 10 or more runs nine times during the 2022 regular season and a 10th time in the District 3 Class 6A playoffs, against Hempfield.
They never scored 10 or more runs in a game five straight games, as the Mustangs (3-0 Berks I, 7-1) have done heading into their division crossover game Wednesday against Fleetwood (0-1 Berks II, 4-3).
The Mustangs beat Pottsville 11-1 on March 29 and have followed with wins over Conrad Weiser (12-1), Muhlenberg (15-3), Reading High (14-0) and Boyertown (10-0). They have posted 30 unanswered runs over three games since allowing defending league champ Muhlenberg to score three times in the second inning last Monday.
The Mustangs have a plus-53 run differential over eight games. They’re averaging 9.0 runs per game and allowing 2.4.
The team batting average is .351. The team on-base percentage is .489. The staff ERA is 1.49. They have committed just nine errors.
“They’re loaded,” said Bill Underwood, the interim head coach at Wilson.
“It’s like us a couple years ago when we had (Luke) Holman and Rueben (Livingston) and Ryan Kelly and all those guys (who went 17-1 in the regular season and won the District 3 championship),” Underwood said.
You can start with the league’s top player, Berks Player of the Year Tyler Minick, who’s batting .474, slugging .895 and has a 1.502 OPS.
The University of Connecticut recruit is 10-for-10 on stolen base attempts, has scored a team-leading 12 runs and has not struck out.
He might not even have the best stats on the team.
Those might belong to sophomore Travis Jenkins, who’s batting .478 with a team-leading 14 RBIs.
Or sophomore Bryce Detwiler, who’s batting .435 with an .826 slugging percentage, 11 RBIs, 11 runs scored and a team-leading 19 total bases.
Or senior Alexander Velez, who leads the team in batting (.500), on-base percentage (.692) and has scored three runs. He’s also the No. 1 pitcher, with a 3.0 record and 0.57 ERA over three starts. He has struck out 18 over 12 1/3 innings and allowed only six hits. Over the past two seasons he’s 11-0.
Matt Koehner, another talented sophomore, has stepped in at first base due to an injury. He has 10 RBIs and a .421 batting average. He had one of the key hits when the Mustangs pounded the Muhls, scoring eight second-inning runs to take a 9-0 lead. The Muhls entered the season considered the No. 2 team in the county and still may well be.
The Mustangs figure to get tested a little more over the next week. They head to Exeter Friday, where they’ll likely face Deven Sheerin, perhaps the No. 1 pitcher in the league. Three days later they face Wilson and likely will see Matt VanOstenbridge, one of the league’s other elite pitchers.
Not that the Mustangs don’t have arms to match them. Behind Velez they have sophomore Ethan Grim, who’s 2-1 with 18 strikeouts over 11 2/3 innings and Detwiler, who’s 2-0 with an 0.78 ERA. Minick may start later in the season but for now he’s forming the league’s best bullpen along with Matt Novotny.
“We took that loss (at Dallastown) to heart,” said Grim. “We got back to practice the next day and worked on stuff we needed to work on and got better. We’re back on track and doing pretty good right now.”