Ryan Moser slams door as Fleetwood holds off Kutztown in quarterfinal

By  Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

Carson Brey hit a two-run triple and reliever Ryan Moser pitched three scoreless innings — escaping of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning — to lead Fleetwood into the Berks Baseball Leaguel semifinals for the first time since 2018.

The Berks II champion and fifth-seeded Tigers scored all of their runs in the second inning on the way to a 5-2 victory over Berks IV champ and No. 4 seed Kutztown Thursday night at Muhlenberg’s Gochenauer Field.

The Tigers (13-7) advance to face top-seeded Gov. Mifflin, which defeated Brandywine Heights 12-0, Saturday in the second game of a semifinals doubleheader at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The Cougars (15-6) will set their sights on the District 3 Class 2A playoffs.

Brey got the scoring started in the top of the second inning when he ripped a liner over the center fielder’s head to score Aiden Soumas and Tyler Szilli.

Brey then scored on a wild pitch.

“Getting those runs was huge,” Brey said. “Especially after getting buried by them in the first game (Kutztown defeated Fleetwood 13-3 in late March). It got us started and really got the boys going.”

Dalton Young walked, Nick Noll singled to left-center, and Liam Hilburt walked to load the bases.

Two more walks, by Jake Karnish and Zach Dilbeck, gave the Tigers a 5-0 lead before Kutztown’s Colten Mathias came on in relief and ended the inning with a strikeout.

The Tigers benefitted by seven walks.

Kutztown’s Nick Hugo reached on a walk in the bottom of the second and advanced to third after a wild pitch and passed ball. Dominick Pizzelanti followed with a walk and Hugo scored when Pizzelanti stole second.

The Cougars had the bases loaded with one out before Karnish escaped with a strikeout and groundout to end the inning.

Kutztown pulled within 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth when Ashton Dunn got a hit on a nicely placed bunt to score Corey Gilbert.

Moser came on after Karnish walked the first batter in the bottom of the fifth. Moser walked a batter and hit another with a pitch to load the bases, and the Cougars were suddenly in business with no outs and the go-ahead run at the plate. 

Moser settled down and struck out a batter, induced an infield fly, and emphatically struck out the final batter for the third out.

“That final strikeout really got my energy going for the rest of the game,” Moser said. “That just set the tone for the rest of the innings I threw, so it was great.”

Moser didn’t allow a hit over his three innings.

Next up is Gov. Mifflin, the top seed, Berks I champ, and second-highest rated team in the District 3 Class 5A power rankings, with a spot in the BCIAA championship on the line. The Tigers haven’t claimed county gold since 2012 — a 12-6 victory over the Mustangs. That was their first title since 1970.

“We’ve competed with some good teams this year,” Moser said. “We beat Wilson. We beat Exeter. I think we can compete with the challenge (of facing Mifflin). We’ve just got to get the bats rolling. We have the pitching, so we’ll see how it goes. It’s going to be a fun one.”

Fleetwood	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	–	5	6	1
Kutztown	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	–	2	4	1

Tigers	AB	R	H	RBI		Cougars	AB	R	H	RBI
Noll, 1b	3	1	1	0		Remick, ss	3	0	0	0
B. Williams, ph	1	0	1	0		Schuler, 3b	3	0	1	0
Hilburt, ss/3b	3	0	1	0		Schafer, p/1b	3	0	0	0
Karnish, p/ss	3	0	0	1		Ott	0	0	0	0
Dilbeck, 3b	1	0	0	1		Furst, lf	2	0	0	0
Moser, p	1	0	0	0		Hugo, c	3	1	0	0
Soumas, lf	3	1	1	0		Pizzelanti, 2b	2	0	0	0
Seidel, lf	1	0	0	0		Gilbert, dh	2	1	1	0
Szilli, rf	3	1	1	0		Diehl, rf	2	0	1	0
Loy, 2b	4	0	0	0		Dunn, cf	3	0	1	1
Brey, cf	2	1	1	2
Young, c	1	1	0	0
Totals	26	5	6	4			23	2	4	1

2B: Hilburt.  3B: Brey. SB: Gilbert, PIzzelanti.  CS: Soumas.  LOB: Fleetwood 8, Kutztown 9.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K			IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Karnish, W (4-3)	4	4	2	2	5	4		Schafer, L (4-2)	1 2/3	3	5	5	5	1
Moser, S	3	0	0	0	2	2		Mathias	5 1/3	3	0	0	2	4

WP: Karnish, Schafer.