Scouts give coach Dylan Boll another special moment on ‘home’ field

Dylan Boll has made countless special memories at Owls Field. He played in an American Legion state tournament there, as well as a couple of Mid-Atlantic regionals.

He literally grew up on that field, as a catcher and later as a coach for the Owls.

“I’ve spent over half my summers here,” said the Wilson grad. “Every time I’m here is a good memory. This is just a special place.”

The 28-year-old Boll, in his first season as head coach at Conrad Weiser, added another Friday night when the Scouts scored three times in the final inning to upset Exeter 3-1 in a Berks League crossover game as part of the Berks County High School Showcase at Ted Palka Park.

The Scouts (1-3 Berks II, 3-7) have taken their lumps this season. They’re a young team, with just one senior in the starting lineup.

They got a gutsy effort on the mound from sophomore Riley Civiello and hung tough with the playoff-bound Eagles (3-3 Berks I, 7-4).

When Luke Weller, who pitched six scoreless innings for Exeter, left the game the Scouts felt they had a chance to pull it out.

“We weren’t hitting him too well,” said Weiser left fielder Trey Dianna. “The pitching change definitely helped us.”

Owen Wisner, who came in from left field to pitch the seventh for Exeter, couldn’t find the strike zone. He walked Dianna on four pitches to open the inning, walked Alex Snyder, then hit pinch-hitter Conner Petsch, who was sent up to sacrifice.

Mike Greenawalt came out of the bullpen at that point. He got Gavin Wagner to ground out to short, which allowed Dianna to tie it 1-1. With runners on second and third, freshman Evan Rittle hit a sharp grounder to the right side. First baseman Nick Sydor scooped it up and stepped on first for the force, then fired home, his throw skipping past catcher Chase Cupitt.

Snyder and Petsch scored on the throwing error and the Scouts celebrated as though they had won the seventh game of the World Series. Hey, why not?

“We’ve taken our shots (this season),” Boll said. “We’ve been beaten up a little bit. But we show up and we play and we give everything we have, and that’s all I can ask of them.”

Civiello, a plucky right-hander, made the stunning rally stand up in the bottom half of the inning. He walked the leadoff batter, then got a strikeout and a comebacker, which he turned into a game-ending double play.

“We needed that,” Civiello said of the win.

Civiello set the tone by fearlessly attacking one of the highest-scoring lineups in the league. He allowed just four hits, walked only two and struck out six. He knows some of the Eagles players after playing with them last summer on a travel team. He knew he had to keep them off-balance with his slider, which he used effectively to upset their timing.

“I knew not to throw them anything good,” Civiello said. “Just go at ’em. I know I’ve got a good defense behind me. Just gotta do what I can to make ’em hit grounders, fly balls, hope my team does the job.”

Civiello did the job efficiently, needing only 82 pitches for his first complete game. He even shook off an injury after straining his hamstring running to first on a fourth-inning single, his second hit of the game.

Only one other pitcher — Wilson fireballer Cole Leaman — has held Exeter to one run this season.

“He’s an absolute gamer,” Boll said of Civiello. “He’s the guy we know we can rely on, no matter if he’s at the plate, in the field, or on the mound. If he’s out there, he’s giving everything he has.”

Civiello was part of last year’s 10-9 win over Exeter. He pitched the final two innings for the save after the Eagles rallied from a 10-1 deficit. Friday he got his second win of the season and lowered his ERA to 1.89.

The Scouts entered Friday pretty far out of the playoff picture. They’ll have to leapfrog at least five teams to make the 10-team, District 3 Class 4A playoff field, among them Wyomissing, Schuylkill Valley and division rival Fleetwood.

Boll is hoping this win can ignite them.

“This could be a season-changing win,” he said. “The energy that we had, that we’ve been asking for, that we’ve been looking for, they responded. I told them: It doesn’t matter how many times you fail, as long as you get back up and keep fighting success is going to come.”

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