Baseball season has been nothing but a hit for Muhlenberg

Gio Cavanna had a productive sophomore season at the plate. He cracked Muhlenberg’s starting lineup, batted .262 and scored 17 runs for a team that reached the PIAA Tournament.

Things didn’t feel right with the bat early this season. His timing was off; he felt off-balanced at the plate.

“Everything was horrible,” said the junior right fielder.

He knew he had to make a change, a scary proposition in-season. He dropped his leg kick. Spread out more in the box. It took time but eventually things started feeling better and the hits started to come.

“I’ve come a long way,” he said.

Cavanna went 6-for-6 over two games, against Twin Valley and Cedar Crest, coming into the Berks League playoffs and continued against Kutztown, with a single and RBI in the Muhls’ 9-4 opening-round win Thursday.

Cavana, who’s batting .347, is part of one of the league’s most productive lineups.

The second-seeded Muhls (17-2) are batting .325 and averaging 7.3 runs per game as they head into Monday’s scheduled semifinal against third-seeded Exeter in the second game of a doubleheader at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Fifth-seeded Wilson and eighth-seeded Oley Valley meet in the opener at 4:15.

Brian Kopetsky has coached the Muhls for 23 seasons. He says this is one of the best-hitting teams, top to bottom, he has coached.

Center fielder Luis Beato leads the team with a .446 batting average, 21 runs scored and 13 extra-base hits. First baseman Sam Martinez is batting .436 with a team-high 24 RBIs. Shortstop Kenay Rodriguez is batting .428. Third baseman Cameron Burr is batting .410 with 20 runs second. Beato, Martinez, Burr and Rodriguez each have an OPS above 1.000.

“When you’ve got four guys hitting .400, that’s a pretty special lineup,” Kopetsky said.

The Muhls have produced 10 or more runs five times; they’ve been held below four runs just twice.

Kopetsky says this lineup compares favorably to his 2018 team, which went 20-3 and won the Division 1 and Berks League championships.

That team was led by Berks Player of the Year Sean Guilbe, who had a 1.622 OPS and scored 45 runs, and All-Berks picks Tyler McGonigle and Jake Kuczawa. Guilbe was drafted by the San Diego Padres. McGonigle is playing at Elizabethtown College.

“The ’18 team could swing it,” Kopetsky said. “Those guys were grinders. You put your No. 1 on the mound (against them)– he was gone by the fifth inning, because they would just grind through pitches; they would wear you down.”

The Muhls batted .324 as a team in 2018, averaged 7.9 runs, slugged .447 and had a .907 OPS. Guible and McGonigle batted over .400; six regulars batted over .300.

The current team has put up similar numbers, though it has played in just one postseason game to date.

“This team’s more explosive,” Kopetsky said. “You get a guy on, you’ve got to worry about the speed; Burr, Kenay and Gio have speed. This group creates pressure top to bottom in a different way; that group physically would wear you out.”

Kopetsky saw late last season, when the Muhls beat Gettysburg, then took out top-seeded Manheim Central in the District 3 Class 5A Tournament, that his young hitters — Jacob Rodriguez, Martinez, and Beato — were coming on and primed for big senior seasons.

“We were inconsistent throughout the season, and we got hot at the end,” he said. “Gio as a soph, Burr as a freshmen, grew under the radar.”

Kopetsky changed his offseason program as well. After missing time in the weight room before and during the 2020 season because of the COVID shutdown he felt his team needed more conditioning work last fall and in the winter. They spent more time in the indoor batting cages than out on the field in the fall.

That may be paying dividends now at the plate. The team batting average is nearly 50 points higher than a season ago.

The addition of Kenay Rodriguez, a transfer from Reading High, has helped, too. He didn’t play for the Red Knights but has come on quickly this season. He went 4-for-4 in the opening round against Kutztown.

The Muhls will need to keep hitting in the semifinals because they’re going up against another potent offense. The Eagles (15-5) are averaging even more runs per game (7.8) than than the Muhls and have been on a roll lately, winning five straight and eight of their last nine. They’ve score 10 or more runs four times during that streak, including a 16-10 win at Gov. Mifflin that snapped the Mustangs’ perfect start.

Exeter has one of the league’s best hitters in shortstop Luke Weller, who’s batting .491 with 27 RBIs and 11 extra-base hits. Second baseman Brady Hannahoe is batting .421 with 23 runs scored. Center fielder Alex Kelsey is batting .360 with 27 runs scored.

The Berks II champion Muhls took the regular season crossover game, winning 10-2 at Gochnauer Field on April 29. Jacob Rodriguez had a pair of doubles and drove in four runs in that game. Weller was Exeter’s starting pitcher and went five innings, allowing seven hits and five earned runs. He could get the start again Monday, though Deven Sheerin is eligible to come back after throwing 93 pitches Thursday in a 6-3 win over Hamburg.

Brad Coley, Muhlenberg’s top pitcher, started and went five innings to get the win over Exeter. He started Thursday against Kutztown and threw 95 pitches. Kopetsky said he’s unlikely to start Coley, though he may be available out of the bullpen.

“That was one of our best games all the way around,” Kopetsky said of the 10-2 win. “We played good defense, ran the bases, swung the bats well, got good pitching. So, you know (we) have to come back with the same type of effort. Exeter been hot and they have maybe that little extra motivation on top of it.”